TIVVY ARCHIVE

Tiverton Town 4 - 1 Northwood

After two weeks on the road with contrasting results Tivvy's return to Ladysmead first required a swift round of introductions as yet another raft of new signings made their home debut. Gardner came in for the man who had gone "Walkerbout"‚ Ampadu made his home debut in midfield and Pears returned to rousing cheers with Yetton on the bench.

Northwood had arrived in the Southern League from the Ryman‚ courtesy of the Pyramid close season lottery‚ which seems to employ a unique map of England in its decisions. It may have been the longest league trip they had ever made but they showed no signs of jet lag‚ immediately mounting an attack that ebbed and flowed around the Tivvy box as defenders were unable to make a telling clearance. As yet another cross ball came in a defender slipped and failed to make full contact with a header‚ which fell to two opponents on the edge of the area. Dean took responsibility and ran on driving the ball under the advancing Ovendale. 0-1 and only two minutes gone.

Tivvy responded with a good Booth / Bale combination down the right with Bale's cross being met by Goff in the six yard box. Lindsay made the first of several good saves and the ball was scrambled clear. Mudge then whipped in a cross that Pears tried to side foot in but the pace of the ball beat him and his slight contact merely eased the ball past the post. Twenty minutes in and Wints threaded a lovely pass to put Mudge in but his shot lacked power and was easily saved. With the leading scorer on the bench and chances going begging was it going to be one of those afternoons? Five minutes later we had the answer as Goff rose to meet a cross in from the right and laid of the deftest of headers to his left where Mudge was lurking. Classic Jamie hunting country and he didn't disappoint cutting in and firing across Lindsay to make it 1-1.

Tivvy started to build on the goal and a mistake by defender put Mudge in with Pears in support. Jamie crossed to Pears who blasted his shot wide of the goal with Northwood defence in disarray. Then it was the turn of Mudge to be put through on the goalie‚ but again Lindsay came out and blocked the shot with his legs. A rare Northwood attack saw a free kick eased past the Tivvy before Mudge once again put Pears through clear on goal. Lindsay got his fingertips to the shot‚ which hit the cross bar and bounced down on the line before it was hacked clear.

With so many chances going begging a doubt began to creep in as to whether Pears would ever score‚ but it transpired he was just adjusting his sights. Booth won a Northwood clearance and the ball was played into Pears on the goal line. He flicked the ball over his defender and ran past him before then lobbing the goalie from an acute angle. 2-1 and a great way to announce his return. Northwood were by now hanging on for halftime with only Dean showing any real threat.

Seabourne replaced the hobbling Booth at half time‚ but it was Northwood who started the brighter mounting a number of attacks that usually involved the increasingly impressive Dean. It was he who turned the Tivvy defence and put his colleague in to score only for it to be ruled offside. Tivvy weathered the early pressure and created a good passing movement from the back involving Milsom‚ Pears and Bale for Wints to send in a trademark screamer that beat Lindsay but just cleared the far post.

Tivvy nerves were then eased when Mudge dispossessed a defender on the edge of the box. Pears was there to pick up the loose ball‚ run on and thump it past Lindsay to make it 3-1. However‚ Northwood weren't finished and Dean again nearly scored only to be denied by a flying save from Ovendale. Ebb and flow with most of the flow in Tivvy's favour‚ Bale putting in a delicate lob pass for Pears again to run onto and fire past the post. Pears‚ who with Mudge pulled their opponents all over the pitch turned up on right to lay the ball back to Bale. His cross was met by a kneeling Ampadu whose lobbed header was just turned over by Lindsay.

Milsom then placed a header down the right for Mudge to run onto and cross to the far side of the box where Bale met it with a rasping shot Lindsay did well to save and hold onto. Dodge then played the ultimate psychological card by bringing his leading score on to replace Mudge. Northwood now knew it wasn't to be their day. This was emphasised with injury time beckoning when Yetton went on a mazy run and laid the ball off to Pears. His shot from twenty yards curled past Lindsay into the far top corner of the net and all Tivvy supporters in the crowd of 475 joined in Richard's hat trick victory roll if only in spirit. All remained was for the unlucky sub Wills to receive a yellow card from the increasingly eccentric referee before a satisfactory afternoon's business was concluded.

If it seems the game was one sided it wasn't‚ Tivvy offering hope in defence on a number of occasions to poor opponents. However‚ that can wait for another day. This was a day to celebrate the positives. Discipline was excellent throughout the team‚ there was some good constructive play despite the changes and of course young Richard sent us all home happy. It takes character to admit you made a mistake. Respect to the man in the dugout and the man who came back.

Tiverton Town 4 - 1 Northwood

The 7-1 win at Highworth certainly provided the extra confidence as Tiverton rolled over lowly Northwood to win 4-1 despite going behind. Jamie Mudge and a Richard Pears hat trick completed Tiverton´s rout.

Richard Pears‚ making his home debut after resigning from Willand Rovers. He was later awarded man-of-the-match‚ and received a standing ovation at the end of the game.

Two minutes in and Northwood took a surprise lead when Tiverton failed to clear the ball after a corner and Dean Clarke slammed it past Mark Ovendale from ten yards out to send the couple of Northwood fans into celebration.

The game suddenly stopped and the ball was played around the middle for the next twenty minutes. Paul Milsom then struck the ball out of nowhere from the right but the ball darted across the face of goal.

A minute later‚ Shaun Goff was unmarked six yards out on the left‚ he played the ball across the face of goal and Jamie Mudge was there to tap in the equaliser. Tiverton started to dominate‚ having most of the possession with the Northwood defence starting to sit back.

In the 28th minute‚ Mudge danced past two defenders on the left and played a low ball to Pears who blasted the ball onto the post‚ which then was cleared.

Then came the minute of madness ten minutes later‚ when a Anthony Limbrick free-kick found Darren Grieves on the far post but his shot was blasted across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.

Then straight from the goal-kick‚ Richard Pears ran down the middle and he cannoned a shot from 25 yards which hit the bar and down. The ball was cleared away to safety.

Then Mike Booth crossed the ball from the right‚ with pin point accuracy found Pears on the back post‚ who was there to give Tiverton the lead going into half time.

Tiverton´s dominance didn´t stop at half time‚ they immediately dominated from the first kick when a Mudge cross from the right found Pears at the near post‚ but great pressure from the defender scrambled the ball away for a corner.

In the 49th minute‚ an audacious effort from Steve Winter from the right dipped over the bar‚ with Dean Lindsay well beaten.

In the 58th minute Mudge dispossessed the last defender and laid the ball off to Pears who slammed it past Lindsay to give Tiverton an unassailable lead. Pears looked hungry for more‚ as did the whole side. The forth was looming.

In the 67th minute‚ Chris Bale chipped the ball over Anthony Limbrick and Pears had a shot 25 yards out but his effort was wide of the right post.

Five minutes later saw a chip from Bale finding Kwame Ampadu crouching to head the ball over Lindsay‚ he did that and the ´keeper had to scramble back to tip the ball over the bar. Ampadu wondered how that didn´t go in‚ and quickly ran over to take the resulting corner.

Two minutes from time saw Tiverton scoring again‚ when Stewart Yetton played a low ball from the right to Richard Pears who coolly chipped the ball over the ´keeper. He ran towards the fans‚ who chanted “Pearsy! Pearsy!“

Tiverton will be happy with 11 goals in two games and will try to continue that goal scoring form against Windsor and Eton in the F.A Cup next week which kicks off at 2pm so that it doesn´t clash with England´s game which can be viewed in the clubhouse after the game.

Tiverton Town: Mark Ovendale, Steve Winter‚ Shaun Goff‚ Mike Booth (Danny Seabourne 46)‚ Tom Gardner‚ Paul Milsom‚ Kwame Ampadu‚ Chris Bale‚ Richard Pears‚ Chris Holloway (Kevin Wills 79)‚ James Mudge (Stewart Yetton 80)

Northwood: Dean Lindsay‚ Dave Nolan‚ Anthony Limbrick‚ Danny Butler‚ Luke Evans‚ Jamie Palmer‚ Shayne Demetrious (Richard McDonagh 62)‚ Chris Gell‚ Darren Grieves (Ryan Kirkland 69)‚ Peter Dean (Harry Howell 46)‚ Dean Clark

Attendance: 475

Referee: R Gatzianidis with T Blanch & A Matthews