Dolphins Ride the Wave

Poole Town 2 Tiverton Town 0

Pitching In Southern League Southern Premier

LOOKING at the respective progress of the two teams, this game was always going to be a tall order for the Yellows, for whom new signing from Cullompton George Russell kept his place in an unchanged line up from Saturday as Tivvy hoped for a positive result.

Poole, as you would expect, made a fast start to the game and were leading with just over five minutes played, goal machine Tony Lee scoring from the spot after fellow forward Destiny Ojo had been bundled over. Lee almost scored moments earlier, but his volley cleared the crossbar.

It was fairly one way traffic in the first 20-25 minutes as the Dolphins, with their fins up, saw a Lee effort cleared off the line and two attempts from Ojo – a floated shot narrowly missing the target and a powerful drive blocked by the Yellows’ rearguard – not adding to the scoreline.

Captain Jamie Richards then let fly with a low shot that required good handling from Poole number one Max Evans. That strike seemed to encourage Tiverton as they started to enjoy some meaningful possession and had a brief spell of dominance themselves.

However, Williams was required to make himself big, to deny the heavily involved Ojo, and the Yellows were a goal down at the break.

Tivvy started the second period on the front foot and Cameron Salmon drew a top class save from Evans after being put through before shooting from a tight angle. Declan Rose was booked for the hosts after upending Bailey Kempster, and Josh Jones saw his rasping drive just sail over after a long throw by the corner flag inadvertently came to him.

The home side then made their first change of the evening, Toby Holmes replacing the lively Ojo around the hour mark. For Tivvy, Lewis Smith got a good connection on a header but was unable to put it either side of Evans; then Holmes responded with a shot inside the Tivvy area, which Williams smothered. Unfortunately, a Salmon effort when in the clear, did not trouble the keeper.

At that point, it was Tiverton who looked the brighter of the two sides although Poole quickly reasserted themselves. Firstly, when Luke Pardoe found Holmes, who squared to a well positioned Lee, but he sliced his shot; and, secondly, and more significantly, Holmes finished calmly in the 76th minute to make it 2-0 following Poole pressure.

Evans did have to deal with a testing ball in from the Yellows, and Will Fletcher, who was on for Lee, found himself denied by Williams, and it remained 2-0 until the game reached its conclusion, a spirited display not enough to take anything away from the match.

Photographs by Ian Middlebrook - with grateful thanks

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