Monday, April 1 . Pitching In Southern League, Premier Division South
Dorchester Town v Tiverton Town
The Avenue Stadium . 3pm
FOR the second game over the Easter period, Tiverton travel to Dorset for a first meeting of the season with Dorchester, poor weather forcing the cancellations of the original home fixture and rescheduled dates, meaning the sides will meet again later this month.
The Magpies have turned around poor early season form that saw them in trouble, towards the foot of the table and, since the turn of the year, much better results have seen them nearly reach safety. That impressive run has seen them defeated only twice over the last three months, Hungerford and Gosport being the only two sides to beat them.
To give the Tivvy team and our fans some hope, both of those two losses did come on their 3G surface. They are unbeaten away from home in 2024; on Saturday, they returned from Winchester with a point in a game that ended 1-1.
Tivvy manager Leigh Robinson who is a former Dorchester boss, will be pitting his wits against Tom Killick. Poole parted company with their much heralded long-serving boss, nearly seven months ago and Killick initially went to Dorchester to assist Glenn Howes, but was soon appointed sole manager at the Avenue Stadium.
A healthy contingent of players that served him so long at the Dolphins have linked up with him again: central defender and Poole record appearance maker Will Spetch; midfield schemer Corby Moore; and Jack Dickson, whose impressive performances as a wide midfielder in this league have caught the eye, arrived in the first influx. Will Fletcher and, most recently, Luke Pardoe have also joined their former boss.
The Magpies’ firepower will come from Shaquille Gwengwe who, like Yellows’ Jack Rice, is into double figures this term, and Olaf Koszela, a popular player in his time at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium. Defender Ed James was an Exeter loanee with Tiverton during the previous campaign.
Robinson will have midfielder Marcio Neves available and Jack Veale, according to his manager, is very close to making to returning to action. Jamie Richards missed Saturday's game and will be a doubt for today and it is unlikely that Calum Thomas (shoulder injury) will play. Our first goalscorer on Saturday, Javan Wright, also appeared to take a knock.
This is the first of eight games in the final month of fixtures this term and the Yellows will be very much aware that their position, although improved, still remains precarious. Both teams had gruelling matches on heavy surfaces at the weekend and are playing well.
Can we build on an excellent display against Merthyr and turn our mini revival into something more substantial?
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