Tamworth Men's Firsts Vs Kettering

Tamworth Men’s First XI showed their mettle with a hard fought 2-1 victory at Kettering.  The hosts started strongly and pinned Tamworth back with Town also having to cope without Tom Grimshaw for 5 minutes when he was sent to the sin bin for controlling an aerial pass above his shoulder.  Once back to their full complement of players Tamworth were able to take the game to Kettering and when Ryan Brisco took a quick free hit, he released Ben Popple down the left wing and his early driven cross was lifted over the onrushing keeper by Tom Sperrink.  The hosts continued to pose a threat but the back four of Acheson, Langford, Grimshaw and Pound were outstanding in defence to limit Kettering’s opportunities to on goal.  Tamworth carried a threat on the counter attack however and Kettering couldn’t match Town’s pace up front with Ian Wagstaff created numerous chances for Tamworth with his aerial passes.  Sam Turner went close and Popple was a constant threat and Tamworth doubled their lead when Sperrink drove into the D and again chipped the ball over the keeper.

The game continued in a similar vein in the second period with Tamworth working incredibly hard to maintain the advantage and Tamworth had another spell with only 10 players as Langford saw yellow for a late challenge .  Tony Banks made two reflex saves low down to keep out shots from penalty corners but was helpless to stop Kettering halving the deficit moments later when Acheson slipped in the D and the home side pounced.  Tamworth kept their composure however and Parker and Wagstaff kept up the work rate in the midfield to see out an important win.