Under 11s - More News & Reports
Tiverton Town 5 - 1 Sidmouth Warriors
Today Tivvy had to show their not just a good attacking team and proved their defensive responsibilities were up to a high standard as an impressive and well organised Sidmouth side gave them their toughest test yet this season. Sidmouth started strong and for most of the first half had Tivvy on the back foot, but Tivvy defended superbly as a unit and broke well when they got chance. It was Tivvy who suprisingly took the lead though on the break when Lloyd White broke free from his man to the edge of the box and fired a fierce right foot shot in off the underside of the crossbar. Soon after Tivvy went 2-0 up when Ethan Osbon used quick feet to break into the box but was taken down for a penalty, which was calmly slotted away by Lucas White. Sidmouth stuck to their game though and played some lovely stuff to put the pressure back on Tivvy and got their reward when a lobbed effort found its way into the back of the net to bring them back in contention. Just before half time though Tivvy won a corner and when Harry Butler swung it in Tyler Hawkins did well to burry it past the diving Sidmouth keeper with a sweet right foot volley to send Tivvy into the break 3-1 up. The second half was well contested by both teams with bags of effort and ability on display. Tivvy started to get their passing game together again and at times played some lovely one touch football. Sidmouth also proved hard to break down though as they defended well when required. However Tivvy edged the game due to their stamina and hard work as a team when defending and their ability to create something out of nothing when going forward. A further two goals were scored by Tivvy in the latter part of the game, a thumping strike by Harry Butler from distance and a close range goal from Ethan Osbon to end the game 5-1 to the home side. Well done to Jay Woodward who had a good game between the sticks for Tivvy, standing in for the injured Bailey Cole. Another good result for Tivvy but overall a bit flattering for them in what was a much closer game then the scoreline reflects. Good luck to Sidmouth for the rest of the season.
Stoke Hill 1 - 6 Tiverton Town
Tivvy started the new year the way they finished the last, with a fantastic display of football to beat Stoke Hill 1-6 and keep themselves at the top of the pile.
The first half of the game was well contested as Stoke Hill were up to the challenge and came out strong, Tivvy however looked to have the edge but couldn't quite find the right pass in the final third of the pitch, several corners also eluded clear chances for Tivvy before Stoke Hill's attack down the left saw a cross come in which wasn't dealt with well in the box and came through to a man at the far post who smashed it into the roof of the net for 1-0 to Stoke Hill. This sparked Tivvy into a reaction and resulted in a tense but enthralling first half of football where both sides worked extremely hard.
It was centre back Lucas White though who seperated the teams before the break, endless good corners from Harry Butler were being swung into the box as Tivvy piled on the pressure to get an equaliser and after a lofted corner to the far post was nodded down by Toby Hide neatly into the path of Lucas White he fired with a right foot volley into the bottom corner to put the scores level. A few minutes later this was almost mirrored, this time the ball just dropped in a crowded box but again Lucas White was first to react and drill the ball past the helpless keeper. Tivvy nearly made it 3 before half time when on three occasions striker Lloyd White made good run's but the passes were just too heavy and the Stoke Hill keeper was able to come out and claim before he could get there.
The second half of the game Tivvy were much stronger, they kept possesion better and were more clinical with their chances. Tivvy went 1-3 up just inside the second half when Ethan Osbon showed his abundance of pace as his run from the halfway line saw him superbly fly past two defenders before nicely poking the ball underneath the body of the on rushing keeper, an excellent goal to watch. With the confidence of the 2 goal lead Tivvy were pushing forward with creative passing which opened up the Stoke Hill backline. The score was made 1-4 when Harry Butler found space outside the box and in true 'Butty' style, thumped the ball with tremendous power into the back of the net almost taking the keeper with it. Loan striker Lloyd White had worked tirelessly hard for the team all game, holding up the ball, closing down defenders and unselfishly brining other people into play, he was rewarded for this with his involvement in the last two goals, firstly he drilled a shot from outside the box after a corner, which looked to be going just wide but Tyler Hawkins, making his way out of the goalmouth did well to get in front the diving keeper and flick with his head into the opposite corner. And the scoring was rounded off when Lloyd did well to create space for himself just inside the box and fire home for a deserved goal and 1-6 away win for Tivvy.
Well done lads, without listing all the names, every single one of you played extremely well and should be proud of yourselves, but a mention must go to Luke Scampton who played a fantastic first half in a new position which could prove effective in latter games, Jay Woodward who played well when he came on outfield, especially after the couple physical challeges he was handed and Reis Pektemiz who was a good captain on the day and was very vocal. Keep up the good work everyone, what a team, i'm enjoying every second, which i'm sure your parents are too!!!!
Tiverton Town 9 - 4 Alphington Lions
Tiverton continued their fine form with a staggering first half performance against an alphington side who had found form in recent weeks. Tivvy's passing and attack play was awesome right from the off, putting Alphington immediately on the back foot. Harry Butler, in great form recently, showed why he is rated as the best left winger in the league, providing constant dangerous crosses which led to Tivvy's first 3 goals. Toby Hide met one with a good header before Lloyd White scored a brace to take his total this season to 15 goals in 7 games, one on the volley and the other he controlled well before placing into the bottom corner. Tivvy had ability on both flanks though and speedy Ryan Morgan became provider for Tivvy's forth, using his pace to get to the by-line before pulling the ball back to Toby Hide to tap in for his brace also. The first half was rounded off nicely when Joe Greenslade went on a skillful run from the right back position, past 3 players to the corner flag before setting the ball back with a nice weight for Tyler Hawkins to swing in a dangerous cross to the far post where Ethan Osbon was unmarked, had time to bring it down and slot home for 5-0 to Tivvy.
At the beginning of the second half Alphington got themselves on the scoresheet to give Tivvy something to think about. The lads re-acted well to this, immediately going on the front foot, controlling possesion and adding another 3 good goals to take the scoreline to 8-1 to Tivvy, which consisted of a well deserved brace from Harry Butler and a tidy finish from Luke Scampton.
Tivvy did take their foot off the pedal with such a lead and Alphington took advantage of this, 3 goals in not more than 5 or 6 minutes rattled the Tivvy lads and showed them what complacency can cause you when playing in Division 1.
. At 8-4 though Tivvy learnt quickly from this and were not going to give anything else away and again took control of the game to the final whistle, in this time, Tivvy could have scored a few more goals had it not been for some good saves from the Alphington keeper. However Lucas White rounded off a 9-4 win with a good strike before time.
At this level of football, and with all teams learning to play on bigger pitches, alot of games are won in the second half as tiredness takes its toll and the clever teams take advantage, however this was not the case. The Tivvy lads were truly fantastic in the first half and proved exactly why they are the team to beat, not many teams in Division 1 against strong opposition will dominate a first half of football and go in at half time with a comfortable 5-0 scoreline having totally controlled the half with superb retention of the ball and endless ideas of creativity to carve out chance after chance. Well done lads, another great performance, good on ya!!!
Tiverton Town 7 - 2 Twyford Madrid
Tivvy kept their 3 point lead at the top of division 1 and remained unbeaten, with an emphatic display of football against local rivals Twyford Madrid.
Having started the better of the two teams the only thing Tivvy lacked was a goal and it was Twyford who surprisingly took the lead within the first 10 minutes after a long ball wasn't dealt with by the Tivvy defence allowing the Twyford striker to get in behind and finish with a good strike first time low into the bottom corner behind the reach of the diving Bailey Cole. This spurred Tivvy on more and their build up play and crossing ability was second to none with endless chances eluding the back of the Twyford net. It was only a matter of time before Tivvy got their equliser and it came in the form of Harry Butler, he found space well onto his leathel left foot and struck a lovely low drive into the bottom corner. Tivvy defended well when required and immediately got forward with more flowing direct passing and looked to be playing football far beyond their years.
Tivvy finally took the lead they so deserved when some great build up play on the right from Ryan Morgan, who was a menace to the Twyford left back, put striker Lloyd White through on goal and he was unlucky as his strike came off the post, only for the hard working midfielder Ethan Osbon to come flying into the box and bang the rebound over the line for 2-1. Just before the break Tivvy opened the gap more when Harry Butler, who was having an awesome game, struck another left foot bullett high into the top right hand corner of the Twyford net. A brillant first half display bringing the team in with a 3-1 lead, which could have been more had it not been for the Twyford keeper and some resolute defending.
Tivvy came out even stronger in the second half with probably their best display of the season so far. Fantastic passing and support play off the ball caused plenty of problems for the Twyford backline, with yet again lots of chances going close but not quite finding the end product. Eventually Tivvy went 4-1 up when a long range free kick was driven superbly by Lucas White, the Twyford keeper did well to tip it up to hit the bottom of the crossbar but the rebound came down and was prodded over the line by Toby Hide with his knee.
Twyford did respond well to this and had probably their best 5 minutes or so of the game, forcing a couple corners in succession before winning a free kick on the edge of the Tivvy box, which was driven through a crowded box and Jay Woodward, replacing Bailey Cole between the sticks was unfortunate to get a hand to it but the shot was too strong, 4-2 to Tivvy and hope for Twyford.
To be fiar though after conceeding that goal Tivvy defended superbly high on the halfway line and the rest of the game was mainly spent in the Twyford half of the pitch. Again creating chance after chance and doing brilliantly to retain possesion of the ball and not forcing their attacks with good patient build ups.
The score was increased with what can only be described as one of the goals of the season, not sure if he meant it but i'm sure he will claim he did, the Twyford keeper took a place kick from the far right corner of his box which he sent well into the air and just over the halfway line, where Toby Hide did brilliantly to meet it with a sweet right foot volley sending it far into the other corner of the net beyond the keepers reach for 5-2 to Tivvy.
Lucas White went on a mazy run through the centre past 3 or 4 players into the box and finished well to extend the lead to 6-2 and pure pressure from the Tivvy attack for the last 5 minutes of the game ended just before the final whistle when a loose ball out of the box was driven hard past the keeper by Tyler Hawkins to end the game 7-2 to Tivvy.
An excellent game to watch, Twyford never gave up and made a game of it right to the final whistle but lost to a tremendous Tiverton Town Youth side who keep impressing me week after week. Not only have the lads played good football so far this season, they have taken the bad bits from each game and worked as a team to improve them and prove they are not content to just play, they want to learn and get better and better, showing no matter how well you play there is always room for improvement, this for me as a manager is lovely to work with for a group of under 11's, fantastic lads, proud of every single one of you!!!
Dawlish 1 - 5 Tiverton Town
Tivvy progressed through the first round of the cup against a resolute Dawlish side after a Harry Stoneman header put the game beyond the home teams reach following a tense 50 minutes of the match.
After a tough away fixture last week where Tivvy struggled to keep possession of the ball, the lads went into this game knowing they had to put in a good team performance and prove they can retain the ball as a team. They certainly proved this, perhaps too well, the lads knocked the ball around the pitch with confidence, using the full width and not being afraid to play backwards when required, however, in doing this they failed to get the ball forward enough to trouble a Dawlish team who defended their lines well and at times in the first quarter of an hour or so proved they could be dangerous on the break when winning the ball.
As the half went on Tivvy realised they had to be clever to try and find holes between the Dawlish defence and started to move the ball a bit faster, this resulted in Tivvy having several corners in succession but failed to get the vital touch in the box. The first real chance finally came to Tivvy though when Tyler Hawkins found space outside the box and curled a nice effort towards the far top cornner only for it to bounce off the top of the croossbar. Dawlish reacted well to this though and almost immediately after created their own good move to beat the Tivvy defence and put the striker through on goal but Tivvy's keeper Bailey Cole came flying off his line well to spread himself and save with his feet. Tivvy still continued to knock the ball round well and pressed the Dawlish defence back towards the end of the half, Tyler Hawkins again hit the woodwork with a good strike before striker Lloyd White finally put Tivvy in front, striking a shot too powerful for the Dawlish keeper after he was put through from a superb bit of play from Liam Gillbard. Just before the break though, Tivvy let Dawlish through and conceeded a sloppy corner, the resulting corner was curled in at the near post where Tivvy had failed to put a player having not organised themselves properly and the ball found the back of the net to put the home team level and give them hope in the second half.
We talked in the break about how the passing is good, but it needed to be more progressive and quicker towards the Dawlish goal before they had time to get bodies behind the ball. Tivvy came out into the second half and did exactly this, the passing was good, and the cances came up constantly as Dawlish were having to spend much of the time in their final third of the pitch, but whatever Tivvy threw at them, Dawlish matched it defensively, they got behind the ball well, blocked shots, tackled well, conceeded corners and the keeper was on fine form too with some great saves, the first being a thumping long range effort from centre back Lucas White, which the keeper tipped onto the bar. Joe Greenslade, Liam Gillbard, Toby Hide, Lloyd White and Tyler Hawkins all had really good goal bound efforts blocked, before probably less than ten minutes from time Tivvy fianlly got the goal they deserved.
It was a corner which came into a crowded box, took a wicked deflection and looped back up in the air in front of goal and the tall figure of Harry Stoneman was first to react and leap forward to poke over the line with his head to put Tivvy 2-1 up, relax the rest of the team and supporters and look to book a place in the next round. Unfortunately for Dawlish, this seemed to knock them for six, and everything they had worked so hard to keep suddenly fell apart as immediately after the goal Toby Hide broke well into the lefthand side of the box and struck a sweet low drive across goal, the stretching Dawlish keeper did well to stretch and save but right into the path of the support run from Tyler Hawkins and he poked the rebound over the line for 3-1. Tivvy were now flowing forward in these final minutes and when Luke Scampton did brilliantly to break into the box and get a touch on the ball before the lunging defender a penalty was the only option for the ref when Luke was upended. Lucas White stepped up to take the spot kick and finished nicely to the keepers right. The scoring was then rounded off when Lloyd White was put through one on one with the keeper and finished comfortably. Dawlish were unlucky right at the end not to get a deserved consolation goal when a good effort struck the croosbar, but the score finished 5-1 to Tivvy.
A better team performance this week from Tivvy with all the lads playing well, especially Liam Gillbard and Harry Stoneman, having their best games in a Tivvy shirt, well done on booking a place in the 2nd round of the cup Tivvy. Well done also to Dawlish, proving to be a stronger team then their current league position in devision 2 suggest, good luck in the plate competition.
Whipton Youth 0 - 1 Tiverton Town
Tivvy travelled to exeter for this top of division 1 clash against whipton, which proved to be a well contested game between two good sides who just wanted to play football, the weeks bad weather had installed doupts that the game might not go ahead but whipton's pitch was in nice condition and both teams were eager to commence.
The first few minutes were a bit erratic from both teams as they struggled to settle into a game both teams were so eager to win and passes were going astray, it was whipton first though who started to look calmer in possesion and started to knock the ball round well making tivvy work hard for it. However, when tivvy got the ball they looked a tad more dangerous in their attacks which resulted in them getting an early corner, this was the first real chance of the game, Harry Butler swung it in and Lucas White met it with a lovely looping header to the far post which had the keeper beat but bounced off the top of the crossbar. Whipton reacted well to this and their flowing passing game was nearly opening gaps between the tivvy backline, but Bailey Cole was quick to react off his line to pick up loose balls and at times tivvy's defence had to make last ditch challenges.
Tivvy had the next better chance of the first half though, Lucas White played a lovely through ball to the on running Luke Scampton who did well to stretch to get there before the keeper but his effort rebounded off the post. Overall the first half was whipton's with possesion but tivvy's through chances, which set up for a great second half.
Tivvy were slightly more dominant in the second half, creating more chances but struggling to find the final killer ball, or when through on goal the whipton keeper replied with a good save. Whipton however were still dangerous on the break and again connected there passes well but when approaching the tivvy area, they were held up well and forced into long range efforts wide of goal or their long range efforts blocked by some good defending.
The deadlock was finally broken midway through the half though by tivvy, Toby Hide took a throw-in on the left flank and sent it over the back of the whipton right back to striker Lloyd White, his first touch was a good one, taking him inside the box and onto his favoured right foot, and when he saw the gap he struck a low drive across the face of the keeper and into the far corner for 0-1 to tivvy.
The rest of the game was fairly even and fantastic to watch, Whipton tried to work an equaliser but tivvy kept the work rate up to keep there lead and not conceed with some good defending and also still carved out more chances going forward, hitting the post again when a Lucas white corner was curled in untouched and came off the woodwork, and two goalmouth scrambles being well cleared off the line by whipton.
The game finished 0-1 to tivvy, who i thought overall deserved their win, although it wasn't for the lack of whipton's ability, they were fantastic opponents and it was a great game to watch, which on another day could have gone the other way.
It was really good to stand on the sidelines and see two teams of 10 year old lads, fully committed to getting a result, play the game the way it should be played, with great ability and in a friendly atmosphere. Thanks to whipton for being good host.
Well done Tivvy lads on another good team performance, keeping a clean sheet and still being unbeaten. A good and important win for Tiverton Town.
Tivvy had the next better chance of the first half though, Lucas White played a lovely through ball to the on running Luke Scampton who did well to stretch to get there before the keeper but his effort rebounded off the post. Overall the first half was whipton's with possesion but tivvy's through chances, which set up for a great second half.
Tivvy were slightly more dominant in the second half, creating more chances but struggling to find the final killer ball, or when through on goal the whipton keeper replied with a good save. Whipton however were still dangerous on the break and again connected there passes well but when approaching the tivvy area, they were held up well and forced into long range efforts wide of goal or their long range efforts blocked by some good defending.
The deadlock was finally broken midway through the half though by tivvy, Toby Hide took a throw-in on the left flank and sent it over the back of the whipton right back to striker Lloyd White, his first touch was a good one, taking him inside the box and onto his favoured right foot, and when he saw the gap he struck a low drive across the face of the keeper and into the far corner for 0-1 to tivvy.
The rest of the game was fairly even and fantastic to watch, Whipton tried to work an equaliser but tivvy kept the work rate up to keep there lead and not conceed with some good defending and also still carved out more chances going forward, hitting the post again when a Lucas white corner was curled in untouched and came off the woodwork, and two goalmouth scrambles being well cleared off the line by whipton.
The game finished 0-1 to tivvy, who i thought overall deserved their win, although it wasn't for the lack of whipton's ability, they were fantastic opponents and it was a great game to watch, which on another day could have gone the other way.
It was really good to stand on the sidelines and see two teams of 10 year old lads, fully committed to getting a result, play the game the way it should be played, with great ability and in a friendly atmosphere. Thanks to whipton for being good host.
Well done Tivvy lads on another good team performance, keeping a clean sheet and still being unbeaten. A good and important win for Tiverton Town.
Tiverton 11 - 1 Central City
The Tivvy lads put in another convincing performance this saturday with an 11-1 win at home against Central City to keep themselves at the top of the league table.
A good team performance saw striker Lloyd White score a hat-trick with further goals coming from Lucas White, Harry Butler, Toby Hide, Tyler Hawkins, Luke Scampton, Ryan Morgan, Brad Messenger and Joe Greenslade.
Goalkeepers Bailey Cole (1st half) and Jay Woodward (2nd half) both had good games, along with defenders Ethan Osbon and Reis Pektemiz.
The teams overall movement and support play when going forward was excellent, which is proven by the range of different goalscorers throughout this game, well done lads, keep up the good work.
Credit must also go to the Central, who, with limited players, never gave up right to the final whistle and really gave us a much better game than the scoreline reflects.
Westexe Exiles 0 - 0 Tiverton Town
I was expected to travel to Exeter and recieve a fairly tough test in this fixture, but i was wrong. This, i now know, will be the TOUGHEST away fixture for any team in the league, not due to the quality of football from the Exiles team but their physicality!! Also, for any team that likes to play football from the back, as do Tivvy, and as we SHOULD be coaching any young english players to do, it is practically impossible when starting with a placed goal kick. The pitch is marked out slightly longer than a 9 aside should be, but with 9 aside width and believe it or not, a FULL size penalty area, therefore the sides of the area are approximately 1 metre from the touchline, giving no room for a left or right back to recieve a pass from the keeper, obviously not being aloud to touch it until outside the area! And also giving the lads a 12 yard (Adult distance) penalty spot to shoot in a 16 by 7 goal!
The first 5 minutes Exiles passed the ball well as Tivvy took a while to wake up, but once Tivvy found their stride and started to carve out chances playing nice football, Exiles became very physical in their challenges and resulted to playing the long ball down the field to try and counter attack Tivvy. This made for a very frustrating game, Tivvy's flow was constantly stopped from an awful challenge, push or complete shove. To be fair this did result in an early chance for Tivvy to take the lead after a clattering challenge on Lloyd White after a nice one-two with Toby Hide out wide on the left saw the ref award a free-kick, oh no, actually a penalty (forgot how big the area was there),
Brad Messenger stepped up to take the penalty (from 12 yards), struck a nice effort to the keeper's left but he saved well to keep the scores level.
The rest of the first half was a complete battle with the Tivvy lads having to get involved in the type of game we'd rather avoid. Tivvy had a few chances to take the lead though with Lloyd White shooting wide with two one on one's with the keeper and a couple goal mouth scramble's were cleared by Exiles. Tivvy's defence were playing well, sniffing out any chance of an Exiles goal against the run of play. And the Tivvy midfield were very impressive sticking to what they know best - football.
The second half Tivvy turned the screw alot more but couldn't find the back of the net after creating several extremely good opportunities to do so. Exiles long ball's were still dangerous though and Tivvy had to work continually hard to keep them at bay. Sadly, midway through the second half was marred by an awful challenge in the box on Brad Messenger which resulted in him being taken off injured, no penalty was awarded nor the game even stopped until a member of the Tivvy coaching staff ran to his aid!!
A shocking game to watch, bad challenges were not stamped out from the start and it made for a terrible match to watch 10 year old lads involved in, at times i wished i had walked my team off the pitch and let the Exiles team have the win that they so eagerly craved and would resort to anything to get. But i must say, i am so proud of the Tivvy lads to show that they can take anything that comes their way, stick to playing their good football, not conceed a goal and still walk away unbeaten, knowing we were the better team and deserved to come away with the win.
Sidmouth Warriors 2 - 5 Tiverton Town
To be totally honest this was a much harder game then previously anticipated. Sidmouth were a well organised, hard working team who got bodies behind the ball well and when in possession moved the ball well with pace and accuracy. You could see from the first 5 minutes this was going to be a tougher test for Tiverton, both teams were passing well and were all comfortable in possesion of the ball which was a pleasure to watch.
An attack from Tivvy on about the 7 minute mark resulted in a corner, having spent a whole training session on corners in the week building up to the game we were eager to see if the lads could make them effective. Tyler Hawkins swung in a lovely corner and the attacking players made good run's with Lucas White nearly getting on the end of it before it was cleared out for another corner, Tyler provided a nice delivery once again which dipped in the area and rebounded off Toby Hide's hip, who made a positive run into the box, and ended up in the net for 0-1. Simouth responded well to this and within a couple minutes made a great move on the edge of the Tivvy box but Bailey Cole came flying off his line quickly to smother the ball and keep Tivvy's lead. On the 15 minute mark Tivvy worked another corner, Tyler Hawkins swung this one in again and Luke Scampton made an instinctive run to poke home with his head at the near post, 0-2 Tivvy. The next 10 minutes were very even with both teams creating chances, Tivvy had more of the ball, but were struggling to pick the pass in the last third with Sidmouth defending well, and Sidmouth were smooth and flowing playing a more of a counter attack game which was proving effective causing Tivvy problems at the back, but the defence worked well to keep the lead with some last ditch tackles. A few minutes before half time though Sidmouth won a corner and drilled a low cross into the box, Tivvy failed to deal with it correctly and found themselves conceeding a sloppy goal to go in at the break 1-2 up.
Tivvy came out better in the second half and its fair to say the first 20 minutes of the half was spent in Sidmouth's half of the pitch, although Tivvy still had to be reponsive in defence when Sidmouth tried to break well again. Tivvy went 1-3 up, again, from a corner, This time Lucas White became provider, swinging in a fast right footer which Harry Butler timed his run perfect to, meeting with a bullet header low into the bottom corner. Tivvy could of went on from here and scored several more goals but they weren't as clinical as their last league game and Sidmouth's defending was excellent at times. Midway through the half though Harry Butler scored two more goals on the trot to make it 1-5 and complete his hatrick which settled the travelling Tivvy support. The first was a low left foot drive into the bottom corner after some good build up play from Joe Greenslade pushing on from right back and the second was started with an awesome run from Ethan Osbon from left back, who was proving effective and having a super game in that position, he found a pass to Bradley Messenger just outside the box, who flicked the ball up in the air superbly between two defenders with one touch right into the path of Butler making a supporting run and he volleyed nicley with his left across the keeper.
The last 5 minutes was definately Sidmouth's, they scored another to make it 2-5, prodding a rebound over the line after Bailey Cole made a fine save. And Cole again had to be on hand twice, with top class saves to keep that as the final score.
Credit to Sidmouth, their a good side and will prove a tough test for all devision 1 teams. Tivvy again though came out on top, also playing some lovely stuff at times. Well done lads. Another good win, a pleasure to watch
Tiverton Town 12 - 2 Stoke Hill
Tiverton town got off to a flying start in the 2011/12 season with an awesome display of football against strong rivals Stoke hill, a performance that has been eagerly anticipated since the coming together of the Tivvy Whites and Tivvy Yellows of last season. So, first game of the season against a team who finished runners up last year, above both tivvy teams, was always going to be the ultimate test of the lads and also the teams pre-season preperation, and they didn't dissapoint.
Both teams started well in an attempt to get a good foothold on the game, but Tivvy looked the more likely to take the lead and a goal would surely settle them as it looked like they had the beating of Stoke Hill. Tivvy's defence of Joe Greenslade, Bradley Messenger and Reis Pektemiz were coping with anything coming their way and then calmly playing the ball out from the back and building attacks as a team with the midfield linking up well using the full width of the pitch with wingers Harry Butler and Ryan Morgan feeding lone striker Lloyd White. The deadlock was broken when a ball in from the left to Lloyd White saw him turn in the box and with his weaker left foot strike a low drive across goal into the bottom corner. Tivvy immediately built on this with the lads streaming forward as a team to keep the pressure on, and when the ball was squared to midfielder Lucas White on the edge of the box he struck a sweet shot which rebounded off the crossbar, but Lloyd White was first to react and volley the rebound over the line for 2-0. Tivvy were now flowing and with the confidence of the 2-0 lead they knocked the ball around the pitch well and were opening up the Stoke Hill defence. The third goal came when Bradley Messenger curled in a free kick from the left and Lloyd White jumped highest in the box to knod a lovely header into the top corner to complete a first half hatrick. Lloyd could of made it 4 slightly after as midfielder Tyler Hawkins played a lovely weighted pass between the backline for Lloyd to run onto but the keeper made a fine save from the resulting shot. Stoke hill still didn't give up and continued to make a game of it and some good pressure forced an uncharacteristic mistake from the Tivvy defence which led to Stoke Hill pulling one back with a low drive across goal giving the full stretched keeper Bailey Cole no chance and sending Stoke Hill into the half time break with a glimmer of hope.
The second half however was an even better display from the Tivvy lads, getting off to a great start when midfielder Toby Hide made a good run through the centre of midfield and struck a right foot shot into the bottom corner for 4-1, minutes later Haden Flaws hit a right foot volley just over the bar before Ryan Morgan tapped the ball over the line after some great build up play from Toby Hide and Lucas White to give Tivvy a 5-1 lead. Stoke Hill created their best move of the match but Bailey Cole came flying off his line to save with his feet to keep the score down and shortly after Tivvy went down the other end and scored another goal in the form of Lloyd White. 6-1 up and Tivvy's good passing dropped standard slightly allowing Stoke Hill to react and break and score a second to put the score at 6-2.
But it was Tivvy's dominence and fitness that really showed in the last 10 minutes or so, Lloyd White banged in a further 2 goals to give himself a second half hatrick as well as a first. Bradley Messenger then opened up space in the midfield and hit a good long range effort into the bottom corner to make it 9-2. Harry Butler made a dazzling run down the left and cut a nice ball across the box for none other than Lloyd White to tap home for his 7th and Tivvy's 10th. Haden Flaws did well on the right going between two players before passing to Lloyd, who this time became provider as his low cross was tapped in by Bradley Messenger, and the scoring was finally rounded off before time when Harry Butler tapped home to get himself on the scoresheet.
12-2 the final score after a breathtaking performance from the Tivvy lads. Tivvy's depth in thier squad proving to be their strength, having a full squad of 17 talented footballerswho can pretty much play in any position will be a force to be reckoned with for any other team this season. Well done team, looking forward to the next game.