Tamworth Men's Firsts Vs Nuneaton

Tamworth Men's First XI suffered another disappointing set of results over the weekend as they drew 4-4 away to Nuneaton in the league fixture on Saturday before losing 4-3 to Market Haborough in the cup on Sunday.

On Saturday Town made the short trip to Nuneaton looking to bounce back from their heavy defeat the previous week.  It was the hosts however who started the stronger and Tamworth defended manfully but struggled to hold onto possession and created few clear chances of their own.  Eventually the pressure told and Nuneaton broke through with a scrambled effort before doubling the lead.  Tamworth got a foothold back in the game when Ryan Brisco reacted quickest to a rebound off the keeper to lift his shot high into the net.  Nuneaton struck back again and restored their two goal advantage but Tamworth came back again with Ben McFadden scoring with a well placed shot from the top of the D low into the bottom left corner.

Trailing by just the one goal Town felt confident that they could improve to take three points and were much improved second half as they had more of the ball and better chances.  It took until midway through the half but eventually they got the equaliser they craved when Ben Marshall intercepted a loose pass high up the pitch and fed the ball into Tom Hancox who drew both the keeper and last defender before laying on an open goal for Tom Sperrink to score into.  Unfortunately Tamworth couldn't build on this momentum and spurned good chances before Nuneaton retook the lead meaning that when Ian Wagstaff fired his drag flick into the right hand corner late in the game Town had to be grateful for the one point they gained rather than two points lost.

On Sunday Tamworth travelled to Market Harborough where this time they were the side to throw away a two goal lead.  Tamworth started positively and Tom Hancox was a handful up front whilst the hosts, who enjoyed the greater possession, were generally limited to half chances.  Tamworth were having some success from aerial passes and Town took the lead when Wagstaff released Tom Hancox down the left and he played a superbly weighted pass to leave the keeper stranded and Ben Marshall controlled before slotting into the empty goal from a tight angle.  Harborough were then given a golden opportunity when a flick was awarded for a ball illegally blocked on the line but James Miles made a stunning stick save to his right to keep the ball out.  The game became rather scrappy for both sides from here and Tamworth maintained their slender lead at half time.

After the break Harborough pressed hard for the equaliser and with Tamworth suffering injuries the hosts were on top for long periods.  Town stood up well to the challenge and when Tom Sperrink took a free hit quickly high up the pitch he was able to get a shot away inside the right hand post and give Town a cushion.  Harborough hit straight back with a goal of their own but Tamworth restored the two goal lead when Louis March fed the ball into Sperrink and he broke into the D to score a near carbon copy of his first.  This should have wrapped up victory but Tamworth when fell to pieces as the conceded 3 times in the final 10 minutes to lose 4-3 and exit the cup at the second round stage