Pitching In Southern League, Premier Division South . Tuesday, April 16
Tiverton Town v Dorchester Town
The Ian Moorcroft Stadium, Ladysmead . 7.45 pm
BY the time the final whistle blows on Tuesday night, we will have played the Pitching In Southern League Premier Division South champions, the second-placed and fourth-placed teams, and the most in-form side in our last four games.
Dorchester are unbeaten since they lost 2-1 at Gosport on February 10. It has been a notable turnaround for the Magpies who, before we saw in the New Year, were struggling near the foot of the table. However, since losing to their Dorset rivals Poole Town over the festive period (when they were originally scheduled to visit Ladysmead), the only side other than Gosport to beat them are Hungerford.
It would be hard to dispute the impact that Tom Killick has had in reversing our visitors’ fortunes since taking over the hotseat from Glen Howes earlier in the campaign. The success of the former Poole manager has been startling, and he has managed to galvanise the existing squad as well as adding members of his former team.
Will Spetch, Corby Moore, Jack Dickson, Luke Pardoe and Will Fletcher were all Dolphins under Killick. Other players to look out for are highly-rated goalkeeper Jameson Horlick; their lively top goalscorer Shaquille Gwengwe; talented midfielder Jordan Ngalo; and popular ex-Yellows’ striker Olaf Koszela.
If there was one game recently when Leigh Robinson’s players did not do themselves justice, it was the Easter Monday fixture against Tuesday evening's opponents at the Avenue Stadium.
A fourth-minute red card for Jack Dickson left the Yellows with a numerical advantage for more than 80 minutes, but the Magpies took a first-half lead. Although they were pegged back courtesy of a Joe Parker goal midway through the second half, Tivvy conceded a penalty in the 85th minute that saw the already booked Josh Jones sent off. The spot-kick was converted, and the lacklustre Yellows were beaten.
Dorchester accounted for our relegation rivals Hanwell at the weekend, winning that game 2-1; Tiverton come into this encounter fresh from Saturday’s exhilarating victory against Title winners Chesham.
It was a depleted side that faced the top team and that made the triumph that much more impressive. The attitude amongst the players was superb and there was not a void as far as quality goes either, fantastic finishes from Jack Rice and Alfie Moulden capping that victory.
We welcome back Josh Jones from suspension, and Joe Parker and Marcio Neves return, too, after being unavailable for Chesham.
The bar was set high on Saturday and if we fail to reach those heights again, then getting a result will be unlikely. With belief and momentum though, a positive outcome is not out of our reach.