Wealdstone 0 – 1 Tamworth

Tamworth Website Match Report

After the slender defeat to top of the table Barnet at the Compare The Build Community Stadium at the weekend, The Lambs made the rearranged trip down the M40 into London to face Wealdstone on their own turf for the first time.Lambs fans of a certain age may well remember the giant-killing 1987 FA Cup victory by Tamworth, then a step 4 Banks’ Brewery League side over their Step One Conference opponents at a packed Lamb ground, but there had been no meeting at Grosvenor Vale prior to kick off.

Andy Peaks made two changes to the side that started against The Bees with Matt Curley and Kennedy Digie in for Ben Crompton and Jordan Cullinane-Liburd respectively.

KICK OFFThe home side got the game underway, kicking down the slope, with the Lambs fans behind the goal at the top of the ground and Enoru rifled an early warning shot across the box which went out via a deflection for a corner on the right and Milnes received it back and drilled it low at the near post but Gunter smothered his strike.

Mundle-Smith then found Kretzschmar down the left wing but Singh plucked his cross out of the air.An intelligent ball from the right into Enoru from Milnes gave the latter a half sight of goal but his shot on the turn was blocked on 4.

After the initial flurry of end to end activity, neither side was able to make meaningful headway despite some searching crosses and attempted releasing passes out of both midfields.

Another strong run by Enoru caused problems on the left of the box on 16 and when the ball fell to Creaney he took a shot at the second attempt but it struck the heels of a defender on the way and was cleared.At the other end on 21, there were loud shouts from the home terraces for handball against Milnes when a Georgiou cross from the left bounced up via a deflection ‘ball to arm’ and the referee was having none of it.

Curley sent a right wing cross on the head of Creaney on 24 but his downward header hit the sand in the goal ahead of the covering defender so it’s bounced was deadened and the loose ball cleared before the Lambs striker could get a boot to it.

Wealdstone attacked on 27 and Sohna spotted an opportunity from 20 yards after Ashford’s half shot had been blocked, curling the ball over the crowded box and also the target.

A couple of Lambs corners were awarded on 30, and from the second Craney flicked his header onto Cockerill-Mollet but his snap angled header was sufficiently off target for home side to deal with it comfortably.A flowing Lambs move on 33 ended with Enoru firing in the arms of Gunter from 18 yards while Mundle-Smith’s shot at the other end cannoned off McGlinchey for a Stone flagkick which was initially cleared, but twice worked back in and ended with a Cesay airborne scissor kick from 12 yards, over the crossbar.

Singh was forced into the first real save of the game on 40 when Ashford struck low from 25 yards but it was relatively simple for the keeper to gather.

A foul on Enoru on the left earned Boldewijn a booking on 42 and Milnes’ freekick forced Gunter to tip the ball over his bar at full stretch for a corner on the right which fell to Creaney twice, but the first time it was half cleared back to him and the second time his snap shot rose over the target.

Kretzschmar’s shot from the right on 45 forced Singh to smother ball, and there was no added time played before the whistle blew on a goalless first half.

HT 0-0Tamworth restarted the game, hopeful of an early breakthrough and it nearly arrived when Grant’s header fell invitingly to Creaney on the left of the area and he struck on target but Gunter was well positioned to gather his effort.

At the other end Hollis denied Cesay’s ball in, and the follow up from Reid as the home side went on the offensive too.

There was more danger from Kretzschmar and Ashford, and the latter lifted his left footed finish over the bar after getting the better of McGlinchey in the box on 52.

Cesay mad a nuisance of himself on the right forcing a corner on 54 and there were shouts for a penalty when Sohna went down under a defensive block from which The Lambs broke downfield.

Milnes receive the ball from Creaney and he floated it for McGlinchey to head goalward, forcing Gunter to push it away one hand for a corner, with a similar outcome from McGlinchey’s blocked strike.A foul on Fletcher by Ashford on 57 on the edge of the D set up Milnes with the freekick and he struck the bar with his effort which Enoru forged into a corner with his persistence on the byline.

The home side broke from it though and kept the ball in the final third, resulting in a corner when Ashford swivelled and shot from close range. Kretzschmar was booked following the corner, and then on 63 slid in on Singh as the ball skipped into the box, earning himself a second booking and an early shower.

Despite the man disadvantage the home side pressed and forced a corner on the right on 69 but The Lambs broke through Cockerill-Mollet and Creaney who in turn found McGlinchey but his low shot was easy for Gunter.

Another incisive move from Wealdstone saw Mundle-Smith angle a low shot from a left sided ball at Singh on 72 and Tamworth pushed away down field, with Enrou heavily involved in the 73rd minute strike.He picked the ball up on the left, saw it back to Milnes who chipped it into the area, for Enoru to make headway past his marker, cut it back into the box and past the keeper, and when it rebounded at him a yard out he made no mistake for his first Lambs goal (0-1, 73 mins)

The goalscorer was unable to continue after going down with cramp on 79 as Peaks made his third change of the evening and Tshikuna,

Sundire and Finn all took to the field to see the game out.The latter curled a shot from the right of the box at Gunter on 84 but the home side were not without desire to get something from the game, forcing two corner in quick succession either side, but neither threatened Singh’s goal.

Seven minutes added time were shown at the end of the game and The Lambs played the time down expertly to take the win home.