Competition

RED INSURE CUP 4th Round

Date

Wednesday February 10th 2010

Swindon Supermarine are on the brink of a place in the Southern League Cup Final after beating Tiverton 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

 

Nick Stanley’s 75th-minute penalty clinched victory for Mark Collier’s side and the Supermarine boss was delighted with the win which saw starts for Steve Cook, Ady Williams and Sam Morris.

 

Collier said: “It was nice to be able to give all the lads some game time and still win. “I think it’s fair to say we fully deserved the win and it would be nice to think we could get to the final.” The only down part was an injury to Steve Cook who limped off with what looks like a pulled hamstring.

 

From a Tivvy perspective...

 Yellows crash out of league cup

Tiverton Town's dreams of recapturing the Red Insure Southern League Cup they won three years ago were scuppered on Wednesday night as they fell to a 1-0 quarter-final defeat at Swindon Supermarine. The game was in doubt as freezing conditions and a light covering of snow had fallen on an already hard pitch, but referee Mr Quelch gave it the go-ahead. With temperatures expected to drop even further as the evening went on, both sides agreed that if the scores were level after 90 minutes they would go directly to a penalty shootout, rather than play half an hour of extra time.

 

Although that wasn't necessary in the end, the game was still decided from the spot after Mike Booth was adjudged to have tripped Chris Taylor in the area. Nick Stanley, who netted the winner when the sides met in the league last season, blasted home the resultant penalty and Tiverton were unable to get back into the match in the remaining 15 minutes.

 

It was a disappointing end to a game in which Tiverton gave as good as they got in the first half, but failed to put their hosts under any sort of pressure after the break. With regular captain Nathan Rudge sidelined through injury, Booth took the armband and on another night could have skippered his team to a convincing victory.

 

However, Adam Mortimer was twice denied by the in-form Matt Bulman and the Swindon stopper also excelled to keep out both Joe Bushin and Jamie Hatch in an open first half. Bulman's opposite number Steve Book was also in good touch and the veteran goalkeeper thwarted both Taylor and Steve Cook in the early stages. Sam Morris forced Book into his best save of the game midway through the first half, when the ball broke in a crowded area, but Morris's low shot was tipped away. With the game pulsating from end to end, Bushin attempted an audacious lob that Bulman beat away for a corner, while Swindon captain Matt Robinson had Book beaten from a corner, only for Jake Wannell to clear off the line.

 

Mortimer should have scored on the stroke of half-time, but he could only aim a close-range shot at Bulman. After the change of ends Swindon came out with more urgency and Tivvy faded badly. Booth cleared Taylor's goal bound shot from just inside the post and Book saved well when Ady Williams capitalised on a mistake from Colin Marshall to be presented with a one-on-one opportunity. With the game seemingly heading for a shootout, Swindon got a lucky break when Quelch awarded a soft penalty against Booth. And even the introduction of Mark Saunders up front did little to spur Tiverton into action.