Saturday, July 20 . Pre-season Friendly
Tiverton Town 1 (Murray 17)
Weston Super Mare 2 (Dodd 5, Crawford 85)
Ian Moorcroft Stadium . 3pm
IN a game when plenty of rain lashed down, there was enough sunshine on the pitch for the fans to enthuse about in an entertaining and high quality friendly.
Both teams were understrength as a mixture of injuries and prior commitments saw the two sides delve deep into their squads and were given the opportunity to look at trialists.
It did not look good for Tiverton when, after persistent probing and pressure from the National South side, they conceded very early: a fifth-minute goal from James Dodd, who ruthlessly fired the ball home, looked to have indicated that the Yellows - who were playing in purple - were in for a tough day at the office.
However, reassuringly, Tivvy settled and the game itself was an excellent spectacle with very few lulls from the slick, flowing football that was served up during the afternoon. It was thoroughly deserved when, after some neat expansive passing, we levelled on 17 minutes when a scorching driven shot from Jay Murray whistled low down into the corner of the visitors’ net, soundly beating goalkeeper Finlay Croft.
A high tempo was set and, in a fairly open game, Asa Hall found time and space to expertly retain the ball and change the direction of the play. The trialist who wore number six gave a classy display alongside him and, with Murray’s boundless energy and guile in the 10 role, we looked strong in the middle of the park.
A young back line with three of the four being under 20 acquitted themselves really well against the hugely experienced Reuben Reid and Nick McCootie. Promising and assured displays from Jack Carter, Calum Thomas and Sam Gleeson and a dominant performance from the trialist playing centre-back nullified that threat.
Home goalkeeper Joel Manning made a significant save when Weston broke our defensive line, his strong hand palming the ball away after a Weston snap shot.
The high pressing and high energy of the tireless Javan Wright, with Joe Parker and Leighton Thomas following suit, gave Tiverton pace to burn and real quality going forward as we went toe to toe with the Somerset side. The scores were level at half-time and there was little to choose between the teams. For the visitors, the wily and technical James Waite was Marshalled well, but constantly looked a threat.
The second period continued in the same vein with much enterprising play and encouraging link-ups and relationships being formed by Tivvy players.
Early substitutions in the second half were new signing Tor Swann and a third trialist who both asked further questions of the Seagulls. For about 30-35 minutes of the half, the team was the equal of their higher opponents, although they tailed off a little in the closing stages. This had a lot to do with the utilisation of the match-day squad, which is very necessary in pre-season.
Tiverton, in the main, were very fluent and maintained possession well, hurried Scott Bartlett’s side, and looked dangerous in the final third.
This was definitely a step up from the performance in midweek against Exmouth, as a pacy, well oiled unit was what the fans generally witnessed.
Ryan Crawford scored the decisive goal for Weston on 85 minutes, as they came on strong in the final 10 minutes, but, overall, for the football connoisseur, this was a very good game of football and we played our best match of pre-season so far.
Moving onto Tuesday night, we entertain Willand Rovers in a local derby at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium, where we will renew acquaintances with a number of ex-Tiverton players.
Attendance: 311
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