Match report ©Tom Besford
This Monday night football fixture was the first meeting between Topsham Town and Thorverton this season and it was as tight as the table would suggest with the visitors in twelfth, one point and one place above their hosts. A good sized crowd turned up for what would be an entertaining fixture which just lacked some goals.
The game started slowly and all that either team could manage was tame efforts from distance, Kieran Smith shot wide from the edge of the box for the visitors in the first five minutes and Lee Radford sent a free kick wide of the target with twenty minutes on the clock. It was an end to end start to the game with both sides full of energy but Thorverton were slightly on top but lacked any quality on the final ball.
It took until the last ten minutes of the half for the game to really start and Nathan May went close for the hosts but could only drag his shot wide of the target from the edge of the penalty area. It was a similar story at the other end of the pitch as Smith beat the defender before shooting straight at the home keeper George Richards.
With just a few minutes remaining in the first half it was the visitors who thought they had broken the deadlock, Mattie Cram hit a shot from distance which fired off the post and rebounded straight into the path of Smith who made no mistake in finishing from close range, however, before any celebrations could take place the linesman’s flag was in the air for offside.
The final chance of the first half went the way of the hosts and it was the first chance that really tested either goalkeeper as Connor Saunders broke into the box from the right driving a shot goalwards from an angle which was saved well by visiting keeper Jack McAndrews.
The second half began in the same way the first half ended with both teams working the ball well but lacking the killer pass in front of goal as the game swayed from end to end. It was Topsham who had the best of the early chances as Brad Edwardson hit a shot straight at McAndrews in goal from the edge of the D before McAndrews was called into a great double save firstly preventing Saunders before Tristan Courtney also saw his effort thwarted by the Thorverton number one.
This acted as a bit of a wake up call for the visitors who sprung into action with a couple of chances of their own. Jacob Dack shot across goal following a cross from the left wing by Sam Stewart before the latter had a golden chance of his own as he hit a shot from distance which cannoned off the crossbar.
It was a game where both teams had clearly left their shooting boots behind with Lee Radford shooting wide from close range for Thorverton before Topsham’s Cameron Webb saw his effort from close range well saved by the keeper.
The final chance of the match came through the home side as a cross from the left found Matt Dovedale who could only head over the bar from close range. As both teams desperately went in search of a winner in the dying minutes panic set in with misplaced passes and poor balls frustrating players from both sides.
A goalless draw in a match between two very close teams who although they both had moments of quality, cancelled each other out and defended well. The return fixture at Thorverton in a few weeks could well be a very interesting game.
Topsham Town team: George Richards, Connor Saunders, Brad Phillips, Tom Tricker, Ash Matthews, Mitch Ward, Tom Price, Marcus Howe, Cameron Webb, Nathan May, Tristan Courtney
Subs: James Skinner, Ben Lyne, Matt Dovedale, Brad Edwardson, Ollie Knowles
Thorverton team: Jack McAndrews, Patrick O’Loughlin, Jake Ebdon, Sam Stewart, Joe Radford, Max Oliver, Beckham Pyatt, Mattie Cram, Ryan Moody, Lee Radford, Kieran Smith
Subs: Nathan Lee, Chris Powell, Jacob Dack, Pepe Eixeres
