Match Preview

We welcome Tiverton Town to the Sports Ground on Tuesday night in the quarter finals of the Devon St Luke’s Bowl.

Bideford vs Tiverton Town
Devon St Luke’s Bowl Quarter Final
Tuesday 6th February 2018
7:45pm kick off
Sports Ground, Bideford

A Brief History of Tiverton Town FC
Formed in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic the club later became Tiverton Town playing local level football until joining the Western League in 1973. In 1980/81 Tiverton were relegated to Western League Division One where they remained until finishing second in 1988/89 and returning to the Premier Division. The club did not finish outside of the top four for the next ten seasons. They were Western League champions in 1993/94, 1994/95, 1996/97 and 1997/98. After finishing runners-up in 1998/99 Tiverton accepted promotion to the Southern League Western Division where they finished fourth in their first season and runners-up in 2000/01 meaning promotion to the Premier Division. Tiverton spent ten years in the Premier reaching their highest ever league position of fourth in 2002/03 before being relegated to Division One South & West in 2010/11. In 2013/14 Tivvy finished third but were beaten by Paulton Rovers in their play-off semi final. They finished 16th in 2014/15 and 8th in 2015/16. Last season Tiverton finished 3rd in Division One South & West and were promoted to the Premier Division for the first time after defeating Salisbury in the play-off final.

Tiverton are two time FA Vase winners having beaten Tow Law Town in 1997/98 and Bedlington Terriers in 1998/99. They were also runners-up in 1992/93 losing to Bridlington Town. Tiverton won the Southern League Cup in 2007 and are also five times Western League Cup winners and nine time winners of the St Luke's Bowl. Tivvy have also reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup on seven occasions meeting the likes of Leyton Orient, Cardiff City and Doncaster Rovers.

Tiverton Town FC
Website: http://www.tivertontownfc.co.uk
Twitter: @tivertontownfc

Form Guide
Tiverton are so far having a very good first season in the Southern League Premier Division currently sitting in 6th place (W17 D2 L12). On Saturday Tiverton scored an excellent 3-0 win over Slough Town to help put behind them a heavy defeat at Basingstoke Town the week prior.

Tiverton Town’s last six (LLWLLW)
03/02/18 Tiverton Town 3 Slough Town 0 (League)
27/01/18 Basingstoke Town 6 Tiverton Town 2 (League)
20/01/18 Tiverton Town 2 St Ives Town 3 (League)
13/01/18 Gosport Borough 0 Tiverton Town 5 (League)
06/01/18 Tiverton Town 1 Chesham United 2 (League)
01/01/18 Dorchester Town 3 Tiverton Town 0 (League)

An injury time Kevin Squire goal on Saturday at Wimborne increased Bideford’s unbeaten run to six games, with The Robins suffering only one loss in their last 13 outings. With a congested fixture list ahead, Sean Joyce is likely to shuffle his pack for the visit of Premier Division Tiverton Town in the St Luke’s Bowl. New signing Ben Palmer is a doubt due to injury but Josh Key could make his debut after his loan move from Exeter City.

Bideford's last six (DLDDWW)
03/02/18 Wimborne Town 2 Bideford 2 (League)
30/01/18 AFC Totton 2 Bideford 3 (League)
13/01/18 Swindon Supermarine 0 Bideford 5 (League)
06/01/18 Bideford 1 Bishops Cleeve 0 (League)
26/12/17 Bideford 1 Barnstaple Town 1 (League)
23/12/17 Didcot Town 0 Bideford 0 (League)

Most recent meetings:
21/02/17 Tiverton Town 3 Bideford 1 (St Luke’s QF)
29/11/16 Tiverton Town 1 Bideford 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
08/08/16 Bideford 0 Tiverton Town 3 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
16/09/14 Bideford 1 Tiverton Town 0 (FA Cup Q1 replay)
13/09/14 Tiverton Town 0 Bideford 0 (FA Cup Q1)
31/01/12 Bideford 1 Tiverton Town 2 (St Luke's QF)
02/01/12 Bideford 1 Tiverton Town 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
01/11/11 Bideford 2 Tiverton Town 1 (Southern League Cup R1)
03/09/11 Bideford 4 Tiverton Town 0 (FA Cup PR)
29/08/11 Tiverton Town 0 Bideford 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)

The sides met at this stage of the competition last season with Tiverton coming out on top with a 3-1 win at Ladysmead. Tiverton also ran out 3-0 winners at the Sports Ground with an excellent performance in August 2016, while a Kevin Squire penalty earned The Robins a draw at Ladysmead in November.