Kings came agonisingly close to securing a notable victory over high flying
Tiverton but in the end had to settle for a share of the spoils when ‘Tivvy’s’
River Allen struck a late, late equaliser. The result was a fair reflection of the
endeavours of both teams and a reprise of last season’s outcome when Langley
had benefitted from a similarly late strike from Calum Adebiyi. On this occasion
the visitors were quickly into their stride and Charlie Burns made the first of
several crucial saves with a smart stop from Allen’s early free kick. Kings grew
into the game and the marauding Steve Ward was a regular threat to the
Tiverton defence but Tiverton always looked particularly potent on the break
with the ever dangerous Levi Landricombe looking regularly capable of adding
to his impressive one hundred goal tally for ‘Tivvy’. However, despite the
earnest efforts of both teams to break the deadlock the half remained goalless.
The second period started dramatically with both teams creating clear
opportunities, but it was the visitors who capitalised on theirs. Firstly, Stevie
Ward got on the end of a pin point Coldicott-Stevens cross only to put his
glancing header narrowly wide. The missed opportunity was to prove costly, as
just a minute later, Levi Landricombe added to his impressive tally by brilliantly
lobbing the ball over Charlie Burns to put ‘Tivvy’ ahead. Kings responded
positively and a great strike from Weiss restored parity after a penetrating run
by Ward had set the marksman up. The home side sensed an opportunity and
just five minutes later Weiss’s perceptive free kick put the hosts in front. The
strike put the ‘in-form’ hit man just four short of his own century of goals in a
Kings shirt and in sight of a notable victory. However, this ‘Tivvy’ team are
nothing if not resilient in the face of adversity and they poured forward in search
of an equaliser. Kings had a let off when one particularly incisive attack saw
Jordan Rogers denied a scoring opportunity when the Referee pulled play back
for an earlier offence against the attacking side. The same player was similarly
denied by a stunning save from Charlie Burns when he somehow got a hand to
the striker’s bullet header to preserve King’s tenuous advantage. Kings too, had
their chances to put the game to bed when Rene Howe, who had led the line
effectively throughout, brought the best out of ‘Tivvy’ custodian Liam Armstrong
to deny the burly striker and set up that late drama that saw a thunderous River
Allen free kick drilled through the defensive wall to rescue a point for the visitors
and break Kings hearts.