MATCH PREVIEW - DIDCOT TOWN (H)

Tiverton Town v Didcot Town

Match Preview - By Fin Keens

Two games in 4 days on the road for Tiverton see’s us come back to the Ian Moorcroft Stadium for this weekend’s Southern Premier League fixture against Didcot Town

It hasn’t been the start the Yellows had hoped for on the road this season as two defeats to start the season travelling up and down the south with a Heavy defeat at Hayes & Yeading United and a very unlucky and late defeat at Merthyr.

A summery night in the Welsh Valleys saw Tiverton take the lead in the first quarter of an hour through Jack Rice who’s opened his account for the Yellows this season. A rebound of the keeper saw Jack take his chances and put past the Martyr’s number one.

Tivvy had the advantage going into half time and looked set to defend and keep the lead going through the second half but former Yellow Noah Smerdon had found an equaliser in the 55th minute to get the scoring back level and just as the Bolham boys thought they’d sealed a point at a tough opponent, Ricardo Rees sealed the three points for the home side.

Back to the game at hand and we host Didcot Town and it’s set to be an opportunistic game for Tivvy as they seek the first 3 points of the season on home soil and with another newly promoted side in town, it could be the game to get the lads off the mark.

Didcot Town Football Club are based in the Railway town of Didcot in Oxfordshire, which has a population of 32,000. The same capacity as the Cardiff City Stadium. The clubs roots started in 1907 and they play their games at Loop Meadow which has a capacity of 3,000. 350 of those are seats which aren’t heated.

Didcot have had quite the journey as a football club as they started their humble beginnings in the North Berkshire leagues before joining the Reading leagues and after that a stint in the Metropolitan leagues.

Then in 1953 they became a founding member of the Hellenic League which is the division which stretches the Cotswolds and some of Wales and Herefordshire which in some respect works out better for them to travel.

Diddy spent 30 years within the top division of the Hellenic leagues and established themselves as a popular club within the Hells. Continuing to move between the two steps of football. Fast forward to 2004-2005 where they had the opportunity under Stuart Pearce to get the title but they fielded an illegible player which gave 2nd the title.

In that same year they clinched the FA Vase after beating AFC Sudbury, putting some silverware in the cabinet. They made it to the Southern Premier League Division One South after gaining 100 points throughout the season and then got into the Southern Premier League after beating AFC Totton 2-1.

Did I mention also that Didcot played a certain team in the FA cup back in 2015 who we all know? The weekly Exeter city mention is in and indeed Didcot played the Grecians in the FA Cup but Paul Tisdale’s lads beat them 2-0.

Not much has changed for Didcot in terms of transfers this season but I have been told by their Admin to keep a look out for young and prolific striker Robbie Gallagher who is certainly developing up the ranks of the club and is becoming quickly a fans favourite!

Head to Head

02/04/11 - Didcot 2-0 Tiverton

05/10/10 - Tiverton 2-3 Didcot

13/02/10 - Didcot 1-1 Tiverton

14/11/09 - Tiverton 2-1 Didcot

How to Get to Tiverton from Didcot

By Public Transport: Get the train from Didcot Parkway down towards Reading station and head towards any southbound train towards Tiverton Parkway where you alight at the Parkway and head on the 373 bus down into Tiverton Town Centre and a short walk from Town gets you to the Ian Moorcroft Stadium.

By Car: From the town centre of Didcot you make your way to the A34 where you continue until Chieveley Services which then you can go down the M4 Motorway right through to the Brizzle spaghetti Junction where you’ll join up with the M5.

Continue on down to Junction 27 which is the turning off for Tiverton & North Devon and onto the A361 at Tivvy services roundabout which then at the Bolham roundabout you take a lefty towards Tiverton and a short drive up and a straight on at the roundabout and a right turning will get you to the ground.

Didcot Town’s Social Media’s

Instagram: didcottownfc

Twitter: DidcotTownFC

Facebook: Didcot Town FC

#Yellowblackarmy 🟡⚫️