Pre-season Friendly . Saturday, August 3
Tiverton Town v Torquay United
Ian Moorcroft Stadium . 3pm
THE Yellows' final test of pre-season comes in the form of fellow Devonians Torquay United. There has been a wealth of interest and a blossoming profile since the arrival of Neil Warnock at the club and expectations are predictably high for the new season in National League South.
There will be plenty of familiar faces on show for both fans and players of the teams: Tivvy's Niall Thompson, Ben Gerring, Calum Thomas and recently departed captain for seven years at Plainmoor Asa Hall are former Gulls. Tor Swann was part of the United Academy set-up.
Likewise, Gulls Jordan Dyer, Dan Hayfield and Austen Booth have all performed with distinction for the Yellows in the recent past and centre-back Ed Palmer did the same a fair while back. Finn Craske had a brief loan spell at Ladysmead, and our goalkeeping coach Conor Smith was assistant goalkeeping coach at Torquay last season.
Our opponents drew with Exeter City in their last game and were hugely competitive against Plymouth Argyle in a narrow 2-0 loss. There have been many incomings and outgoings at the English Riviera side during the off-season: new manager Paul Wotton has joined from Truro and Neil Warnock will be able to offer him plenty of wisdom in his football advisory role, I am sure.
On-field acquisitions include former Exeter City striker Ben Seymour, former professional and Bath City goal-getter Cody Cooke, as well as fellow ex-Romans Hayfield, Dyer and Palmer, who was with Truro, are all signings for the Gulls' much-anticipated campaign.
This promises to be a fascinating meeting between the two teams with so much that ties the two clubs. Tivvy manager Leigh Robinson’s men's motivation is to secure starting places at Merthyr when the new term begins next weekend.
There has been a lot to encourage Tivvy fans, with plenty of good football on display in pre-season and, although it all happens for real in South Wales on August 10, and our final preparation game will be viewed with much interest on Saturday, from the stands, but also from the dugout.