TIVVY ARCHIVE

Swindon Supermarine 3 - 0 Tiverton Town

Very little is decided in the middle of November which from a Tiverton Town FC point of view is a jolly good thing. A humbling defeat at Swindon was the Yellows’ sixth consecutive league loss and with no win in eight outings the drop zone is in danger of acting like football’s version of a black hole, swallowing up Tiverton and never letting go. One goal in the first half and two in the second was more than enough as Swindon even enjoyed the luxury of resting a number of regulars yet still cruised to a victory that was in doubt only early on as they struggled to beat Ryan Draper, the one and only bright spark in a Tiverton side that was not so much off colour but rather ten shades of grey.

Incessant attacks from Swindon, wave after wave, was the result of Town’s inability to exert any authority on the midfield areas, and so poor Adam Mortimer and Nathan Walter at the top end of the pitch didn’t even have scraps to feed off for most of the game. Defensively – at least without the ball – Tiverton were acceptable, but the pressure from Supermarine’s wide players meant no time on the ball and the need to rush clearances on a slippery yet playable surface.

Notwithstanding the fact that Swindon’s bench was made up of five players that would normally start, and their captain wasn’t even in the squad the home side dominated from the first whistle and contrived to not take the lead after twelve minutes when Draper parried Justyn McKay’s free kick and Chris Taylor somehow put the rebound into orbit. Luke Hopper then soon got in behind the Tiverton defence but his shot went a foot or two wide as Draper scrambled across.

Never mind, they thought, the time will come, and it did just past the half hour mark. Draper again excelled to push away Steve Cook’s skipping low effort but this time Luke Hopper gobbled up the rebound sharply and squeezed the ball into the net at the near post despite another heroic effort from the Tivvy goalkeeper.

Yellow had become pink for the evening and for the most part the Tivvy teammates continued to play like strangers, and a 25-yard effort from David Steele was Town’s only effort on goal in the first half, a shot that finished perhaps the only move from the sorry visitors that reached three successful passes on the trot. Meanwhile Draper was busy and flew left to superbly deny Sam Morris’ lethal shot from just outside the area.

One down at half time, Tivvy needed to up the tempo and keep hold of the ball but they simply couldn’t match Supermarine at any stage and in any area of the pitch. Russell Jee typified the poor pink effort by carelessly conceding possession and allowing Morris another sighter, this one skimming just wide of Draper’s post.

Under the cosh and eventually under pressure in their own area, Tiverton conceded yet another penalty just before the hour mark as Jak Martin barged into and upended the annoyingly impressive Nick Stanley. It was clumsy and unnecessary, at the corner of the area and close to the goal line but Stanley didn’t care one bit, picked himself up and rammed the spot kick low to Draper’s left. Draper guessed correctly but Stanley’s shot was struck with so much purpose that not even the best goalkeeper in the world would have had a hope of stopping it.

Time wasn’t running out quickly enough for Tiverton who showed no indication that there was any way back, and so the clock ticked and we could wait only for another Swindon goal. Before that arrived, as it inevitably did, Adam Faux picked up a second yellow card of the evening, making the task even greater. And with a little under ten minutes remaining the icing was put on the Supermarine cake with a fine goal from Cook, a diving header at the far post to convert substitute Ben Wells’ cross. Three-nil might have been eight-nil but for some sublime goalkeeping from Draper who denied just about every Swindon player that tried his luck, from this angle and that, headers, low shots, high shots, chips and drives. Ryan Draper could be proud of his performance, the rest of the Tivvy squad could be nothing but embarrassed.

Swindon Supermarine: Will Puddy, Kyle Lapham, Danny Allen, Justyn McKay, Leigh Henry, Dave Bampton (Gary Horgan 73), Sam Morris (Ben Wells 63), Steve Cook, Luke Hopper, Chris Taylor, Nick Stanley
Goals: Hopper 33, Stanley 59p, Cook 83
Booked: McKay 81
Sent off: None

Tiverton Town: Ryan Draper, Adam Faux, Jordan Trott, Ian Sampson (Liam Ellis 77), Jak Martin, Tom Gardner, David Steele, Perry Carpenter (Jamie Densham 63), Adam Mortimer, Nathan Walter, Russell Jee (Chris Vinnicombe 63)
Booked: Faux 43, 79, Mortimer 88, Ellis 90
Sent off: Faux 79

Attendance: 108