Tiverton Town 5-0 Walton Casuals

There are never any easy games and guaranteed wins at this level of football. Try telling the Yellows that at the moment though. Certainly with regard to their league form at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium anyway, after having now won four out of four whilst scoring sixteen and conceding just two and the confidence with which they play their free-flowing, attacking football at the moment is a joy to behold and from a supporters perspective, long may it continue.

In all honesty the Yellows could and probably should have bettered their biggest win of the season so far but will more than likely be happy with equalling it as the latest three points came courtesy of an Alex Fletcher brace, either side of goals from Louis Morison, Man of the Match Dan Hayfield and Jared Lewington and to make early matters worse, the Casuals were forced to play over an hour with just ten men as Nathaniel Oseni was sent for an early shower.

Having said all that Walton Casuals started brightly and created the first opportunity of the afternoon, Hayden-Smith shooting from the edge of the area but his effort went high and wide over Williams crossbar before the Yellows quickly found their momentum and from that moment on, it really was one way traffic. A run from Bastin down the left was ended abruptly following a late challenge and the resulting free-kick led to Fletcher being tugged down in the box leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot and the striker smashed his penalty into the top corner.

The Yellows continued to pour forwards and the creative midfield was key to the second goal as Shephard played in Louis Morison who neatly curled home with the help of the far post for his third goal of the season before chances fell to both Dan Hayfield and Jared Lewington but two fine individual saves from Fanshawe kept the game interesting. Well, it was up until just before the half hour mark when a late clumsy challenge on Bastin gave the referee little option than to show Oseni his second yellow of the afternoon and the mandatory red that follows.

Like the weather in Devon, the afternoon now looked bleak for the visitors but The Stags did well in keeping the score at 2-0 until the half-time whistle.

The visitors got the second half underway but the Yellows continued their forward forages and on the hour mark, somehow Fletcher didn’t add his second as Kyle Egan delivered a pin point cross only for Fletcher to head just wide but moments later, after Lam had been upended, Man of the Match Dan Hayfield curled his free kick around the corner of the wall and in the bottom corner to almost certainly secure three points.

Walton weren’t done though and Williams was required to be at his best to deny Akers as he cut inside and his shot was pushed away for a corner. The resulting corner led to some ‘panic pinball football’ in the box but the Stags failed to capitalise and the Yellows eventually cleared.

The tie was firmly put to bed when Alex Fletcher played in Lewington who neatly placed the ball in the net leaving the away defenders and bench alike perplexed as no offside given before the afternoon finished how it started with Fletcher ramming home his second of the day and his ninth of the season for an emphatic win which keeps the Yellows top of the Southern Premier League heading in to an FA Trophy tie at Salisbury next weekend before the Yellows host second placed Poole Town on the following Wednesday.

Tiverton Town: Lewis Williams, Kyle Egan, Craig Woodman, Louis Morison (Aaron Dawson 70), Michael Peck (Cheick Diabate 70), Neil Martin, Jordan Bastin, DAN HAYFIELD, Jared Lewington, Alex Fletcher, Chris Shephard (Jordan Lam 32).

Goals: Alex Fletcher 8, 86 Louis Morison 17 Dan Hayfield 62 Jared Lewington 82.

Attendance: 264.