Tiverton v MERTHYR

Updates here!

Team: Cutlan Williams Howe tubbs Newall rewbs Harris leek Prosser Marcus Traylor. Subs preen Alun jones Cornwall Newman

come on Martyrs, lets kick some ass

1-0 to Tiverton, 25 mins

FFS

1-1 Traylor approaching half-time!

get in

any news?

1-1f/t apparently

F/t 1-1. Tivvy finish with 10 men. Another point in our upward push.

But can we get a home game in the play-offs? That's what we need to get some cash in, So second or third place is what we need!
But logically whatever happens, we have done well to get where we are.......

Will a point be enough if we keep dropping points because Yate and Paulton both won again and they are closing us down fast. We have done well to get where we are, no question of it, but let's not limit ourselves or our expectations. Those who can, do. C'mon, lets get the playoffs and all things are possible.

There's a possibility of a home play-off game if we finish 4th. Provided, of course, we won our away game v. 3rd we would be at home in the final if the 5th place club won away at 2nd. On current standings that would mean Yate winning at Hungerford, so always possible.

Tivererton gate 229, only bettered in this division by Poole 332. Gate at troubled Winchester 33.
Don't know how many Martyrs fans at Tivvy as there weren't enough names to run a bus for the supporters.
It was an increase of 80 plus from Tivvy's last game, probably as a result of a new manager being appointed.

Yes, I see what you mean, Imp.

I thought the play off gate money was split 3 ways? Obviously the two teams and then the southern league get their share?
Being at home will bring a bigger gate than the other clubs around us will providing extra funds however firstly we need to make the play off's and personally I wouldnt mind an away game

This was a decent point at tiverton but if we do not start putting a string of wins together with yate and paulton creeping up on us we will not get to the playoffs

If we travel to Swindon supermarine in the play-offs, it could be a tough game. They have lost only one league match at home this season. However, we have at present lost just two on our travels!

Thanks for the updates, by the way. Any news of substitutions being made?

scamp wrote:This was a decent point at tiverton but if we do not start putting a string of wins together with yate and paulton creeping up on us we will not get to the playoffs

Yes it was a decent point indeed, on a positive note Hungerford lost so third spot is up for grabs between us and Hungerford IMO.

It was probably a fair result as neither side did enough to win it as far as goalscoring opportunities are concerned although we did have the bulk of the play particularly in the 2nd half. Tivvy had a new manager in place and had signed a couple of players but from the off you could see that their confidence was low as they hadn't won in 18 games. We played with a back 3 of Tubbs, Rewbs & Badger and Willo & Jack pushing on down the flanks. Leekie and Matthew completed the midfield with Traylor and Marcus accompanying Prosser upfront. We took the game to them with Leekie particularly prominent but once again our final ball was lacking and although we created a few half chances from set pieces we rarely troubled the Tivvy defence and Tivvy were playing a lot on the break. The pitch was OK but was quite hard in patches and a long punt from defence bounced in front of Jack and over his head. It fell to the feet of one of the new signings - Bassett - and he ran on into the box and sent a good shot up over Gilo and into the far corner. That goal seemed to lift Tivvy and they came into the game but like us did little in the final third. Their defence was square and we did get caught off side on a few occasions and just before the break Willo sent a delightful ball through to Traylor who beat the offside trap and he slotted it past the keeper in a similar way to his goal against Clevedon in the week. I was standing on the side and was in line with Traylor and he was certainly onside when the ball was played. At half time 1-1 was about right.

We started the 2nd half well with Leekie & Matthew prompting but again we tended to lose our way in the last third. Prosser was doing his best but he was being marshalled by a Gareth Wharton style centre half and although Marcus & Traylor were making progress we just couldn't click up front. Traylor had a couple of good runs up the right flank but all our crosses seemed to fall to defenders and when we tried up through the middle we resorted to long range shots which either went wide or over or were fielded comfortably by the home keeper. However Marcus did have a chance when the ball came loose in the 18 yard area but he had to stretch to reach it and it went just over the bar. We freshened things up a bit when Cornwall replaced Traylor and played a more central role and we again had a few half chances from corners with headers going just over although we had no one coming in at the far post who may have been able to get a better connection when running in onto the ball rather than from a static standing position. All the while Tivvy did keep plugging away but rarely threatened Gilo's goal as Badge, Tubbs & Rewbs stood firm. We made some more substitutions with Preen replacing Marcus and Newman came on for Tubbs in the last 5 minutes but both were too late the have any real effect although I suppose it did give a little run out for Newms and depending on his reaction he may be in contention for a start on Monday. Tivvy played with 10 men for the last 5 minutes or so as their #4 received his 2nd yellow of the game and his sending off coincided with him being announced as the sponsors man of the match which I suppose sums the game up. Both Matthew & Leekie had good games in the middle and I would award my MOTM marginally to Leekie.

On the balance of play we deserved a win but in all honesty did little in the last 3rd to fully warrant it. Tivvy kept on going and were worth the draw. With Paulton & Yates' results our failure to get 3 points puts a bit more pressure on us on Monday against Cinderford. We are going through a fairly barren patch at the moment but it's probably best to have that now whilst we still have the time to recover rather that having it later in the season as we move towards the play offs when it's usually the "form teams" that are successful.

A very frustrating afternoon but a hard earned point never the less.

Just after Tiverton scored they put us under all sorts of pressure to which we battled through and then we were the better side for long periods of the game.

We got into very good positions time and time again, but a variety of choosing the wrong option or poor quality of delivery meant we weren't able to capitalize on this which is becoming very very frustrating.

Traylor took his goal well, and Tiverton can thank their keeper for 2 excellent saves, one first half from Prosser down low to his right, and one second half from Traylor to tip over the bar to deny us a much needed win, other than that our efforts on goal were tame or wayward.

We are having a poor spell at the moment, but I think we will be back to full strength now, with Colbourne returning from suspension/injury, and Newman back from injury, and of course a new signing Alex Long.

We are still in the mix, lets get behind the lads monday and get us back to wining ways...