Tamworth Men's Firsts Vs Ashbourne

Tamworth Men’s First XI snatched a 1-0 away win at bottom of the table Ashbourne on Saturday as they faced a tougher task than they might have anticipated.  Tamworth took a strong squad and were faced with an Ashbourne team which was boosted by some familiar faces from Ashbourne teams of old.  The opening quarter of the game was a cagey affair as neither side created a great deal of note but Town had the lion’s share of possession and territory.  As the half wore on Tamworth were camped in the oppositions half with Ben Acheson and Ian Wagstaff dominating the midfield battle.  Chances were scarce but Sam Turner almost capitalised on a rebound but couldn’t connect with his reverse stick effort.

In the second period Tamworth weathered a period of pressure with Dan Phillips sent to the sin bin as both teams went in with some hard challenges.  When back to their full eleven Town stepped up the pace of the game and after Wagstaff shot narrowly wide from a penalty corner, Tom Hancox finally broke the deadlock as he smashed his shot beyond the wrong footed keeper midway through the half.  Ashbourne came back strongly and Tamworth were indebted to keeper Tony Banks for some excellent saves to maintain the clean sheet and man of the match Dave Langford who’s reading of the game thwarted Ashbourne’s attempts to gain momentum and kept Tamworth on the attack.  In the closing stages Ashbourne had a player yellow carded and Tamworth tried in vain to add to their lead with Tom Grimshaw unlucky not be rewarded with a goal for his running up front but will have to be satisfied with the three points which keeps them nine points clear at the top.