British Gas Business Football LeagueMatch Report

Swindon Supermarine 1

Tiverton Town 0

British Gas Business Football League

Premier Division

Saturday 28th February 2009

It's a piece of cake for Bulman

Photograph of the Author By Craig Lyus » Swindon Advertiser

Its cake time again for Matty Bulman after a man-of-the-match performance helped Swindon Supermarine arrest their slide down the Southern Premier table. The goalkeeper pulled off a series of fine saves to frustrate visiting Tiverton and Nick Stanley’s solitary strike at the other end was enough to seal maximum points. Bulman is rewarded with a cake baked by the mother of manager Mark Collier every time he keeps a clean sheet. He has gone hungry of late but a sponge will be arriving on his doorstep this week.

 

Collier said: “We were very well organised and resolute against a good team who have brought in some new signings and strung some results together of late. “They are a big side with a real physical presence and they put us under the cosh for the last 25 minutes but we stayed strong and Matty Bulman has made three or four great saves. “He hasn’t asked for another cake yet but he’ll be expecting delivery of one now I would think.

 

“It was a massive win for us and one that will give us the confidence to push on and get back up the table.” After spurning the best chance of the first half, Stanley atoned within a minute of the restart, collecting Justyn McKay’s pass, beating his marking and driving the ball low into the net. Phil Walsh had Tivvy’s best chance as Marine came under pressure in the closing stages, but Bulman thwarted him.

 

It was a timely win ahead of a big week, with a trip to Mangotsfield tomorrow, followed by a league cup tie at Bridgwater on Thursday.

 

From a Tivvy perspective...

Yellows crash four places after Supermarine defeat

Tiverton Town's play-off aspirations were dented as they went down 1-0 at Swindon Supermarine on Saturday. Alex Stanley's strike seconds after the restart saw Martyn Rogers' men slip four places in the league to 13th. A lacklustre first half saw little between the two sides and, once Stanley had broken the deadlock with the first move of the second period, Tiverton pressed forward unabated for the remainder, only to find Swindon goalkeeper Matt Bulman in inspired form. Tivvy also had two goals ruled out, the first for an apparent foul on Bulman and the second for a handball.

 

Despite defeat, Rogers' self-imposed target of 70 points is still attainable, but it will require his team to string together a sizeable run of victories — something his side has failed to achieve this season.  The hosts delivered the killer blow less than 30 seconds into the second half, when Stanley found space on the left before cutting inside and firing a low shot beyond Steve Book and inside the near post. "Steve was big enough to hold his hands up and admit he was at fault," said Rogers after the game.

 

Considering the experienced shotstopper's form over the past few weeks, it would be easy to turn a blind eye to this error had it not been so costly. The Yellows piled forward in search of an equaliser and, just four minutes later, Jamie Mudge swung in a cross from the right that Phil Walsh met with power, only to see Bulman pull off an inspired scrambling save at his far post. Mudge later tested Bulman, while Supermarine, with five in midfield all afternoon, were happy to take what chances they could create on the counter-attack.

 

Justin McKay should have taken one of those, but he was inches away from turning in Stanley's cross, and Alan Griffin also fell short as Stanley drilled in another low ball from the left. With 20 minutes left to play an incident that gave Rogers his main gripe was set up. Substitute Paul Wyatt earned Tiverton a corner, from which Walsh headed into the net, but the referee deemed that Bulman had been impeded.

 

Tiverton had two players on the goal line and Bulman chose to stand behind them, meaning the only way he would get to the ball was through them. But the inevitable free-kick was forthcoming, much to the chagrin of the Tivvy bench. Ten minutes from time a slick passing move saw Rudge fire home, but that effort was also ruled out as the Yellows skipper helped the ball forward with the use of his forearm after a swift one-two with Mudge. With time running out, Walsh and Mudge combined smartly, the latter cutting back and aiming a left-footed effort towards the corner of the goal, only for Bulman to once again pull off a magnificent full-length save and palm the ball away.