Jon
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Post by Jon on Sept 25, 2023 23:06:30 GMT
We go for county cup glory, visiting Ivybridge Town who are currently sitting top of step 6 Peninsula League East.
Hope to bump into Stefano - either at the pub before or at the match.
Our team will be mostly players from the South Devon College team - probably with Lovett and Thomas and anyone else who may be deemed to need the pitch time. Outside chance of seeing Martin, Hanson, Pearce or De Silva.
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Post by stefano on Sept 26, 2023 6:01:17 GMT
For those travelling to this game by vehicular transport and visiting ex-Gull Dave Smith's pub the Duke of Cornwall before or after the game, beware the car park immediately opposite the pub which is best avoided. It is privately owned and the parking enforcement company they use pursue people through the Courts for years for merely turning around or dropping somebody off.
It is best to use one of the 3 large car parks in the centre by the Town Hall / Police Station and walk from there. Do pay though as it is monitored even in the evenings.
From those central car parks it is a 10 minutes walk along the bank of the River Erme keeping the river to the right. The river runs around the football pitch so you cannot go wrong.
To divert to the Duke of Cornwall for a beer go up the ramp at Marjorie Kelly Way bridge, turn right across the bridge then first left into Keaton Road and the pub is on the corner.
There is parking at Erme Park football ground but it is very limited as they share with other sports clubs, and parking on the Ermington road outside is dangerous and often enforced.
Travel by train is possible change at Newton Abbot from Torbay and from Newton it is a short 25 minutes journey via Totnes. The downside is that the railway station is 1 mile east of the town centre whilst the football ground is on the west of the town, so a good 35 minutes walk even with a stride on.
The Stagecoach Gold bus link to Torbay is an excellent every half hour service but unfortunately midweek does not run late enough to get back to Torbay from an evening kick off.
For those visiting Smiffy's pub before the game please note that he hosts the Dove Project early evenings on Tuesdays. This is an organisation looking after adults with learning difficulties. They are a smashing bunch and run the successful Ivybridge Brewing Company in the town centre. With minimum supervision these special needs adults do all the brewing, bottling, marketing, and serving in the shop and tap room. An excellent concept brewing to improve lives.
I cannot see Ivybridge losing this one but with a pint or two of Purity Brewery Mad Goose 4.2 inside you from the Duke it should not feel so bad! 😉⚽️
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Sept 26, 2023 18:14:43 GMT
Too late for pub. Came straight to ground.Strong team : Lovett, Martin, Craske, Thomas, Hanson and Pearce start with five college boys.
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Sept 26, 2023 18:41:50 GMT
Too late for pub. Came straight to ground.Strong team : Lovett, Martin, Craske, Thomas, Hanson and Pearce start with five college boys. |
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Post by stefano on Sept 26, 2023 23:08:38 GMT
2-2 full time. No extra time straight to penalties. Ivybridge Town won 4-2 on the spot kicks. A stronger Torquay team than I expected to see I think about half a dozen professionals. On the balance of play there is no argument about the result. ⚽️
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2023 7:54:05 GMT
Damn it, I thought this was the start of The Grail, and when I read that we’d lost I ran upstairs and gave my Blow-Up Doll a good seeing to.
I should have realised that it wasn’t The Grail because we didn’t have our first team out, so we might be able to put out a decent team on Saturday,(not that it matters anyway) instead of the walking wounded we normally have to field after a Grail match!
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Sept 29, 2023 0:18:23 GMT
A very enjoyable game of football in the excellent company of Sam and Stefano. First County Cup game for us in nearly four years.
Ivybridge may be in the Peninsula League but they are storming away at the top - so I would say comfortably Western League (so Buckland level) quality.
Had we played a full team of 17-year-old college kids we would not have stood a chance.
As it was we had five college kids, one college kid just turned pro and five pro pros.
The result was a very hard-fought game between two evenly-matched sides.
We played a clear 4-3-3.
Lovett
Craske Poole Thomas Martin
O'Sullivan Hanson Kennell
Swann Pearce Elliot
During the second half, Wills replaced Craske, Crawford came on on the left of the attack with Ellis coming on and Elliot dropping back to replace O'Sullivan and Kennell in midfield.
We dominated the first half and should have been well ahead were it not for some hesitant finishing and some heroic defending - a couple of episodes of goalmouth pinball seeing countless goal line clearances.
When it looked like we would fail to turn our dominance into a lead, the goal finally came. Hanson drove a free-kick from the edge of the box hard and low into the corner of the net.
I don't know what Ivybridge put in their half-time tea but they came out far stronger in the second half. A real game of two halves.
Their equaliser came from a beautifully-delivered corner - whipped in fast at head height towards the near post. Pretty sure it was Dan Martin’s head that flicked it on past Lovett.
They then went ahead with a peach of a shot from distance.
It looked like we were beaten, but Pearce made the most of a half-chance right near the end of the game - a lovely finish.
His reaction was interesting. No celebration, straight on with it. Not sure if that was a rush to try to grab a stoppage time winner or disappointment at his failure to convert earlier chances.
Straight to pens. We had our second and fifth penalties saved to go down 4-3 with Ivybrige’s fifth kick not required. First miss was Dan Martin, second I believe was young sub Riley Crawford. Felt sorry for him - he looked gutted.
A very useful workout. Minutes in the legs for pros who needed them and a chance to bridge the gap from college football for some of the youngsters. Result not really important but still a shame we lost, as it would have been good to have another such game or two. How about some midweek "reserve" friendlies against local Western or Peninsula League teams instead? I doubt it somehow.
The youngsters all did as well as you could reasonably expect. What of the pros? Thomas is just a very slightly older youngster - a long way short of National League South still. Craske was solid - but playing his way back to fitness. Lovett did nothing wrong - neither goal was a howler. Pearce led the line and clearly has something about him but will be disappointed he did not gobble up a goal or two more. Hesitant on a couple of very clear openings in the first half before his well-taken late goal. I am not the biggest fan of either Martin or Hanson and neither did much (Hanson's goal aside) to change my opinion. Neither stood out as better players than their Ivybridge counterparts.
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