Tiverton Town V Torquay United 12th July 2008

Not at the game but apparently Tiverton were 1-0 up at half time against a strong United line up. Hopefully there'll be abit of a 2nd half reaction. I would also be very interested to know how the Sebian trialist did.

Yes we got a few members at the game, but as has been said before, we can't read to much into friedlies.

Thanks for the match report Ant, I do believe the club have hopes that the Serbian player Nikolec, will continue to impress as it seems he has in training. Judging by your report, it seems we at least tried to play football and not just the hoof ball, we saw so often last season, just need to do more with it in the final third it seems.

Not sure of playing Hargreaves at the back, but this is what theses games are all about, simply trying different things out. Pretty sure things will be sorted out soon on the goal keeper front, can't really see the club starting with Rice for our first league game.

First of all hats off to Tiverton ground staff, the pitch was in superb condition and can offer no excuses to anyone. In case anyone didn't get there this is how i saw it. I also understand it was the first game of the season and Caveat all my remarks with this in mind, early days and all that, but might give those that didn't go some idea of how they played.

1st Half;
First 20 minutes i thought we were very good. Whilst it maybe a friendly etc etc, you can only play the team put in front of you. Initially, we knocked it around and played some nice one touch football and i started to get excited. The most obvious thing was the amount of pace the new players have brought to the team. Whilst we did knock it around and played some attractive football, with several overlaps and using the flanks well, we never really created any golden opportunities and the lack of someone willing to shoot was a bit frustrating. The other slightly worrying thing was how easy they penetrated to score, with only their 2nd shot of the game, right on half time.
Players ratings IMO;
Rice - Had NOTHING to do except pick the ball out of the back of the net. I'm not saying he should have saved it but it didn't exactly find the corner.
Mansell - RB - Steady, some wayward passes, with a tendency to hoof it long.
Todd - CH -Once again steady, a bit of dithering though. Like my daughter said, haven't we seen him do that somewhere before.
Hargreaves - At centre half - a stroll in the park for him, steady, no mistakes, always looking to create, Captain.
Hodges - LB - Played well, very good at the overlap, often had acres of space but we didn't find him often enough. Delivers a sweet ball, looks a good signing and i think will have a good influence on the team. For me he starts at left mid come August.
Carlisle - LM - For me, best player on the park. Got involved in everything good we produced. Fantastic touch and control, with BOTH feet. Was looking for the ball all the time, often came short for it, links up the play very well and also got tracked back and made a few tackles. Switched sides a lot to give several options. Has won me over, my Man of the Match and a great signing.
Wroe - CM - Comfortable, nice touches and read the game well, did nothing spectacular, but did nothing wrong either. Will battle with Hargreaves for that center mid position.
Thompson - CM - Solid, put some nice through balls to green and battled well in the middle, gave the ball away a few times to many for my liking. Played better in the second half. Looks like he will be good going forward, but jury out on his defending skills. That said, he should compliment Hargreaves or Wroe in the middle. Has pace.
Stevens - LM - Quiet (especially second half), not involved all that much, didn't really notice him. Might find himself 2nd choice to Hodges??
Green - CF - Impressive, raw and has pace, not the finished article but when he gets into the groove, he could be a star. Got himself free and in space lots of times, didn't quite generate a scoring chance but at least he saw plenty of the ball.
Sills - CF - Unfortunately with all the pace in the squad, it made him look a bit cumbersome and because we played football, rather than just hoof it forward, he had a quiet game and looked a bit off the pace. I am a big fan of his, but not sure he will fit into this team like he did last year. Green is a shoe in for one of the forwards, so Sills now has to fight it out with D'sane and possibly Benyon. Unless of course we revert back to last season, in which case what a valuable asset.

2nd Half;

Lots of changes, as you will have seen from the earlier post. We were still the better side, however it was nowhere near as good as the first half. The penalty miss was woeful. We did have a few more clear cut chances but still didn't look likely to score, which is a slight worry. Only Benyon & Borough stood out.

Roberston - RB - Played OK, again nothing spectacular, no real mistakes, but not really impressive.
Borough - CH - Imposing, always looking for the ball from the keeper and midfield players, looks like a footballer and ideal if thats the way we intend to play this season. Comfortable on the ball. Hard to judge his defending because there wasn't much of that to do. Probably start alongside Todd.
Ellis - CH - See comments for Robertson. Ditto.
Nicholson - LB - Had his usual game, didn't overlap as much as Hodges but steady none the less.
Adams - CM - Thought he had a quiet game, would be surprised to see him start many games now that we have loads of midfield players.
Nikolec - LM - Showed some great touches, got to the bye line a few times and got some good crosses over. Would like to see him again. Could be worth a chance if he can consistently turn it on. Did go missing at times.
Yima?? - CF - Woeful, summed up by his penalty miss, whilst I'm aware of the need to impress putting pressure on his performance, however just cant see him making it. Not sure he won a header all game, yes one, he headed over the bar when completely free from 10 yards out. Fell over lots, poor first touch. On the positive side, he did step up and make sure he took the penalty.
Benyon - CF - Looked very sharp, i wasn't a fan of his last season, thought of him more as a last 20 minutes player, still haven't forgiven him that miss at Wembley, however he was the only one who looked like scoring in the second half, worked tirelessly and chased everything.

Overall, not to worried about the score. Didn't deserve to lose, poss didn't deserve to win either. First 20 mins was the best and we looked like a decent footballing side, albeit against inferior opposition. I was reasonably happy with the way it went, looking forward to Tuesday night.

Positives: Pace, good signings, looks like a decent squad, performances of Carlilse, Green, Wroe, Hodges, Benyon.

Negatives: Lack of clear cut goal scoring opportunities, allowing the goal and getting caught a few times at the back,

tufc01, interesting your views on Tim Sills and if he would fit into the squad this season. Merse and I were talking about if a player told a manager what sort of service he required.

You see I believed he would not want the ball just played down the middle to him all day. I have felt he is better, if balls to him are coming in from the wings, as they did in the first half of last season. We do have wingers now, don't you think if he gets the service from the wings, we may see the best of him again.

Apparently Clive Woodward often said that the most important attribute of a professional sportsman is PACE and that pace would always win over against brute strength. Now I am a big big Phillips fan. I love anyone who shows a real passion for their sport/club. I was sad to see him go, gutted in fact, but in the cold light of day and having watched just 45 minutes of Green, i now have an open mind. Phillips didn't score enough goals and once defenders sussed him out and we started to lump it forward it looked less likely that he/we would score. Dsane also missed his fair share of chances, particularly one on ones with the keeper. He did however use his pace to get into some good positions. At least with Sills & Dsane you had a bit of pace and a bit of brute strength. Green looks an exciting prospect and his pace, along with us playing it on the ground, we should be able to open up defences more than we did at the end of last season.

You see I believed he would not want the ball just played down the middle to him all day. I have felt he is better, if balls to him are coming in from the wings, as they did in the first half of last season. We do have wingers now, don't you think if he gets the service from the wings, we may see the best of him again.[/quote]

I think he will get the service and he certainly will complement the pace of Green & Dsane. If he gets the service he will score the goals again, however he just looks a bit tired and cumbersome at times, a bit behind the game.