Match Preview
Tiverton Town v Havant & Waterlooville
Tuesday 4th March
At The Slee Blackwell Stadium
This rearranged fixture sees a changing of the guard, following the departure of Rob Dray. The outgoing manager wasn't able to turn things around, despite working hard to do so and his departure sees Asa Hall move into the Hot Seat and Steve Orchard elevated to the position of Assistant Manager.
As supporters we need to get behind the new Coaching team and the players. Despite now being relegation favourites, all will be done to try and keep us in the division and with six home games and four away games remaining this is definitely not a foregone conclusion.
With an eye on the table, the route to safety is getting more dangerous by the game, but all we can ask is the lads give their best between now and the end of the season. We can’t afford to dwell on Saturday’s performance and we have to do all we can to upset play off candidates Havant & Waterlooville on Tuesday night.
I think it would be foolish to expect an immediate impact, but knowing the passionate nature of the new coaching team, they will be intent on doing all they can to get off to a positive start. The much respected duo deserve our backing.
Because of Asa’s playing career and Steve’s standing as a manager/coach in the local area, they are well respected figures. Both are class acts off the field and are very knowledgeable and approachable.
The focus now though must be on the upcoming game and with the gap between the bottom Four and others drawn into the relegation picture growing wider at the weekend, each of the ten games left will require an intensity and attention to detail.
Havant & Waterlooville travel to Devon on the back of two interesting results. On Saturday Winchester visited them and eased their relegation worries with a 1-0 win on the road.
The previous Saturday they travelled to Basingstoke and won 3-0. The unpredictability of this division meaning we go into this game, none the wiser, yet knowing points are precious and urgently required.
Shaun North is the man tasked with trying to return The Hawks to National League South following their relegation to our level after last season’s campaign. They’re knocking on the door to make this happen and have put themselves in the frame.
Veteran Defensive Midfielder Nigel Atangana’s visits to Ladysmead were pretty much annually when he was a vital member of the Exeter City squad that visited us in pre-season and the Frenchman is highly regarded by fellow players and fans alike.
Havant & Waterlooville were actually the first team that he played for in English football, before enjoying an impressive professional career with; Portsmouth, Leyton Orient, Cheltenham and The Grecians who he represented 84 times. He was at Eastleigh prior to returning to The Hawks.
Notably, Striker Ryan Seager has 21 league goals from the 30 league games he has played in, this term. A product of Southampton’s academy, the 29 year old made 2 senior appearances and one of those came in The Premier League.
In the EFL he has also worn the colours of; Crewe Alexandra, MK Dons and Yeovil. His two spells at Yeovil being separated by a period in Dutch Football, where he played for Telstar. The 29 year old was prolific at Hungerford. This is his second season at the Hawks. Seager was with Dorking, previously.
Fellow forward Harvey Bradbury was contracted to Five professional clubs; Portsmouth, Millwall, Watford and Oxford United, where he made a solitary EFL appearance, before Three games for Morecombe.
The tall 26 year old has forged a successful non league career and his CV includes; Welling, Dartford, Oxford City and Farnborough in National League South: playing at this level for; Dorchester, Gosport and The Hawks.
Australian frontman Callum Kealy gives our opponents further firepower. His football journey has taken him to; Worthing, Sutton United, Dorking and Eastbourne higher up the football pyramid. This is Kealy’s second stint with tonight’s opponents.
There is a wealth of experience in the Hawk’s ranks and Centre Back Joe McNerney demonstrates this further. Making 140 appearances for Crawley Town and over 300 appearances for Woking, McNerney at 35 has proven pedigree quite a few steps higher than the level we play at and stands at 6ft 4inches tall.
Between the sticks is likely to be Ben Dudzinski. The talented keeper has plenty of National South experience. With over 100 appearances under his belt for Oxford City and other stints at that level with Eastbourne Borough, Dartford and Havant & Waterlooville, early on in his senior career. He rejoined the club for this campaign.
Shaun Norths charge’s sit a place outside of the play off places, as 21st take on 6th. Asa Hall is popular with the players and our supporters and I’m sure we all wish him well in the job. It’s a short turnaround here, but everyone connected with Tivvy will be hoping for a response after Saturday. Let’s be the twelfth man and get behind the lads.
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