Rogers rues misfortune as Tiverton are overcome by leaders Weymouth
Tiverton Town manager Martyn Rogers admitted that Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat to Southern League leaders Weymouth was hard to take after suffering a late “double whammy” at Ladysmead.
Brandon Goodship’s dramatic injury time winner cruelly denied Town, who then had a goal disallowed when Josh Key’s strike was ruled out for offside.
It was harsh on Tiverton, who had taken a 22nd-minute lead, with Michael Landricombe on target. But, following Jake McCarthy’s 68thminute equaliser after a period of pressure from the Terras, Rogers’ side appeared to have done enough to earn a deserved share of the points against the table-toppers.
Rogers said: “It was a good game, a proper game of nonLeague football, which was end to end.
“To be fair, Weymouth are a very good team, and after we took the lead I thought we weathered the storm really well, but then they got the equaliser, and then to concede so late on and then have a goal disallowed for offside was very disappointing.
“It was a really poor decision. Josh [Key] is not the sort of player to argue a decision, but he thought he was onside and so did everyone else watching.
“It was a real double whammy, losing the game so late on and having a perfectly good goal ruled out,” the Tivvy boss added.
“I will have a look at the video, but the only thing it will do is prove we were right.”
Tiverton will welcome back leading scorer Levi Landricombe for Saturday’s trip to struggling Chesham Town.
The striker missed Tuesday’s game as he was away at his stag party.
Rogers admitted: “It’s a bit like Spurs and Harry Kane. He is always capable of scoring in the big games, and we could have done with Levi on Tuesday. You don’t want to miss your top players in these games. Levi has a good record against the top teams and he could have made the difference against Weymouth.”
Tiverton will travel to Premier Division South newcomers Hartley Wintney in the first qualifying round of the FA Trophy. The tie will take place on October 27 in Hampshire in what is Tivvy’s first game in this season’s competition.
Rogers had hoped for a home tie, and he is expecting a tough test. Hartley Wintney were promoted via the Division One East play-offs last season, and they have enjoyed an encouraging start to the campaign. They are currently seventh in the table, with just two defeats from their opening 11 games.
Rogers said: “We would have preferred a home draw, but the good thing is we’ve not played them before. Hopefully we can get the job done on the day.”