Tuesday, February 20 . Pitching In Southern League, Premier Division South
Tiverton Town v Dorchester Town
The Ian Moorcroft Stadium . 7.45pm
IT would be unfair on both teams to categorise this game as a must-win. However, three points would be massive for either.
At the moment, in terms of league positions, Dorchester have the advantage, having three more points than the Yellows with the same number of games played. The spur for Tiverton is that victory would leapfrog them over the Dorset side, by virtue of having a slightly better goal difference. It would also take them out of the bottom four.
Factor in that Dorchester striker Olaf Koszela enjoyed some good days in Yellow and our manager Leigh Robinson was once in charge of the Magpies and you have an intriguing match-up. Exeter loanee Ed James spent a fair chunk of the 2022-23 season at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium, too.
Tom Killick, who initially arrived at Dorchester to co-manage with Glenn Howes, has been solely in charge for a number of months now. The former long-serving Poole manager acted quickly to bring in a raft of players who performed well for him in his time with the Dolphins: Will Spetch, Corby Moore and Jack Dickson were all part of Saturday’s team that produced an impressive victory at Bracknell, while a fourth ex-Dolphin, Will Fletcher, made a substitute appearance in the 3-1 success.
Defender Spetch is Poole Town’s record appearance-holder and Moore is an experienced midfield schemer in the context of non-league football. In his formative years, he played for all of Southampton’s Academy teams and then had a brief professional career with the Saints. Dickson has long been considered a big talent in this division, too.
The Magpies firepower will come from a resurgent Koszela - the ex-Torquay United player has enjoyed a return to form recently - and 11-goal striker Shaquille Gwengwe will be a powerful proposition for the Tiverton backline.
Tivvy captain Jamie Richards two-game suspension means that he will once again be missing, but Joe Parker did return in Saturday’s loss at Walton & Hersham and the home faithful will be eager to see if he can add to his three goals from three starts.
Jack Rice has had a prolific spell for Yellows and there is definitely a cause for optimism in spite of the weekend setback.
The scheduled New Year’s Day fixture at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium was postponed, so this will be the first meeting of the two relegation-threatened teams this season.
Big games demand big performances.
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