TIVVY ARCHIVE

Tiverton Town 0 - 1 Swindon Supermarine

Joe Bushin was shown a straight red card as Tiverton struggled to chase down a first half lead against Swindon Supermarine at Ladysmead on Tuesday night, and the eventual defeat leaves the Yellows in the final relegation spot, a position that is under jeopardy as Weymouth take to the field against Didcot two days later. Anything but a home win will see Tivvy drop a further place in the standings with just Halesowen below.

There was seldom any indication that the game would ever spring to life, at least not in a positive way, and both teams were forced into fielding just about everyone that was available as they both found their respective squads threadbare. For Tivvy Jak Martin was unavailable due to work commitments, Russell Jee was ruled out after suffering an injury at work, Ian Sampson was still not fit to start and Mark Saunders has been struggling since December. That meant that Liam Ellis’s versatility saw him deployed on the right side of a four-man defence while Ryan Turner returned to the left wing and David Steele gained his first start in three games. There were problems of equal magnitude in the away dressing room as Swindon had lost Leigh Henry and Jacob Erskine in the week leading up to the game, adding to the departure of their management team. Caretaker manager Matt Robinson was also unavailable as was Ashan Holgate, so Jack Hopper was brought into the team for his debut, and the relatively inexperienced Jon Beedon started in the heart of the defence.

Both teams had spells of possession but neither goalkeeper was unduly extended in the opening stages, with Tiverton perhaps marginally on top. But gradually the balance swayed in favour of the visitors and they enjoyed a good ten-minute spell, at the end of which they made it count with the only goal of the game. It was a goal of disturbing simplicity as Hopper laid the ball off and Mitchell Bryant found space on the edge of the penalty area, moved the ball out of his feet and slammed in a low shot under no pressure. A well struck effort but one that should have been harried.

Tivvy’s best chance came just three minutes later when eventual villain Bushin forced his way past Beeden and shot low with his left foot, only for portly goalkeeper James Rae to turn the ball behind with an outstretched right boot..

That was Rae’s only save; otherwise his duties for the evening consisted of gathering in crosses when unchallenged and taking a month of Sundays over his goal kicks. But such gamesmanship was typical of the match as a whole – niggling fouls were common, on occasions they turned to unduly agricultural offences, and Dave Bampton was lucky to see only a yellow card late in the first half for a lunge on Alex Faux.

Hopper should have doubled the Swindon lead midway through the second half but volleyed alarmingly high when open inside the area, and that really was about that as far as goalscoring chances went. Naturally enough Tiverton forced the issue towards the end of the game, but they had to do so without Bushin who was sent off for a reckless challenge on Gary Horgan. However, the delivery was generally poor from both sides, none more so that Ryan Leonard’s cutback from the right by-line that drifted behind both Michael Nardiello and the introduced Sampson. Leonard and Hill were both booked late on for dissent which typifies the game as a whole. It wasn’t played in good spirits, it wasn’t helped by a referee that seemed out of his depth, and it won’t be remembered for too long.

Tiverton Town: Ryan Draper, Liam Ellis, Alex Faux (Adam Mortimer 74), Kevin Hill, Adam Faux, Tom Gardner, Ryan Turner (Ian Sampson 55), David Steele, Michael Nardiello, Joe Bushin, Ryan Leonard
Booked: Alex Faux 35, Hill 89, Leonard 89
Sent off: Bushin 65

Swindon Supermarine: James Rae, Gary Horgan, Danny Allen, Sam Morris, Jon Beedon, Dave Bampton, Ben Wells, Luke Hopper, Jack Hopper, Mitchell Bryant, Nick Stanley
Goal: Bryant 25
Booked: Bryant 23, Bampton 43, Allen 44
Sent off: None

Attendance: 229