Sholing 1 – 0 Tiverton Town

The Boatmen overcome Tiverton’s attempt at intimidation to secure a vital three points.

In front of a strong contingent of four hundred fans and attacking towards the Sholing ultras, The Boatmen began their assault on the Devon strugglers as Blaise Riley-snow almost succeeded in delivering a lovely ball to the left wing and Joseph Rabbets who loses possession but pressures the Tiverton man into settling for a throw-in. Realising Tiverton were playing a high line, Sholing attempted several long balls, most of which found a home. Dan almost pounced on an awkward bounce from midfield and forced the keeper to come out and jump.

Tiverton began getting feisty in their penalty box, especially with Folivi, unable to deal with the flare Michael possessed. Riley Snow was then caught out of position, allowing Tiverton no.7 Joe Parker a clear way past Pat Nash but the shot was rushed and found the advertising boards rather than the net. Tiverton captain Matt Britton was lucky not to receive a yellow card after sliding to take the ball away from the incoming Hesketh but brought the Sholing no.10 down.

Folivi picked up another through ball on the flanks, using his trademark trickery to create space for himself but took too long to put his foot through it. He soon caused more trouble, leading numerous consecutive Sholing attacks. Tiverton, relying on set pieces, found a chance of a corner which bounced round several players in the Sholing area, leading Nash to dive and stop the threat. Folivi then turned provider, slotting through DDan who had no choice but to strike while falling, meaning the ensuing attempt rolled past the post. Riley Snow put through Folivi once more. Michael didn’t have a lot of goal to aim at but found the space in the net and struck low past the Tiverton keeper into the middle of the goal to send the four hundred strong Sholing faithful into raptures.

Tiverton continued to struggle to stop attacks building on the wing and that was obvious as this time Hesketh was the one who lined up Michael to shatter the nerves of the visiting back line, so much so, three extra defenders ganged up on the playmaker to finally dispossess him. The away side looked to have secured a quick reply when another corner went towards the opposing post which left Nash’s right side exposed in which the Tiverton man found the goal, but the joy was cut short thanks to a raised linesman flag. HT 1:0

Tiverton had the early momentum in the second half, it seemed the top end of the pitch was more lenient to attacking. Harry Taylor made an ill-timed pass to Nash which was intercepted, allowing the Tiverton forward to go one on one with Pat, but the young keeper was out quickly, sliding the ball away. It became apparent that the missed golden chance rocked the visiting eleven as momentum came back to the Boatmen with several consecutive crosses being swung in, all of which found a way to threaten a second. The Tiverton keeper made a last-ditch tackle at the feet of DDan to stop the ball heading to the man who was marking his first home game after 600 appearances for Sholing.

The visitors start attacking once more, thanks to some decisions that there was a good argument to say should’ve gone to Sholing. Tiverton full back Niall Thompson wasn’t afraid to express his frustration to the ref as he took exception to the time it was taking for the Sholing subs to come on. Joe Rabbets then came sprinting down the wing and got round the two defenders closing, he then put through Folivi again who once more terrorized the skittish defence. No matter how much they tried, the Tiverton back line could not shake Michael as he turned his marker inside out to set Romeo Akinola in for a one on one, Akinola was then taken down close to the penalty area by the last man, but the offender was judged to have got the ball.

Tiverton’s tough approach eventually cost them as Britton was given his marching orders for a second yellow card offense after making no attempt at the ball and instead barging Fabio Lopes to the floor and off the ball. Folivi was once again the creator soon after, delivering a perfect crossfield pass to where Rabbets was waiting, and the away side somehow didn’t pick it up. Joe couldn’t quite get the desired connection, and the attempt hit the netting behind the goal beside the marquee.

In the dying embers it seemed once again, that Tiverton had secured the vital equaliser and Sholing had suffered last minute heartbreak. However, the celebrations had to be stopped for the same reason the first had been disallowed, the linesman had flagged for offside and the Sholing nerves started to settle and eventually the up and down five minutes injury time came to an end and Sholing had bagged a huge win. FT 1-0