The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 2 - 1 Paget RangersSaturday 18/03/2000 Southern League First Division | Nigel Davis |
Let us put the record straight. Kevin Nancekivell entered this game having scored 100 competitive goals for Tivvy. His unheralded 100th occurred a week ago in the 2-1 victory at Redditch. Where the idea came that he was on 99 prior to this game against Paget‚ one can only guess. He notched 17 in his first season (1996/97) having joined in the November from Bideford. The following season saw him rattle in 34‚ 29 were scored last season and‚ prior to yesterday‚ a further 20. Not bad for a midfielder. After the game‚ young Kev approached me saying that he felt a bit embarrassed about the fact that he had told the rest of the team prior to this game that he had already scored his 100th. I hope that this sets his mind to rest that‚ indeed‚ he was right. So‚ to the game itself. Paget desperately needed the points as they hovered just one point above 21st placed Stourbridge. It was no surprise that they scrapped for everything‚ even if some of it was in a rather robust manner that led to two first half bookings‚ one after the break plus a dismissal. Tivvy started where they had left off at Warwick and Nancekivell was unlucky to be denied by the width of the crossbar as he connected‚ under pressure‚ with Stuart Smith´s left wing cross as early as the third minute. However‚ 11 minutes later‚ his angled drive from the right hand edge of the box saw the ball fly across the face of keeper Tony Rowe and squeeze inside the far post to put Tivvy ahead with his 104th goal for Tivvy. The game went down a gear with hardly any incidents of note apart from the two aforementioned bookings. The first came in the 19th minute when skipper Adam Whitehouse went OTT on Scott Rogers. Eighteen minutes later‚ Jamie Shipway was cautioned for dissent having been penalised for bundling Rogers to the ground. So Tivvy took the slenderest of leads into the dressing room at half time‚ heartened by the news that Moor Green were losing 1-0 at home to Blakenall. Just eight minutes after the break we witnessed one of the best goals at Ladysmead for years. Paul Tatterton nipped the ball off an opponent´s boot on the edge of the Tivvy area. He took a couple of strides before turning the ball inside to Kevin Nancekivell who‚ deep inside the Tivvy half‚ embarked on a 60-yard run which saw the effervescent midfielder take on‚ and beat‚ over half of the Paget team before stroking the ball home from the edge of the visitor´s box. A truly magnificent goal. Three minutes later‚ Paget brought on Noel Malcolm for Shipway. Virtually his first touch of the ball came a minute later when Rowe punted the ball downfield‚ Malcolm ran onto it‚ Neil Saunders ran across his path then‚ crash‚ Malcolm rifled the ball left-footed into the far netting to make it 2-1. A real route one goal. Simple‚ but effective. With 25 minutes to go‚ Dave Leonard and Steve Ovens replaced Stuart Smith and Pete Varley respectively. Four minutes later‚ Malcolm became the third Paget player to be cautioned - for a foul on Paul Tatterton and‚ immediately‚ Paget brought on Luke Jones for Dean Wright. A couple of minutes later Stuart Clark tried to wrestle Dave Leonard to the ground‚ with Leonard in possession of the ball. Clark then went down like a sack of potatoes‚ claiming he had been struck in the face. The referee was having none of that and‚ a couple of minutes after play resumed‚ we witnessed some ugly scenes. Clark went in on Leonard‚ right in front of the Tivvy dugout. It looked as if he kicked him in the face and‚ when Dai Morgan went scuttling off the bench to treat Leonard‚ Clark bundled Dai over. A melee ensued and‚ once it had all calmed down‚ Clark was dismissed. The remainder of the game saw Tivvy dictate and Nancekivell was unlucky not to score his hattrick when he failed to properly connect with Dominic Richardson´s cross in the 88th minute. The final card was played by Paget who wasted precious seconds deep into injury time by substituting Ben Usher for Whitehouse. Line up: Edwards‚ Richardson‚ Saunders‚ Tatterton, Marker, Conning, Nancekivell, Varley, Everett, Rogers, Smith. Subs: Leonard (Smith 65), Ovens (Varley 65), Vinnicombe. |
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