Tamworth Men's Firsts Vs Buxton

Tamworth faced Buxton in a crucial relegation six pointer on Sunday.  Having made the long journey they found snow on the pitch upon arrival however thankfully the rain cleared this in time for the start.  Tamworth took a strong side and were on top early on with Tom Hancox this time finding lots of space down the right wing.  After seeing a couple of crosses fail to find a man it was down the right that Tamworth fashioned the opening goal, Tom Sperrink was released in behind the defence and his cross picked out Ryan Brisco who controlled the ball and delicately lifted it over the onrushing keeper.  Buxton came back strongly and had a spell of pressure where Simon Carey in goal made a couple of crucial saves but was unable to prevent Buxton equalising from a penalty corner.  Tamworth bounced back again and retook the lead when Brisco stole possession high up the pitch and played in Ben Robins who rounded the keeper and slotted home for his second in consecutive games.  Tamworth doubled their lead late in the half when Andy Parker collected the ball at the top of the D and squared it for Sperrink to slip the ball under the keeper and make it 3-1.

After the break the home side looked to go on the attack to find the goals they needed and Tamworth were frustrated to go down to nine men following yellow cards.  Tamworth weathered the storm but with Buxton on the offensive the game opened up with chances at both ends.  Town couldn’t find the goal which would have finished the game as a contest and Buxton scored with two minutes to go and when they won a penalty corner in the final minute it looked ominous for Tamworth.  Buxton stepped up and struck the bar leaving hearts in mouths but when Dave Langford cleared the ball off the side of the pitch Tamworth could celebrate the win which stretches their lead to 7 points clear of the bottom two with 7 games to go.

Tamworth can now start to look up the table rather than down and face Berkswell at home on Saturday who are 2 places and 5 points higher.