MATCH VERDICT

Matty Hayward – @MattyHayward96

Matty reports back on the win for the Gulls

TIVERTON TOWN (A)

United’s pre-season campaign ended with minimum fuss this afternoon, as they emerged 3-0 winners over Southern Prem side Tiverton.

Things started quietly, with the home side enjoying most of the possession. Fans of watching former Yellows in the twilight of their career would have been excited by the prospect of Asa Hall appearing in black and yellow stripes, but it was academy product Niall Thompson who shone on Tiverton’s right throughout. What he’s lost in hair, the now-wing-back hasn’t lost in pace, and the thirty-year-old continues to be almost world-class at knocking the ball past a defender and whipping it into the mixer. He was a joy to watch.

Never far from the action, the former Gulls’ captain got himself involved after 14 minutes. His foul 25 yards from his own goal presented the first real opportunity of the fixture. The closest we’ll get to an Asa replacement (replAsament?), the tall, box-crashing midfielder Dan Hayfield stepped up, and curled the free kick beyond the ‘keeper’s reach and into the top bin. A brilliant goal from the ex-Tivvy man.

That settled things, and United wrested control of the match. In front of Matt Wonnacott, today’s starting back three – Foulston, Dreyer, Palmer – looked largely unflustered, and it was the latter (another former Tiverton player) who made the second goal. Young Finn Tonks slipped Palmer in down the right before Enormous Ed used his good-feet-for-a-big-man to dig out a cross to the back post, which was gladly gobbled up by Jadyn Crosbie.

It was my first proper look at Crosbie, and I liked what I saw. He’s not a natural target man, but runs hard and is no slouch with his back to goal. He didn’t have to do much to convert his chance today, but the boy has a knack of scoring goals, and clearly he was in the right place at the right time. I wouldn’t expect him to start next Saturday, but I hope he gets a proper run in the team at some point: he’s got great potential.

A triple change at half-time saw the introduction of Ollie Tomlinson (for a composed, classy Dreyer), Brad Ash (for a quiet Cooke), and Omar Mussa (for a similarly quiet Hasani). The Moose is going to be so entertaining this season. We must be patient: it’s in his nature to take risks, which means he’ll frustrate and give the ball away more than most. He did this today. But, moreso than anyone else in our squad, he’s got a genuine creative spark and two magical feet. It’s absolutely incumbent on fans (and players, and manager) to back him, accept that he might be a bit fragile and a bit inconsistent, and be safe in the knowledge that we’ll be able to reap the rewards when he lights up this pub league.

It was his fellow sub, Brad Ash, who scored the final goal of the afternoon. He capitalised on a loose ball after what can only be described as Tiverton fannying around at the back – which must surely have enraged no-nonsense assistant manager Ben Gerring – and curled a beautiful finish into the top corner. Both on Tuesday and today, Ash has looked sharp and has – for me – played his way into the starting XI.

Not long afterwards, Ash’s strike partner for the final half hour, Ben Seymour, latched onto a wayward back-pass, and will feel disappointed not to have added a fourth. The follow-up from Roddy Collins – whose 90 minutes in midfield was more functional than dazzling – was blazed over the bar, when anything on target would surely have bulged the net.

That was that, really. Dyer, Booth (!) and later Wellington also got a runout. Jay Foulston, who had a solid 99 and threatened periodically with his left foot from the wide centre back role, nearly got into two fights and looked to come off slightly worse for wear after not fully committing to a less-than-friendly tackle.

Wotton will, hopefully, have left Ladysmead with a decent idea of his preferred starting XI for the season opener next Saturday. Today’s wing backs – Tonks and Carson – will consider themselves two of few nailed-onners. Both are industrious, and while Carson appears to have more quality on the ball, neither will look out of place in NLS football. The rest, I expect, will depend on Oscar Threlkeld’s fitness, whether Ed Palmer has done enough to shoulder Jordan Dyer out of RCB contention, and which two of the four strikers take Paul’s fancy on Friday afternoon.

It’ll be nice to have options, for once.