Report

TVFC kick off new campaign with comfortable victory over Squirrel !!

On  the eve of the big kick off Manager Wayman added 2 new faces to his  squad in the form of ex Wyre Villa and Poulton Town full back Paul Thornhill and Right wing back Ricky Whiteside who had been recommended by current TVFC striker and scout Robbie Walsh .

On a wet and blustery morning at Boundary TVFC knew they had to get the new campaign off to a flying start if they were to have any aspirations of Promotion. Wayman shuffled his pack and included Thornhill as one of 3 new faces making competitive debuts in Tangerine. Johnston started between the sticks infront of a back 4 minus Long who was away on military duty which included Thornhill , Dixon , Gore and  a returning Rae Dixon at left back , who had returned from an extended holiday in New Zealand. The gaffers newly adopted 4-3-3 formation saw a midfield 3 of Banks , Jim and Barker . Leaving veteran front man Lee Scammell spearheading the attack alongside Billy and Haslam , who after impressive displays in training was handed a new role in behind the front 2. Walsh unable to play after late payment of an outstanding fine led to Dixon being handed the captains armband for the second game in succession.

Referee Mr Parr got the game underway at circa 11.01 local time with Squirrel attacking the car park end. The pitch , in early season condition had stood up well to heavy rain during the night  and hopefully the tangerines could get the ball down as they like to and play some neat attacking football.

Both teams struggled to get the ball down in the first quarter of the game and no real chances were created by either team , until the game eventually sprung into life on the half hour mark , Haslam picked the ball up 25 yards from goal and revelling in his new found role let fly , the ball clipping the defender and spinning in off the wet turf into the bottom corner for a 1-0 TVFC lead , one for the dubious goals panel that one !!

This seemed to lift a weight off the shoulders of the home team , with no one wanting to make an early season mistake. TVFC started to play with more confidence after the goal , Billy tried an ambitious effort from fully 35 yards which sailed well wide and Haslam again fluffed his lines after the ball had been pulled back from the bye line.

Mr Parr eventually brought the first half to an end with TVFC 1 to the good. Squirrel had struggled to put together any real dangerous moves in the first half but Wayman reiterated at the break that TVFC could ill-afford to take their eye  of the ball. The gaffer was also critical of the forwards at the half time interval as they were struggling to keep themselves on side.

TVFC started the second half brightly and duly doubled the lead , Barker floated across a delightful ball to the back post where Gore met it with a combination of forehead and cheek as the ball flew past the keeper , 2-0.

Whiteside replaced Rae Dixon on the hour mark for his TVFC bow. Thornhill moved into the midfield with Greg Barker moving to left back and Whiteside occupying the right back slot.

With the forward line still not managing to avoid the linesman’s offside flag , Billy picked up a needless booking for dissent , something the youngster will need to stamp out of his game if he wants to avoid fines and eventually suspensions.

Johnston was merely a spectator in the TVFC goal with the defence seeming fairly solid as a unit. Banks broke free after some excellent work in the middle however unfortunately as he strode over the halfway line a bit of mis-communication with Scammell saw both players end up in a heap, however Billy picked up the loose ball and drove towards goal only to be upended right on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick ................ less said the better.

It didn’t take long for Billy Wilson to continue his excellent goalscoring form in Tangerine after he broke the offside trap and cooly slotted it past the onrushing keeper for a 3-0 lead.

Squirrel then had probably their best spell of the match, but some stout defensive blocks from Dixon kept them at bay.

4-0 duly arrived as Jim bagged his second goal for the Travel Village , the energetic midfielder had all the time in the world as he cut in from the left hand side and beat the goalkeeper at his front post.

Ex Falcon superstar and all time top scorer Bruce Budden was watching on from the sidelines, however his goal scoring prowess wasn’t required as the game was all but over and the Scotsman had to make do with a watching brief , much to his disappointment.

Mr Parr brought to an end what had been a comfortable first game of the season TVFC.

3 points on the board and although the performance may require some fine tuning , the squad now looks to have a certain amount of quality onboard with the new additions. Carry on controlling games like that and you would be hard pushed to deny that TVFC will not be challenging at the right end of the table come May.

Onto next week with a Gledhill Cup Qualifier vs Victoria Hospital at Commonedge.

Over and OUT , UTMTVFC !