Tiverton Town 1 Swindon Supermarine 1

Pitching In Southern League Premier South | Saturday 30th September 2023

Posted by Keith Yeomans on October 1st 2023

’A game of two halves from a Tiverton perspective’

Saturday’s home draw against Southern League Premier South bottom side Swindon Supermarine highlighted our worrying dip in performance: although the second half saw us much improved, in the first half, we were mainly second best and lacking the movement, conviction in possession, and awareness that was shown in the second.

The first half began at a quick tempo with Swindon Supermarine displaying a slick passing game, moving through the thirds, and their movement and expansive play unsettled us. It was not lack of effort that was the issue: there was a fragility to our game that probably stems from a winless run over the last five league games and, too many times, players seemed to be on a different wavelength.

Jack Rice did force a very good save from Marine debutant Conor Brann in the visitors’ goal, and a rasping low effort from River Allen whistled wide of the post. However, when Levi Irving’s well-directed left-footed effort nestled in the bottom corner of the Tiverton goal, it was totally deserved!

Jack Veale, when getting forward, did provide an excellent ball into Supermarine’s area and also forced a corner with a determined run, but our football was not flowing and, when the half-time whistle sounded, we were arguably fortunate to not be further behind. Keeper Lewis Williams made himself big, to prevent us conceding and, prior to Marine taking the lead, the deceptively quick Josh Jones got back to make a magnificent goal-saving tackle.

Whatever was said at the break saw a much-improved Tiverton in the second half. Niall Thompson, who had been on the periphery of the match, became a lot more involved and, within a few minutes, had latched on to a ball over the top to outpace a couple of players and unleash a shot that was smothered by Brann. The Marine keeper was again called into action moments later when incisive build up play saw him gather the ball at his post.

River Allen was becoming influential, and Cameron Salmon was a willing ball-carrier; Thompson skimmed a shot off opposition defenders and over the bar after a tidy move through the team; Jamie Richards turned away in annoyance at himself after arrowing a header wide; and former Marine player Matt Britton also headed over.

Marine, despite some good possession play, were living dangerously. Tom Bath came on for Rice in a tactical substitution that saw Thompson move to the right wing. Then Jones was dispossessed trying to go past Zack Kotwica in his own half and the Tiverton backline did well to prevent the visitors extending their lead. The resulting corner had Tiverton players throwing their bodies at the ball and a second corner was comfortably headed away by Jamie Richards.

Within a minute Tiverton had levelled. River Allen’s cushioned pass gave Thompson time to control the ball and then power down Supermarine’s right wing, skipping over an attempted tackle by Ibrahim, which saw him booked afterwards, and sending over a pacey, low cross that River Allen, who had continued his run, got on the end of to score from close range, see the above photo header courtesy of Vic Cutis, Tiverton’s club photographer.

Allen, who put in a real shift, then found Salmon with an exceptional long diagonal ball. Salmon, with good vision, returned the ball into Allen’s path but he fired over. A goalmouth scramble from a Tiverton corner ended with Supermarine clearing their lines.

A frantic finale saw a shot trickle narrowly wide of the home goal and then our opponents forced a top class save with an outstretched foot from Lewis Williams from Supermarine substitute Brad Gray.

Tiverton’s Tom Bath appeared to be pushed over in the box, but the referee did not agree as he was a little dramatic with his fall! The game finished with honours even, a fair result on the balance of play.

Editors Marine Star Man: Joe Tumelty
Editors Tivvy Star Man: Cameron Salmon
Attendance: 147

`Line Ups`

Tiverton Town
Assistant Manager: Richard Pears
Colours: All Yellow
Line-up: 1. Lewis Williams 2. Jack Veale 3. Bailey Kempster 4. Carlo Garside 5. Jamie Richards (c) 6. Josh Jones 7. River Allen 8. Matt Britton (12. Louis Morrison 85’) 9. Niall Thompson 10. Jack Rice-Lethaby (14. Tom Bath 61’) 11. Cameron Salmon
Goalscorers: River Allen 70’
Subs Not Used: 15. Lewis Smith 16. Drew Sloan 17. Oliver Saunders (GK),
Cards:
Jack Veale 73’ Yellow Card
None Red Card
None Yellow & Red Card