Points Shared After TEN Goal Epic

Poole Town 5

Gwengwe 4, 24, 66 Davis 19 Campbell 35

Tiverton Town 5

Swann 2, 7 Horne 16, 45 Wood 44

Tuesday 25th November

The BlackGold Stadium

Attendance: 473.

It's been a hard slog for all associated with Tiverton Town FC and we are a long way from being out of the woods, but from the madness of this bizarre evening of football in Dorset comes the first positive result since September 20^th versus Uxbridge.  

A bruising couple of months have played out and it is testament to the coaches and players, that they have found the resolve and capacity to dig deep and go toe-to-toe with highflyers Poole Town, who started the evening in Third place. Coupled with a narrow loss against fellow play off hopeful’s Gosport on Saturday, our last two results could be seen as small stepping stones on the road to recovery. 

For this midweek goal extravaganza, Asa Hall and Steve Orchard included all four new signings in their matchday squad. Matt Wonnacott taking the number one jersey and midfielders Jack Kennell and Ryan Keates in the starting line-up and keeper Marco Radovanovic amongst the replacements. Aiden Horne who was to play a telling part on the night was brought into the eleven, at the expense of the not fully fit Dan Koita. 

Tor Swann moved infield and was paired with Horne and a minute into the game, following an incisive pass in midfield through to Horne, his precisely weighted pass through to his new partner was taken confidently into his path and clinically finished beyond Adam Parkes in Poole’s goal. In the fourth minute Poole were back on level terms. A Yellows foul in the box was punished and from the spot, the league's top scorer Shaquille Gwengwe fired past Wonnacott.  

Amazingly on six minutes Tiverton restored their lead. In the first of two look away moments for the keepers, Parkes came a long way out of his goal and squandered possession to the quick-thinking Brooklyn Wilkins, who sent Swann away down the channel. He galloped to the angle and provided an excellent finish with only a little bit of the goal to aim at, beating a recovering defender on the line. 

Anyone thinking that the game would settle down at that point would have been seriously mistaken. On the quarter hour mark the Yellows were celebrating their third goal. The opportune Horne whose work off the ball often creates indecision in opposition back-lines, spotted Parkes slightly off of his line and lobbed the highly regarded gloveman to give us a two-goal cushion. 

The second look away moment for the keepers happened when Wonnacott misjudged a Charlie Davis cross and the ball found its way into the net. It was 3-2, with only eighteen minutes completed. But the scoring was far from over and on 24 minutes the Dolphins equalised. Wonnacott was left exposed from a through ball and avid goal-getter Gwengwe, was fouled and then converted from the spot. 

Poole’s fourth and the games seventh came in the 35^th minute, when ex Swindon Supermarine captain Ryan Campbell took powerful aim from distance and his deflected shot sailed beyond Wonnacott and Tivvy were behind for the first time on this goal frenzied evening. For followers of Tiverton this season there seemed an inevitability about the rest of the game. 

However, from a Ryan Keates free kick into the Poole box, as the ball rebounded back off Horne, Matt Wood determinedly slid home to even things up for his side. That goal from the imposing centre back, arrived in the 43^rd minute. Although that wasn’t the end of a dramatic and crazy opening first half.  

Hall then let fly with a piledriver a minute later, which skimmed off of the crossbar and then Horne rounded off a nine goal half in added time, as his well struck shot bounced of the underside of the bar and gave us the lead at the break, in a totally insane and entertaining opening period. Poole 4 Tiverton 5 ! 

With the coaches of both teams able to talk to their players at the break, the sides predictably tightened up when they returned to the pitch. Chances were traded when in the 47^th minute Gwengwe’s effort flew over the bar from close in and then in the 50^th minute Asa Hall tested Parkes from range, but the hosts keeper got down well to deny him. 

The heavily involved Gwengwe then slashed an attempt into the side-netting after being set up by ex-Farnborough man Selim Saied. Charlie Davis a seasoned performer in this division, then prized open the Tiverton defensive line, but his splitting ball missed everyone, and it remained 4-5. Wilkins tried his luck from distance, but Parkes was equal to it. 

In the 64^th minute Wonnacott produced an excellent reflex stop to keep out the dangerous Gwengwe.  Though a few minutes later, with the Dolphins in the ascendancy, they made their possession count. The combative Billy Lowes invitingly delivered, driven cross found Gwengwe who completed his hattrick. 

Our hosts then went for the jugular, and it took some good defensive work from Wilkins and Toby Down to stop growing Poole pressure. The home side showing their play-off credentials with some flowing passages of play. Steve Orchard then made some changes in the 83^rd minute, with Horne who was a bright spark on the night for Tivvy with a brace as his reward, making way for Dan Koita. Ryan Keates who also gave a very good display on his return to Tiverton was replaced by Jacob Wellington. 

Wellington was soon into the action and crucially headed away from danger. Then a procession of chances fell to the Yellows, with last-ditch defending preventing a trio of player’s from securing a winner. Blocks and block tackles denying Koita, Swann and Corey Koerner. Swann shone, before Finn Rooke came on for him at the death.  

And just before the final whistle a vital gather from Wonnacott, saw the game conclude 5-5. A ten goal thriller to warm a bitterly cold evening. 

On paper this was an excellent result and a winter warmer for Tiverton, after a series of disappointing outcomes. Another team in the relegation picture; Havant & Waterlooville visit the Slee Blackwell Solicitors Stadium over the weekend, and the Yellows will be looking to continue moving in the right direction then. Following four successive away games, the fans and players will be looking forward to returning to home soil. 

Tiverton: Matt Wonnacott, Brooklyn Wilkins, Corey Koerner, Jack Kennell, Matt Wood, Toby Down, Tor Swann (90), Asa Hall, Ryan Keates (83), Aiden Horne (83), Harry Hutchinson.

Substitutes: Marko Radovanovic, Dan Koita (83), Jacob Wellington (83), Finley Rooke (90), George Russell.