Report by Jon Green

Paulton Rovers' poor run of form continued on Wednesday evening when they went down to Tiverton Town by a single goal.

After defeat and a poor performance on Saturday, Rovers would have been looking for a reaction and a game to warm the supporters on a very cold evening. But unfortunately, it wasn’t to be as Tiverton took the lions share of possession from the start.

Two early chances were missed in the opening minutes whilst the hosts struggled to hold onto the ball when they had it to make any meaningful attacks. In fact, it took 30 minutes for Rovers to carve out a chance that tested the Tivvy keeper. Brandon Bak found Cam Allen in the box but his well struck shot was parried away. The ball fell to Jaden Neale, playing in his debut game, but his shot from the angle was also saved.

The pivotal moment came in the 40th minute when Paulton’s second debutant, Harry Messenger, unfortunately took down an attacker in the box. The resulting penalty was tucked away Asa Hall.

The lead was narrow going into the break but nobody could really deny the fact that Tiverton deserved it having created far more chances than the home team.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Tiverton getting the early chances. Archie Matthews had to be at his best yet again to keep the score from increasing for the visitors.

Rovers did get the ball forward more often this half, but again it took some time to create an opening and even then it came from a set piece. In the 64th minute, Martin Lenihan swung in a great freekick that was met by Ewan McMillan at the back post but his header flashed just wide.

Tivvy pressed forward again and were it not for Archie Matthews and some wasteful finishing, Arguably, Rovers best chance to equalise came late in the game when Jaden Neale delivered a great cross for Brandon Bak. The supporters were already cheering as he span his man four yards out only to inexplicably miss his connection with the ball. It summed up the team performance in general and things must improve for the visit of Willand Rovers on Saturday.

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