Devon Sport
FOOTBALL: Tiverton hold the Gulls
1:24pm Friday 17th February 2012
A DISCIPLINED performance from Tiverton Town on Wednesday night saw them gain a 1-1 draw in a hastily arranged friendly against a talented Torquay United side.
As expected the Gulls came out with all guns blazing and should have taken the lead as early as the third minute when Lloyd Macklin cleverly chipped the ball over the advancing Chris Wright in the Tiverton goal.
With the ball on course to miss the target, Macklin beat the ball to the bye-line and cut inside by which time Wright was back on his line and ably supported by Tom Gardner and Paul Kendall who combined to smother the attack.
Thereafter Macklin adopted a shoot on sight policy but failed to trouble Wright again.
Having weathered the expected early storm, Tivvy started to find gaps.
With Danny Clay spraying the ball around from midfield they were more than a match for their loftier opponents.
Refreshed after his enforced absence, Clay added another dimension to his performance when Alex Faux forayed down the left wing before his pinpoint cross met Clay's rising head to put Tivvy in front on 34 minutes.
Unsurprisingly Torquay upped the pressure and Mackin's right wing cross found Ray Spear in space at the far post for him to nod the home the equaliser.
The second-half was full of flowing football with Torquay asking the questions and Tivvy having all the answers, so much so that Wright was rarely troubled. Indeed, on 69 minutes, it was Michael Nardiello, latching onto a Wright free kick to muscle his way through the Torquay defence, who could have done better than shoot as Joe Bushin had drifted off his marker and was free on the penalty spot awaiting the pass that never came.
The best chance came ten minutes from time when Nardiello stooped to head goalwards. The ball beat the Torquay keeper but then spun away at the last minute to slip agonisingly inches past the far post.
Tiverton Town: 1 Chris Wright, 2 Josh Concanen, 3 Adam Faux, 4 Liam Ellis, 5 Paul Kendall (captain), 6 Tom Gardner, 7 Danny Clay (16 Kevin Hill, 76 mins), 8 Russell Jee (14 David Steele, half time), 9 Michael Nardiello (17 Darren Goff, 83 mins), 10 Jules Emati-Emati (15 Jessie Howe, 65 mins), 11 Josh Searle (12 Joe Bushin, half time).