TIVVY ARCHIVE

Hendon 1 - 2 Tiverton Town

"Gold Army" ("Gold Army")
"Gold Army" ("Gold Army")
"Cold Army" ("Cold Army")
"Cold Army" ("Cold Army")
Yes - they were back - and in fine vocal form (although the use of the odd expletive still worries me).

It was a cloudless day with the sun streaming in‚ counteracting the bitter wind whistling around our knee-caps. But the pitch! To say it looked like a ploughed field does a terrible disservice to farmers - but at least Kevin Nancykokovill looked at home. (Where do these announcers find these extra syllables from?!?!).

Pity poor Hendon. Their pitch is a mess - thanks to the dubious decision way back in November from the referee of their FA Cup tie against the current darlings of this auspicious competition‚ Dagenham & Redbridge‚ who allowed that game to go ahead when the pitch was‚ by all accounts‚ in no fit state for football having been cut to shreds by Hendon´s Ryman Premier League fixture at home to Canvey Island two days earlier. Remember the floods - remember the rain? Since that time the pitch has resembled a jelly and even with a week of drying wind with not a hint of rain‚ it was still a quagmire - all except for the middle of the park which was almost perfect. This is due to the fact that it was this part of the pitch which has seen remedial action - and proves that it is possible to renovate the Claremont Road pitch (sorry‚ I can´t get used to calling it the Loot Stadium - a stadium it ain´t‚ and there is little loot around this financially-struggling club).

It is a vicious circle for them. Poor pitch means games are postponed which means that no money comes in through the turnstiles or over the bar which means that cash reserves are drained because players still need to get paid which means little or no money is available to spend on the pitch which means games are postponed....No wonder this was only the second game since that fateful November day‚ some 61 days earlier.

But it was the same for both sides and Tivvy had the advantage that they had played important games on quagmires over the years. You somehow felt that Hendon´s stylish‚ talented and fleet-footed stars would much rather have played away. You couldn´t play much football on this pitch. You had to get stuck in and battle for the full 90 minutes.

And let us recap my parting shot in the report of our Havant game... "I can´t believe we can repeat this feat on Saturday but at least it was good practice for this forthcoming FA Trophy game as both Havant and Hendon have similar styles and similarly talented players. Let´s hope that Hendon haven´t seen us play since Christmas. They could be in for a surprise..." Well‚ the opening ten minutes saw Tivvy almost camp in their half but most moves broke down thanks to a well-organised home defence combined with dubious bounces on the turf that meant players had to twist and turn just to keep the ball going in a straight line.

A mini-tussle on the half-way line by the aggressive Phil Gridelet on Steve Daly presumably did not go unnoticed because‚ in the 11th minute‚ Dales fouled Gridelet and‚ although the challenge was border-line‚ the youthful Mr Whitestone felt it necessary to caution Arfur. I make that his fourth booking in five games and it incensed the travelling fans who felt that the challenge was no worse than some executed by the home team. However‚ the ref had made his point.

Three minutes later‚ and on exactly the same blade of grass‚ Nick Marker tackled the lightweight Davis Haule - getting the ball off him - but catching Haule as he slithered through the mud. Not for the first time‚ a Hendon player went down in a heap. Often they would crumple when under the most innocuous of challenges and‚ having seen them play before‚ this is obviously a ploy to reap dividends from set pieces. However‚ in this instance‚ Haule had little option - and neither did the ref who promptly booked Marker. I find it amazing that an ex-pro does not know the laws of the game and that this sort of challenge will almost always elicit a booking - if not worse. Yet Marker has been booked many times this season for similar challenges - always protesting his innocence. Maybe I´ll pluck up the courage one day to talk to the great man about this...

Two minutes later‚ Hendon put together a rare string of passes and‚ for once‚ the ball ran true. David Adekola scampered through and‚ just as he was about to crash the ball past Paul Edwards‚ Daly put in a masterful challenge to sky the ball out of play. But it was all in vain as‚ from the resulting corner‚ Tivvy failed to clear and‚ with the ball bobbling around on the edge of the area‚ it was finally turned back in for Adekola to break Tivvy´s hearts with a lethal drive - the first person to beat Edwards in over 440 minutes since Atherstone´s 25th minute goal way back on December 16th.

Would Tivvy find their Premier opponents too strong and capitulate? That was my fear and‚ standing behind Paul Newell´s goal in the freezing wind‚ it was a desolate period with the ball rarely coming near. But Tivvy´s defence stayed firm and‚ gradually‚ we looked stronger going forward.

Then‚ out of the blue‚ Steve Daly advanced on Newell and‚ seeing a corner of the goal free‚ he let rip from 25 yards through a crowd of players. One of his specials. It was all Newell could do to parry the ball‚ it then rebounding off a defender´s arm. This diverted the ball to Phil Everett and he reacted instantly to slide in and send the ball over the line for the equaliser. The look on the ref´s face was a picture as he looked around to see if any offence had been committed in order to disallow this effort. To some it looked as if he was gutted. Another explanation was that he was stunned that Tivvy could explode forward like this having weathered Hendon pressure for so long. So let´s be charitable.

Three minutes after this equaliser‚ the ref once more failed to endear himself to the Tivvy fans as Warren Kelly went in on Scott Rogers with a two-footed challenge that didn´t even elicit a free kick - but left the midfielder writhing in agony.

However, he did show leniency towards Dales who made another tackle that could have seen him yellow-carded for the second time in the game but, apparently, the ref spoke to him and warned him that any further transgression would see him banished. It was possibly a crucial decision because even Hendon admitted that Daly bossed the game and his performance was crucial to Tivvy´s success. Saying that, though, it was difficult to fault anyone on what was, once again, a red-letter day for the Ambers. We are so, so lucky to follow a team that plays such stunning football whilst, at the same time, winning the majority of their games. Giant-killing was, once more, on the menu....

I´m not sure if his two excellent assistants said something to him at half-time but, apart from awarding a dubious free kick to Hendon in the opening seconds of the second half, Mr Whitestone proceeded to control the game pretty faultlessly in what were, it has to be said, difficult conditions.

And seven minutes into the half, Tivvy created space up front and it was that wonder pairing of Kevin Nancekivell and Phil Everett that prised open the home defence, Nance unselfishly crossing the ball to Phil when others might have had a crack. It was now Everett versus Newell and the lethal striker glanced up at the far corner of the goal before pulling back the trigger. Having taken his eye momentarily off the ball he was unaware that the bounce was not (surprise, surprise) true and his shot zipped under the diving body of the home custodian whereas, had the ball been aimed as intended, it was entirely possible that Newell could have got a hand to it and tipped it away. Fortune, they say, favours the brave - and Tivvy were certainly that today.

After 63 minutes, Gridelet scampered across the halfway line to upend Nancekivell in what looked an horrific challenge. Fortunately Nance immediately got up and Gridelet was only cautioned - but it could have been much, much worse for both.

The introduction of Boncho Gentchev after 69 minutes certainly increased the temperature by a few degrees and he executed one of the few worthwhile shots on goal. Fortunately for one and all his blistering volley cleared the bar and he was given little space to conjure up further magic.

By this time Dave Toomey had succumbed to a dead leg and been replaced by Steve Ovens and then, with five minutes left on the watch, Steve Winter was carried off having twisted awkwardly on the terrible surface to be replaced by Luke Vinnicombe. Let´s hope the injuries clear up in time for next Saturday.

Deep into injury time, Hendon made it 2-2, but this was not in goals, but in bookings - Simon Clarke bringing Everett to his knees with a clumsy challenge. And having played four minutes or so of injury time, Mr Whitestone blew his whistle for full time to send the vast majority of the 346 spectators into ecstacy. Tivvy were through to the last 32 of the Trophy!

The after-match celebrations, which saw Hendon´s clubhouse crammed to the gills, also found it reverberating when Phil Everett lead the hordes in his customary sing-song and it looked as if Tivvy would drink Hendon dry. An amazing end to an amazing display.

Hendon: Paul Newell, Iain Duncan, Simon Clarke, Jon Daly, Paul Towler, Paul Johnson (Paul Adolphe 78), David Adekola (Nathan Edwards 85), Warren Kelly, Dale Binns, Davis Haule (Boncho Gentchev 69), Phil Gridelet

Tiverton Town: Paul Edwards, Steve Winter (Luke Vinnicombe 85), Neil Saunders, Paul Tatterton, Nick Marker, Scott Rogers, Kevin Nancekivell, Dave Toomey (Steve Ovens 70), Phil Everett, Steve Daly, Stuart Smith