TIVVY ARCHIVE

Evesham United 1 - 1 Tiverton Town

Evesham is associated with its beautiful views‚ Cheltenham racecourse is only twenty minutes away and the battlefield of Simon de Montford´s opposition of King Henry III in 1269. This game was shaped up to be a battle‚ of two teams; badly off form and in need of revival. Evesham played with some of the spirit in which Simon de Montford had‚ but on a terrible pitch‚ which looked as though twenty thousand babies had been there digging for worms and making mud pies with‚ and the poor quality on show‚ couldn´t hold on to a what-looked-as-though a gritty win‚ which would have been so valuable to their survival.

However‚ Tiverton‚ not surprisingly‚ playing a below-par performance managed a goal from nowhere in the 87th in an action-less game. The first real attempt didn´t occur until after 21 minutes‚ when Mike Booth played a low pass after cutting inside from the right flank‚ found Jamie Mudge on the edge of the penalty area‚ whose half volley has held by the impressive Evesham keeper.

The fans then had to wait another 15 minutes for the next piece of action when Mudge skipped past two defenders and shot wide from 18 yards again. There were signs for Tiverton but they poor navigational skills allowed them to miss the sign and follow the wrong path and end up in Hoofville. The half time whistle eventually blew‚ to the cheers of the crowd‚ barely keeping their eyes open.

The second half began with a bit more grit and determination. It took only eight minutes this time for the first shot‚ well sort of. In true Kurt Nogan style‚ Booth played a defence-confusing cross to the near post‚ met by the back-to-goal striker who turned‚ "Yes!" chanted the supporters‚ but he missed a basic open goal from three yards out. Tiverton started to rise to half-awake and perhaps managed to turn back towards the sign.

But no! The bald-headed Evesham United right-winger crossed the ball to the rushing Benjamin to steer past Mark Ovendale to send the crowd into shock and disbelief‚ and not because Tiverton were dominating. This occurred 15 minutes after the previous attempt on goal.

Nine minutes later‚ the winger raced down the right-flank and played a low cross and Tom Gould nearly‚ in Steve Winter type fashion‚ scored an own goal to all but end the game. A corner was the result.

In the 80th minute‚ youngster Tom Beddow had an effort from 18 yards out dipping over the crossbar.

Time was running out and some members of the Tivvy support were getting very animated and tried to hoist their team on to a late equaliser. In the 87th minute‚ Mudge ran down the right flank and played a cross towards Bale who had just the keeper to beat‚ but the ball rolled back to Chris Holloway‚ who crossed it in to unmarked Paul Milsom who headed it into the top left corner.

Tivvy´s tails were up and a possible win was on the cards. Evesham counter attacked and tried to keep it in the Tivvy half and Evesham dived on the edge of the area‚ the referee was fooled and Beddow kicked the ball away in disgust. This earned him a caution‚ which brought the game to a close, to the delight of the whole crowd and the worm‚ which the twenty thousand babies forgot to consume in their mud pies.

Tiverton Town: Mark Ovendale, Mike Booth, Darren Davies, Tom Gould, Sam Croft, Paul Milsom, Kwame Ampadu, Chris Bale, Kurt Nogan (Tom Beddow), Chris Holloway, Jamie Mudge    

Attendance: 269