TIVVY ARCHIVE

Yate Town 0 - 1 Tiverton Town

Yate Town deserve a lot of credit for getting the pitch free of snow and ice and in a condition that, while it couldn’t possibly be called immaculate was still in a perfectly playable state. And better still was that the surface held up well throughout the evening, although this might have partly been down to the fact that there was very little football played on it throughout the League Cup match.

It wasn’t that both teams were resorting to hoof-ball tactics, not at all, but for Tivvy it was like the first day back at school – ease back into things slowly, act with plenty of caution and make sure you aren’t the first pupil summoned to the head’s office. Yate had enjoyed a bit more practice and in fact earned a fine point against Paulton Rovers three days earlier, so their eye was already in and this showed for the majority of the game as the home side looked smoother and better polished on the whole.

However, it most certainly wasn’t all one-way traffic and for the first twenty minutes or so Tiverton were the more progressive side from front to back. Just four minutes had passed when the first sight at goal was carved out; a familiar Tiverton move saw Sam Malsom spread the ball wide to the left into the path of the omnipresent Elliott Frear. Young Elliott hit the by-line and lifted in a cross that swung outwards just far enough so that Yet goalkeeper Josh Dempsey was forced to stay put, and Joe Bushin rushed in to meet the cross in mid-flight, but his header went up and over the crossbar.

Frear and Alex Faux looked to take the game to Yate as most of the forward momentum from Tivvy came down the left side, but too often the final ball was left wanting or never arrived, and Yate held out until they were caught out – an attack down the right flummoxing the home side and ultimately creating the opening. It was the other Faux, Adam, who broke free and his low cross was cut out and sent behind by the soon to be bloodstained Tom Warren. Frear trotted across to take the corner and scuffed it in low, perfect insomuch that the rebound fell straight back to his feet and allowed him a second chance. This time the cross was higher, the Yate defence stepped forward in a terrible attempt to utilise the offside trap, and Joe Bushin smartly sauntered forward with perfect timing to head past Dempsey from close range.

Two minutes later Malsom hit the post with a bobbling effort that lacked conviction after he had made a straight run onto a classy diagonal through ball from Jamie Hatch. Dempsey was able to smother the ball as it rebounded from the base of the woodwork, and all told, that, after seventeen minutes, was the sum total of Tiverton’s genuine chances on goal. Malsom did blaze a shot yards over the top from well outside the area on the stroke of half time, and in the second half a series of corners instigated a series of scrambles in the area as the ball refused to sit kindly for any yellow shirted player.

For their part Yate didn’t exactly overwhelm the Tiverton defence with stress, although certainly Russ Church should have done better when presented with a one-on-one situation as a pass from Edd Vahid separated the Yellow defence like the Red Sea. After the change of ends Marc Hughes glanced a header straight at Steve Book, and fresh legs for the home side almost proved their worth as both Liam Fussell and Adie Adams found space in and around the Tiverton right back area.

By this time the Yellows had reshuffled as Mike Booth was withdrawn leaving Faux the elder to slot into the centre and Colin Marshall to fill the game on the right. Marshall isn’t a right back and Yate exploited this to a degree, although the only shot that was forthcoming, again from Church, was batted down and behind by Book at his near post. And so the game wore on as the temperature dropped. Yate huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow the Tiverton house down, and in fact they did a lot of running and moving without ever getting very far at all. It was the story of the game – lots of passing around in midfield, lots of balls out wide, and lots of attacks quickly breaking down.

So Tiverton move into the last eight of the League Cup. 64 people saw it happen so it must be true!

Yate Town: Josh Dempsey, Tom Warren (Aron Robbins 52), Matt Hale, Marc Hughes, Jason Burt, John McAlindon, Sam Duggan, Edd Vahid, Adam White (Adie Adams 70), Russ Church, Zayne Simpson (Liam Fussell 70)
Booked: None
Sent off: None

Tiverton Town: Steve Book, Adam Faux, Alex Faux (Daniel Jewel 79), Mike Booth (Matt Bye 74), Nathan Rudge, Tom Gardner, Jamie Hatch, Colin Marshall, Joe Bushin (Mark Saunders 84), Sam Malsom, Elliott Frear
Goals: Bushin 15
Booked: Hatch 66, Bushin 83
Sent off: None

Attendance: 64