Brett Walton | Blog

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Well Who Would Have Thought That ...

Following a disappointing result against Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday night, Marcus Law’s men welcomed footballing legend Dietmar Hamann and his Stockport County side to The lamb.

After ten games, Tamworth were sitting nicely in 9th position, above The Hatters in 14th, Stockport not starting the season as well as many would have predicted at the start of the season, following their recent relegation from the Football League. Just two wins and seven 1-1 draws meant that County hadn’t started as well as they would have liked, but having only lost once so far this season, it was going to be a tough ask for The Lambs.

Duance Courtney finally managed to get a place in the squad following his injury, albeit on the bench, with the only change from Tuesday night (perhaps surprisingly), Nabil Shariff, who came in on the wing for Danny Mills in a 5-4-1 formation.

Tamworth started brightly, although perhaps a little nervy, hardly surprising given the time that they conceded the only goal of the game against Forest Green, as Danny Thomas weeved his way into the box, but was brought down for a strong penalty challenge which the referee waved away to the dismay of the Tamworth fans. Tamworth continued with their early dominance, with Dan Bradley having a pop which was easily dealt with by Matthew Gelnnon in the Stockport goal. Stockport eventually got going following the Tamworth pressure, with a chance going over the bar. Just before the half hour mark, Stockport almost snatched the lead but for a great save by Jonathan Hedge as Ryan McCann’s header took a deflection just yards in front of him.

Nabil Shariff almost opened the scoring for Tamworth late into the first half as he tussled his way through the Stockport defence to hit a shot that caught the Stockport keeper off guard, hit the left-hand side of the post and trickled along the line, before Glennon leaped on loose ball to keep his side level. There was a scare for Tamworth just before halftime as Richard Tait was hurt in a clash with Euan Holden, but the right back didn’t seem to be too badly hurt, as he eventually got to his feet.

It didn’t take long for The Hatters to take the lead in the second half, with just a few minutes played, Tamworth conceded a corner, and Sean McConville’s shot came to Nick Chadwick with the Tamworth defenders rooted to the spot, leaving an easy header for the Stockport captain to head home. It wasn’t long before Stockport’s celebrations were cut short though, as McConville seemed to dislocate his shoulder in a challenge with Sam Habergham, being stretchered off and taken to hospital. Stockport turned on the pressure after McConville’s departure, which Tamworth were unable to cope with. A number of shots came from Stockport as The Lambs seemed unable to find any answer to Stockports dominance. Carl Piergianni was the first to have a chance for Stockport, but missed the target, and substitute Antonio German had a good effort saved by Hedge, who kept his side in the game again from close range as a chance came in from the left. Tamworth continued to plug away though, Sam Habergham making some great forward runs and putting in a number of crosses, some more effective than others. Tamworth started to work their way back into the game, as Ashley Cain seemed to wake up on the right having not been in the game much at all in the second half, creating two chances in the space of five minutes from right-sided crosses for Danny Mills, whose headers both ended up in the Castle End terrace behind the goal. By this time the game seemed lost by Tamworth, as Stockport seemed comfortable and in control, while Tamworth seemed desperate and ineffective. As six minutes of added time was shown by the fourth official following McConville’s treatment, Tamworth went on an all out attack, and with just over two minutes or so left to play, Francino Francis punted the ball forward for Kyle Patterson, who headed the ball goalwards, only for Iyseden Christie to deny him of his first goal for Tamworth as he stabbed the ball home on the line to make sure the ball made its way into the net, to the delight of the Tamworth fans. A great way to earn a draw, and a good display following Tuesday night’s result.

A lot of people may have jokingly set this game out as a 1-1 draw following the amount Stockport have already had, but this result came after The Lambs dug deep and worked hard against a strong team who are still finding their feet at this level, inconsistent referring did not help the home side either, because had the referee handed Law’s men the penalty right at the start of the match the game and the result may well have been a completely different story. A tough trip to Essex on Tuesday night is next for Tamworth as the travel to Braintree Town for the first time in the clubs history. The Iron have started marvellously, as the Conference new boys sit 3rd in the league just behind joint leaders Wrexham and Gateshead.

Man of the Match: Sam Habergham. Originally, I was going to give this to Richard Tait who as usual put himself about and but his body on the line for the course, but Sam Habergham’s forward runs and dipping crosses were for large periods of times the only real threat Tamworth posed to Stockport, while also making some great challenges at the back to make sure the score line remained at one nil. Perhaps now the youngster can kick on from today’s performance to continue his progress and give Marcus Law a selection headache over who to play at left back over himself Scott Barrow and of course Connor Gudger who remains out on loan at Hinckley United.

 Tamworth Team:

Jonathan Hedge, Richard Tait, Sam Habergham, Francino Francis,  Paul Green, Ashley Cain, Danny Thomas  Jay Smith, Jason Bradley (Danny Mills 74), Nabil Shariff (Patterson 65), Kieron St.Aimie (Christie 60) Subs not used: Duane Courtney, Liam  McDonald

Stockport County Team:

Matthew Glennon, Euan Holden, Daniel O'Donnell, Sean McConville (Daniel Rowe 55), Sam Sheridan, Ryan McCann, Nick Chadwick, Tom Elliott (Antonio German HT), Carl Piergianni, Michael Paton (JonNolan 90), Chris Blackburn Subs not used: Ian Ormson, Nabil Bounab

fm-base.co.uk/forum 24.9.11

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Much Changed Side Win In Cup

You can never be quite sure what the Birmingham Senior Cup games will give you. For teams like Tamworth, it is usually a chance to give your fringe players a run out, while for smaller teams, it s a chance to go on a decent cup run, and win some silverware. This year, Marcus Law has said he wants to do well in the competition, so tonight’s match against Midland Alliance side Boldmere St Michaels would be interesting to see what type of team the Tamworth boss was going to put out.

Looking at the team sheet, there were a few surprises. Iyseden Christie started in defence, partnering Francino Francis at centre back. As well as this, there were a number of changes throughout the team, with some squad players making their debut for Tamworth, who were playing in last season’s home shirt for reasons unknown. Joe Collister in goal; Luke Bottimer at right back; Curtis Shaw, a new signing from Carlton in central midfield along with Lee Weemes and Evanglino Valentim up front all made their first appearances for The lambs, in front of a very measly home crowd of just 156.

Boldmere made a good account of themselves in the first half, closing down Tamworth the best they could, limiting the chances for the Tamworth strikers to make any real chances, so much so there was very little to talk about from the first half from a Tamworth perspective. The only real talking point was on nine minutes when Kyle Patterson must have had a repeat of the injury that cut his game short against York on Saturday, and was replaced by academy player Luke Shearer. Despite good effort from the substitute and some good movement by Lee Weemes, the two sides went in at nil nil at half time.

                        Boldmere came out with the same game plan they had in the first half, but Tamworth by now has managed to find a little rhythm, with a few half chances coming the way of Evangilino Valentim, but the Portuguese striker was unable to make anything of them. That was until Boldmere keeper Seen Butler made an unfortunate blunder and spilled the ball to Valentim from a tame Shearer effort, who made no mistake in putting the ball away for his first goal for his new side. Luke Shearer continued to work hard in the second half and had another good effort from just outside the area saved well saved by Butler. Boldmere did try and get themselves back into the game, but were unable to get the ball past Collister, although they did manage to strike an effort just wide of the goal towards the end of the game.  In the end though, Marcus Law’s side hung on to the victory to progress to the next round.

Tamworth certainly didn’t raise any eyebrows with this victory, Boldmere battled well and gave it a go, but Tamworth got the job done without any fuss, and although the game was pretty drab in most parts, these games are never the most fluid of games and are normally a bit stop/start. It good to see some of the academy side get a run out, and they too would have given themselves a good account of themselves.

Man of the Match: Luke shearer, the youngest came on early in the game and coped well, he worked very hard and put himself about, a solid match for the youngster.

Tamworth Team: Joe Collister, Luke Bottomer, Sam Habergham, Iyseden Christie, Francino Francis, Curtis Shaw, Ashley Cain, Lee Weemes (Healey77 ), Liam McDonald Evangilino Valentim, Kyle Patterson (Luke Shearer 9) Subs not used: Rico Taylor, Harrison White, James Wilcox

Boldmere St. Michaels Team: Sean Butler, Lyndon Weller, Jamie Petty, Levi Bailey, Tom Stevenson, Andrew Lewis, Simeon Tulloch (Sam Pekun 79), Joseph Smith, Tom Overfield, Tom Law (Stuart Capaldi 75),Kirk Smith Subs not used: Chris Gibson, Neil Watkins, Ben Usher

Picture Source: pitchero.com/clubs/suttoncoldfieldtownfc 13.9.11

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Law Shows Mills Who's Boss

Another former manager and his assistant made a return to The Lamb today, this time in the shape of Gary Mills and Darren Gee, who left for a second time last season before the whole Des Lyttle debacle began.

Almost a year on from his departure to York City when Gary Mills had guided Tamworth to within a win of first place in the fledgling Blue Square Premier table the former Nottingham Forest defender was back with his new side hoping to avoid the same fate Mark Cooper had with Darlington a few weeks back.

To start the day off, there was another supporter’s game, Tamworth supporters took on FC Halifax supporters at Bolehall Swift’s Rene Road ground. The game was in no way a success for the Tamworth side, as we lost a massive 10-0, despite keeping the score down to just 1-0 at half time. Even though I said during pre season that I wouldn’t return to Bolehall anytime soon for the way they conducted themselves at the preseason friendly, I found myself returning to play there rather than watch. We were honoured enough to use the changing rooms that the Bolehall superstars use, and to play on the pitch that they are going to turn so many teams over this season on [oh to have money]. The pitch is strangely square shaped, wide but not too long, and wasn’t kept all that well, although with the state of The Lamb’s pitch sometimes, we really aren’t one to criticise. Starting on the bench, I managed to get on early on at left back, and although I made a few mistakes, no goals came from any fault of mine, so I’ll take that as a decent performance. Coming off just before half time, I got to round the game off by coming on at right back (Mr. versatile) for the last 10 minutes.  After the game, we were ‘treated’ with a post match meal of curry rice and chips, it was, to be polite mediocre at best, but was just what I needed after killing myself out on the pitch earlier. I now also have an extra reason to hate Bolehall; constant generic sexually degrading comments aimed at my girlfriend from the chairman and one of his resident cretins made me and my girlfriend feel very uncomfortable and is just an extra reason to not go down there anytime soon. I hate Bolehall.  

So, to the actual Tamworth game. As was probably expected, Marcus Law made changes after Sunday’s defeat to Hayes and Yeading United. The back four remained the same, but Nabil Shairff and Danny Mills came in on either wing to replace Ashley Cain and Danny Thomas. Upfront, Iyseden Christie was replaced by Kyle Patterson, who continued to suffer a goal drought. The first half was pretty dull, not a lot really happened with neither team really able to create anything special. York probably came the closest however when Jason Walker played a weighted ball into the far post for Jon Challinor, who somehow managed to poke the ball into the side netting, the goalmouth begging after Jonathan Hedge was beaten. Tamworth did have a good chance though; when Danny Mills shot wide from close range, but the two sides went in unsurprisingly at nil nil. Danny Thomas came on midway through the second half to replace Kyle Patterson who seemed to be hobbling a little, and if it does turn out that he is carrying an injury, his season will suffer a setback, especially having still not found the back of the net for his new side yet.

Tamworth started the second half brightly, Marcus Law managed to give his team the lift they needed at the break, as Tamworth came out the second half pressing right from the off. It wasn’t long before they got the breakthrough they were after, just after the 50 minute mark, former Tamworth skipper Chris smith pulled Kieron St Aimie down in the box to give away a penalty, St Aimie brushed himself down and just about managed to put the ball past Michael Ingham to make it one nil to the home side. York tried pegging Tamworth back quickly, but Nabil Shairff on the right wing was proving to be a thorn in the side of the Minstermen, full of running and dangerous balls into the box. York were very much on the back foot after conceding the goal, but they did themselves no favours to  by conceding another penalty on 72 minutes, Chris Smith again committing the foul, this time on Danny Thomas. After convincing St Aimie to step away, substitute Iyseden Christie stepped up to make it two nil, smashing the ball into the roof of the net, leaving York with a lot to do in the last 20 minutes.  York stepped it up a gear after going two goals down, pressing the Lambs hard, but Tamworth were able to break with Daniel Bradley who ran the ball from his own half before miss-controlling the ball under pressure, allowing Ingham to mop up the dangers and clear. Mills’ side managed to get a goal back through Jason Walker, who headed a cross from Ashley Chambers past Hedge to set up a tense finish, with fears of a repeat of AFC Telford looming. Luckily, Tamworth managed to hang on to the lead and see the game out as winners, but not without a great save from Hedge, who saved a fizzing shot from Patrick Mclaughlin (and undoubtedly the three points for Tamworth) pushing the powerful shot over the bar for a corner, but with virtually no time left, York were unable to make any real threat as the referee pretty much blew for full time as soon as the ball was put in.

Beating York was just the remedy needed for Law’s men after a disappointing result against Hayes and Yeading, because after also shipping two goals against AFC Telford when they seemed to be comofortable winners, a young side like Tamworth could start to suffer from lack of confidence, so this result would have gave the team a great lift. On top of that, it is pleasing to see that even by changing the team around, Marcus Law is still able to find wins, meaning that this season, for once we wont have to rely on the same players week in week out. I am however, still not convinced by Sam Habergham, he still seems a little nervous and is easily taken out of the game by defenders, while Kieron St Aimie is certainly going the right way about winning me over, another goal today from the former Thurrock man will do his confidence the world of good.

Man of the match today for me was Nabil Shairff. He worked extremely hard down the wing, and was always hungry to get forward. The only downside to his game today was that sometimes he was guilty of ball hogging, but that could be down to his nature as a centre forward to get goals. Next up for Tamworth are Boldmere St Michaels in the Birmingham Senior Cup, a trophy which Law has openly said he wants to do well in, which makes a change because normally teams at this level use the competition to field their youth and fringe players. It will be interesting to see what team the manager puts out for the game though, because although he wants to go far in the trophy it is a risk to play the full first team in a trophy that offers very little reward. 

Tamworth Team: Jonathan Hedge, Richard Tait, Sam Habergham, Francino Francis, Paul Green, Nabil Shairff (Ashley Cain 83), Danny Mills (Iyseden Christie 68), Daniel Bradley, Jay Smith, Kieron St. Aimie, Kyle Patterson (Danny Thomas 28) Subs not used: Evangilino Valentim, Joe Collister

York City Team: Michael Ingham, Lanre Oyebanjo, James Meredith, Chris Smith, David McGurk, Scott Kerr, Jason Walker, Ashley Chambers,  Matty Blair (Patrick McLaughlin 54), Adriano Moke (Jamie Reed HT), Jon Challinor (LiamHenderson 66) Subs not used: Daniel Parslow, Andre Boucard

 Picture Source: yorkcityfootballclub.co.uk 10.9.11

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Maroon 5 'Moves Like Jagger' Review

It’s been a while since maroon 5 have had much success in the U.K.

Having been away for a while until last June with ‘Misery’, Adam Levine and his five-piece have struggled to make the sort of impact on the U.K that they did with songs like ‘She Will be Loved’ and ‘This Love’ with their new album ‘Hands All Over’. But the funk rock band have teamed up with Christina Aguilera for the song ‘Moves Like Jagger’, a tribute to the Rolling Stones front man.

Currently sitting in second spot after three weeks in the charts, it seems that the band have finally managed to find the winning formula again, with a little help from the blonde haired starlet. The song is very much a grower, with first impressions not so great, as the song at first seems a little mainstream and generic, although to be fair that is what normally works for Maroon 5; they aren’t particularly a band that move boundaries or cause controversy. The lyrics are catchy and upbeat, and Levine’s softly sang lyrics compliment Aguilera’s powerful but sweet voice very nicely, giving the song just the right sort of balance that it needs.

Although by no means one of the better Maroon 5 songs, the song has managed to give the band back some much needed credibility, ‘Hands All Over’ has actually sold pretty well considering the reception to their singles have been lukewarm up until now, so perhaps with the popularity of ‘Moves Like Jagger’, and the re-release of their third album, album sales of the third album can grow to emulate ‘Songs About Jane’ and ‘It Won’t be Soon Before Long’.

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Day/Night Tests To Be Trialled In Canteburry

It is well known in the cricketing world that County Championship matches are often badly attended.

Starting at half past 10 in the morning and finishing by six o clock in the afternoon, it is not really any surprise though, because most people who are interesting in the game are at work or education during this time of the day. Compared to limited over match ups, test matches are seen almost deserted, unless of course it is England, and even when other international teams visit county sides as part of a tour attendances are disappointing.

In many ways though, this can’t be helped. People cannot realistically have enough time off work to regularly attend County Championship games, and even people who are not working (retirees and students for example) more than likely do not have the time (nor the money) to attend regularly.

So, the ICC’s idea to introduce a fresh approach to County Championship test matches could be just what is needed for the out of favour cricket competition. Using the pink ball that has been trialled since 2008, an experimental game between Glamorgan and Kent  will take place in  County Championship Division Two, starting at 2:30 PM and end at 9 o clock PM on 12 September. The idea is to attract crowds similar to how the 20:20 fixtures do, with the idea that more families can attend for an evening of entertainment.

Evening cricket is quite obviously more popular, this could be down to a number of things be it because the games are shorter and therefore are less likely to become tedious and boring and are easier to take in; because more people are actually available for these games having finished work for the day; or because the County teams are able to promote the game as a family showpiece, similar to going to the cinema or theatre.

But will the idea work? Only time will tell, and certainly after the trial game has taken place, the outcome will become more clear, so until then it really is not clear whether this is the answer that County cricket has been looking for for a long time. It may be that in order to really get people chomping at the bit of County Championship cricket, the test games will need to start even later, but this would of course mean playing until even later into the night, and then the argument of being played too early in the day could come back around full circle and keep people away for going on until too late, not to mention how this would affect the day to to day preparation and training of the players competing. All we can do for now is wait and see how the experiment game fairs. Will more people turn up or will attendances remain low? At least the ICC are making movements and being proactive in trying to address a long debated problem.

Picture source: tiflex.co.uk 07.09.11

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Tamworth Lose At The Morgue

After a day of wracking my brain and indecisiveness, I took the decision to follow Tamworth down to London to watch them take on Hayes and Yeading United, who for the time being ground sharing with Woking while Yeading’s ground The Warren is redeveloped after the Sale of Hayes’ Church Lane ground was sold to make funds available for the redevelopment.

Hayes and Yeading are a curious team. Hayes and Yeading merged in 2007 after Yeading were relegated from the Blue Square South, there doesn’t seem to be much of a valid reason for the two teams to merge, other than the fact that Hayes were looking to relocate to a different ground and Heathrow Airport were proving stiff competition for any land in the area. It’s not clear how this move actually benefitted Yeading though, because up until a few months ago, the new team played at Church Lane, leaving The Warren shunned to just reserve matches and seemed to operate pretty much as Hayes had before. The move certainly hasn’t helped wither club in terms of attracting new fans however, with attendances some of the worst I have seen in football, only matched really by Vauxhall Motors and the now defunct Leigh RMI. Average home attendances last season were not much more than 400, with the only time the club attracting a crowd was when big teams like Luton Town and Oxford United took large followings with them.

The only logical explanation I can think of is that the chairman of the new club is on some money laundering mission to blow his money fast, because it is surely not possible for a club with gates of around 400 (and now even less as travelling to Woking seems to have put the slim fan base off even more) to sustainably operate as a professional outfit, run two grounds and now have a new ground built, which bizarrely the club seem to think that this new stadium will attract higher gates. If I was them, I’d just quit while I was ahead. Seriously, who are they trying to kid?

If it wasn’t for the pig on a skateboard me and Chris discovered in Nuts, then this day would have been extremely dull. The weather was dull and dreary as the heavens opened on the M42, we were lucky that the weather had cleared up just in time for a wonder around the Surrey streets. With not much around the ground, we went in early for something to eat and a marvel at the massive stand The Kingfield Stadium boasts, shame it’s behind one of the goals and completely out of place. Apart from that stand, the rest of the ground is pretty average, with an open terrace running the length of the left side of the pitch, a decent sized terrace behind the bottom goal, and an old, run down chewed up cabin at the other, consisting of three parts, providing more seating. When I came here before, I’m pretty sure Woking didn’t use this, but with only two sides open for Hayes and Yeading (not that they even needed that) they had to make do with it. The ground was completely dead. Hayes and Yeading do not deserve to be playing at a ground like Kingfield Stadium, so it’s just as well they’re only here for a bit, with those few backwards United fans rattling around in it, the stadium seems a shell of what it normally is when Woking play here. The crowd today for their standards was a pretty decent size, and the biggest of the season, 359 is a shocking attendance for competitive Blue Square Premier football, but this was still United’s biggest crowd of the season. God help them.

The game was as dull as the weather. Tamworth never got going and were full of mistakes. Marcus Law made a few changes from Monday against Telford, Sam Habergham came in for Scott Barrow, making his debut for The Lambs; Iyseden Christie replaced Nabil Shariff who was back on the bench, and Daniel Bradley replaced Liam McDonald in the middle. Hayes exerted pressure early on causing a few half chances, before strangely Ashley Cain and Danny Thomas swapped wings for Tamworth, a move which wasn’t overly effective and nothing really came from it, luckily mid way through the second half, the two swapped back. A few minutes later, Cain back on the right, went on a great run taking the ball past three United players, then undoing all of his good work by shooting rather than playing a simple pass in the box where both Christie and St Aimie were waiting, a wasted opportunity for both Cain and Tamworth. The two sides went in all square at half time, but if anyone was hoping for an improvement after the break, they would have been greatly disappointed.

The second half got off to a terrible start for Tamworth, as Hayes took the lead after yet more sloppy defending from Sam Habergham, allowing Luke Williams to cross the ball into the box, where nobody in the Tamworth defence was awake enough to pick up journeyman Richard Pacquette, leaving him to beat Jonathan Hedge with relative ease. That strike proved enough for United, while Tamworth made some attempt to try and level the game up, it seemed like a lot of the players were not singing from the same hymn sheet, as numerous crosses and shots went wayward. Tamworth were at least creating chances, but the forward line were not able to make any of their chances count, not troubling really troubling Steve Arnold, when perhaps they really should have bringing on Kyle Patterson Nabil Shariff and Danny Mills did little to help Marcus Law’s side, and it was pretty obvious from around the 70th minute with the slow pace the game was now moving in that the game was over.

So a bad day at the office for Tamworth, and although the result was a disappointing one, it’s worth noting that Hayes and Yeading are a bit of a bogey team for The Lambs, having never beat them in any of their previous meetings. The loss means Tamworth end the first month of the Blue Square Premier campaign in seventh position after seven games, a very positive start indeed, if Marcus Law can build on this start, and avoid many more performances like today, then Tamworth could start to give themselves a bit of breathing space between themselves and the bottom four early on. Six players went out on loan on Friday, Connor Gudger and Callum Reynolds both signing for Hinckley for a month, Liam Francis being loaned out to Solihull Moors for a month, Rico Taylor joining Stafford Rangers for a month, Troy Wallen joining Heather St. Johns until the new year and new signing will Grocott signing for Loughborough for a month too. With such a large squad, it is good that the younger players who aren’t quite ready to play first team football just yet go out on loan and get some first team experience early on, however, based on Connor Gudger’s great form over pre season, and Sam Habergham’s performance today, and throughout pre season, one does wonder if perhaps Gudger should have featured today and habergham should have been sent out for first team football instead, especially as Connor Gudger has played first team football in the past, while young Sam has only really played youth football at Norwich City.

Tamworth: Jonathan Hedge, Richard Tait, Sam, Habergham, Francino Francis, Paul green, Ashley Cain, (Nabil Shariff) Danny Thomas (Danny Mills), Jay Smith Dan Bradley, Kieron St. Aimie, Iyseden Christie (Kyle Patterson)

Subsnot used: Liam McDonald, Joe Collister

Hayes and Yeading United: Steve Arnold, Tom Cadmore, Jack Saville,  Louie Soares, Pierre Joseph-Dubois ( Daniel Wishart),  Luke Williams, Mark Bentley, Richard Pacquette (Nathan Elder), Curtis Ujah (Ryan Crockford) Subsnot used: Sam Argent, Hector Mackie

Man of the match: Ashley Cain – Seemed to be the only one who was any real danger, even if he did make a few bad decisions and eventually got replaced.

  Picture Source: getsurrey.co.uk 4.9.11

How you see the stand in this picture is exactly as it was at the game. Dead and empty. A bit Like Hayes itself, really.

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Support Non League Day

More and more in recent times have we said that football is becoming all about the money rather than the love of the game, Samuel Eto’s massive money move to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia is the latest spit in the face of the hard working football fan who could never even dream of earning the sort of money they so often fork out their hard earned cash to watch their favoured team play.

It is not just players wages that are an issue though, the high admission prices to games continues to hike and as a result empty seats are also becoming more noticeable as the season goes on. The lure of money has now started to slowly work its way down the league system, with teams like Leicester City throwing large sums of cash around to attract ‘high’ quality players, chasing the dream of Premier League football. Last season, even non-league fell victim. Crawley Town became the latest play thing of a multi millionaire, allowing them to pretty much whatever player they wanted to at their level, to fly the league, and now look to march on up the leagues with their fat wallets well and truly open.

The large amounts of money that these massive clubs deal with, is for a lot of people the reason why football is dying, the increased admission prices to pay for the mega money football stars are earning today is a real kick in the teeth to the paying supporter, especially in this financial climate where spare money is as hard to come by as an actual job in the first place.

But, what if these people who are now no longer willing to pay the high prices to watch Premiership and Championship prices turned to their local non-league team instead? Non-league is often scorned upon by the average football fan, who are only interested in glory and trophies, trophies like the F.A Cup and not some ‘Mickey Mouse Cup’ like the Birmingham Senior Cup, for example, but if more people attended non-league matches on a regular basis, they would see that there is nothing to stick their nose up when it comes to non-league football. In a lot of cases, they would see the pride, fight and passion in the players that was show by footballing greats like Bobby Charlton and George Best from back in the day when football was all about the game, and not money. If non-league became more popular, we could well see a shift of power from the Football League to the non-league, leaving the rich aristocrats to have their fun with their play things, while the real fans go back to basics with their local side.

This week gives a great opportunity to non-league sides to advertise themselves and their leagues, because thanks to international fixtures, there are no games in the top two divisions in England. And with England playing on a Friday, then football fans have a whole weekend to fill, so on September 3rd, a celebration of non-league football will take place. A day called Non League Day, a celebration of the semi-professional and amateur game, and a chance for fans of bigger clubs to experience football at a level they may be otherwise unfamiliar with. The initiative first took place in September 2010, proving a huge success.

Every year, we see a club get wound up due to financial troubles, and sadly, unless something changes, this is going to continue to be the case. This season, Rushden and Diamonds went bump, and the season before last, Chester City died too, both of these clubs had proud history and had both played in the Football League, but because of serious financial problems were wound up at the High Court, and although it wouldn’t have been the solution to their problems, had they been able to fill their stadiums which was so easy for clubs to do 40 years ago, Chester and Rushden may have had an easier times raising the funds needed to keep their club running.

Every football club in the world is grateful for its supporters, even Manchester United with their world wide fan base want to fill their stadium week in, week out, and it is no different for, say, Atherstone United who play in the Midland Alliance; because simply, more people through the gate means more money.

Non League Day gives the chance for small clubs to make some profit as the national scene pays some attention to the lower leagues, a chance to fill their grounds, and for their players to play in front of large crowds. So I would urge anyone whose team is not playing on Saturday, and who is not doing anything this Saturday to take the family or go with a few friends to your local Non-league club, watch a game, have a drink or something to eat and buy a programme, you will probably still spend less than you would just attending your usual Premier League or Championship match (taking into account travel costs too) and you would be doing something that will really make a difference to a small team, who probably finds it pretty tough to keep going every week.

Support Non –League Day.

Further information can be found here: http://www.nonleagueday.co.uk/

Picture Source: nonleagueday.co.uk 31.8.11

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Support Non League Day

Press Release 16 August 2011

Non League Day 2011

Following the success of last year's campaign, the Non-League Day (NLD) team are delighted to announce that this year's event will be held on Saturday September 3rd 2011.  

Non League Day is a celebration of the semi-professional and amateur game, and a chance for fans of bigger clubs to experience football at a level they may be otherwise unfamiliar with. Moreover, it is a chance to shine a light on the hundreds of clubs in this country who are almost exclusively volunteer run, and do so much good for the local community, be it through coaching, fund raising or providing opportunities for local people.    This year we aim to make the day bigger and better than ever. Macmillan Cancer Support have come on board as our official charity, ex England international Chris Waddle is our official ambassador, and we have now secured the backing of the All Party Football Group. In addition, Blue Square have organised a special three game hop, with countless other clubs running special events all over the country.

This year’s event has a new website provide by Pitchero the power behind over 2,000 football club websites from across the UK including the official Evo-Stik League website. The website can be found at: www.nonleagueday.co.uk.

A lot of work is going into promoting this year’s events behind the scenes, but onus falls on cubs to help raise the profile of the event as they see fit; it is no coincidence that those who saw the biggest increases in attendance last season were the most proactive in marketing their games.   We want to make September 3rd 2011 a celebration of football and a celebration of community spirit. Grass roots football is the bedrock of our national game: let’s all get behind it!

ENDS

[brettwalton-blog]

Tamworth Let Lead Slip

It was bank holiday Monday, the weather was, dull, dreary and cold. So much for summer, today was going to seem more like a winter fixture than late summer.

During bank holidays, there are always a number of different events taking place. This bank holiday, the Staffordshire Hoard, discovered last year in the Staffordshire Moorlands was being exhibited at Tamworth Castle, and this brought along with it a massive group of weirdoes dressed up in Anglo-Saxon attire, setting up camp in the Castle Grounds, and wandering around Ankerisde. For the love of humanity I hope they weren’t actually living in those tents they had put up, as they were extremely flimsy, and can’t have been warm, besides, having a group of people camping out in tents outside your towns best landmark is as bad as having a group of gypsies move in to the area. (Oh, wait, who is it that runs the funfair that comes every bank holiday again?)

I personally decided to visit Polesworth market for the first time, me and Emily getting up early so that I could be back in time to take in the game later in the day, but we made it back with time to spare, even with walking back after finding very little that interested us, with the cold, winter like conditions defeating us. Winter back in Nottingham is going to be chilly that’s for sure.

Arriving at the game with a friend (doing my bit to increase the attendance), I was pleased to see that there was a half decent crowd at The Lamb today, albeit thanks to a fair few Telford fans, but compared to the last home game against Darlington, there were definitely more Tamworth fans in attendance too.

There were a fair few changes to the Tamworth team that triumphed over Bath two days previously, Dan Bradley being replaced by Liam McDonald, Kieron St. Aimie and Nabil Shariff swapping places with Iyseden Christie and Kyle Patterson on the bench, and Ashley Cain reclaiming his starting position ahead of Danny Mills on the right.

Like against Bath, the game for large parts of the first half was very even, Telford, with every Tamworth fan’s favourite player Phil Trainer putting a lot of men behind the ball, making it difficult for Tamworth to break The Bucks down. Tamworth on the other hand were defending very poorly for the early stages of the first half, Scott Barrow in particular having an off day at left back, this allowed Telford to get create a number of chances in The Lambs penalty area. Almost straight after the off Telford should have scored, when Andy Brown headed a Greg Mills cross, which beat Jonathan Hedge but went wide of the mark, the home side narrowly avoiding a nightmare start. It almost happened again only a few minutes later when another ball in past Paul Green caused Jonathan Hedge to come and collect the ball, but it ended in a collision that required medical attention from the sidelines. Luckily the Tamworth ‘keeper was okay and play resumed, but not before Telford had another chance that this time went over the bar. Tamworth were struggling to get into the game and were at times allowing Telford to run the game.

Just after the half hour mark though, Tamworth started to get into the game, making a few attacking movement through Ashley Cain and Danny Thomas on the wings. Kieron St. Aimie who had struggled to get into the game and make his mark up until this point finally got into the game, and after a tame effort by Jay Smith and a Francino Francis header, St. Aimie somehow managed to put the ball in the Telford goal through a crowd of bodies in the area, the ball taking a massive deflection, but probably not enough for it to be classed as an own goal, despite what some spectators were saying in The Shed. The goal came after shouts from The Bucks’ supporters appealing for handball in the Tamworth area when Hedge collected the ball after Ashley Cain passed the ball back to him, doing his bit at the back.

Tamw

orth started the more brightly in the second half, creating chances for Cain, who was denied by some quick thinking defending by Ryan Young who took the ball from his feet in the area after Liam McDonald crossed. Smith had another chance that went sailing over the crossbar, and a Nabil Shariff shot was pushed out for a corner. From the resulting corner, Kieron St. Aimie was able to control the ball well and stick the ball past Young for his second goal of the game, not bad considering me and Chris have been on his case since the start of the season. However, Tamworth were not comfortable for very long, as another defensive mistake allowed Nathan Rooney to score from close range, giving The Bucks a chance.  Telford took the game to Tamworth after this, as expected, and they levelled with just over 10 minutes left when a through ball by Phil Trainer lured hedge out of his goal, leaving Alex Meecham to skip past the Tamworth ‘keeper and put the ball in the back of the net, making the last ten minutes a nervous one for the Tamworth. Tamworth’s heads seemed to drop after throwing a two goal lead away, and Telford finished the game similar to how they started, offensive and in control. Luckily, Tamworth were able to hold on and the game ended in a draw, as the referee blew for full time after a long punt up field to Cain by Richard Tait.

Not a disaster at all for Tamworth, most Tamworth fans would have surely taken a draw before kick off against a team who has a strong record at The Lamb. Marcus Law continues to rotate the squad, and I can only hope that he doesn’t end up coming up short as a result. The players generally looked gutted after the result, in particular Francino Francis, so that shows that they do actually want to win and give a damn about the club this year, which is more than can be said for a lot of the players last season. Hayes and Yeading United are next, at their temporary home of Woking’s Kindfield ground, with that huge stand and tinpot shed, the sort of game that Tamworth should really be winning but more often in the past have failed to do so, so hopefully this Sunday Marcus Law will be able to get the job done. Tamworth are still 5th after today’s result, a win would have seen them go 3rd behind Wrexham and Gateshead, but it is essential that the team, fans and board do not get ahead of themselves.

Man of the Match: Kieron St. Aimie – As much as me and Chris have criticised him for the dry start he has had to his Tamworth career, and initially not starting well today, he took his two goals well. We could well end up having to eat our words!

Tamworth Team: Jonathan Hedge, Richard Tait,  Francino Francis, Paul green, Scott Barrow, Ashley Cain, Jay Smith (Dan Bradley 72), Liam McDonald, Danny Thomas (Kyle Patterson 69), Kieron St. Aimie, Nabil Shariff (Danny Mills 85) Subs not used:  Callum Reynolds, Iyseden Christie

AFC Telford United Team: Ryan Young, Will Salmon (Nathan Rooney 63), Sean Newton, Dwayne Samuels (Craig Farrell 73), Stuart Whitehead, Daniel Preston, Richard Davies, Phil Trainer, Ryan Valentine, Andy Brown, Greg Mills (Alex Meechan 58) Subs not used: Sean Evans, Robbie Williams

  Picture Source: thelambs.co.uk 29.8.11

[brettwalton-blog]

Wormtail!

After some much needed sleep, I have finally shaken off the effects of the night before the day after in Bath yesterday, where Tamworth supporters had the usual disappointing result, losing 7-4 (or 8-5 to some people, nobody really seems to be able to remember how many goals were actually scored) to Bath City supporters. 

Stupidly deciding to go out the night before, me and Chris were certainly suffering on the coach en route to southwest. Leaving late meant we got there late, driving past our pitch seeing the Bath City supporters already warming up waiting for us. Luckily after last season, we knew just where we had to go to get to the changing rooms, otherwise out opponents would have been kept waiting for a lot longer. The University of Bath has brilliant facilities, and although it was only a friendly game between two sets of football fans, it was great to be able to see some of the facilities the people of Bath have open to them. It has to be said; University of Bath’s facilities do the proverbial all of Nottingham Trent’s. After getting changed, going through the team and tactics (which, sugar coat it all you like, it was always going to be hoof ball to the two strikers) we marched down to the pitch with an uncharacteristically large squad (obviously taking inspiration from Marcus Law’s real Tamworth) finally meet the Bath team, sporting a new shirt to go with our kit. After a disastrous start, it seemed we would have an uphill battle to get anything out of the game. Coming on just before half time, I was, as usual largely ineffectual making little or no contribution to my teams effort, although I should have scored, or at least managed to get a shot off after being laid off by Adam in the box. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we never really looked like we were going to turn the game round at any point, and although the defeat was still a heavy one, it wasn’t that bad a result for us, compared to some results we have had in the past.

After the game, we headed to Twerton Park, but not before having to go all the way around Bath because the low bridges made it difficult to navigate our coach around the City. It has to be said, that Twerton Park really is the scab of society in Bath. Bath, a beautiful city full of history and culture, is looked upon by a lot of outside people as a place with a large upper class society. However, Twerton Park and Bath City F.C certainly do not fit in with this stereotype. Situated in the middle of a council state, a club stuck in the 70’s that attracts the bottom rung of bath’s populace. The ground is a complete death trap, old and decrepit, with steps coming from all over the place; I lost count of how many times in nearly tripped over something. Largely open, the ground has two open terraces behind each goal, a large uneven sloping Terrace down the right side of the pitch, and two old split seating stand opposite, with more terracing in front. Standing behind either goal depending on what end Tamworth were shooting towards, I spent most of the second half of the game getting covered in leaves that were raining down from the overhanging trees behind the stand.

After a 3-0 defeat to Wrexham in north Wales to Wrexham on Tuesday night, Marcus Law made a few changes to the side which had an uncharacteristically bad result midweek. Paul Green came back in after injury, meaning Callum Reynolds wasn’t around to score anymore own goals. Ashley Cain who was absent with illness took his place on the bench, with Law opting for Danny thomas and Danny Mills on the left and right wings respectively. The game itself was a scrappy one for large parts; Bath took the game to Tamworth for large parts of the first half, as they went in search for their first win of the season in front of a relatively small home attendance (all at home watching the Rugby, obviously). The Romans had a number of chances to take the lead, but a combination of bad finishing and good saves from Tamworth ‘keeper Jonathan Hedge meant the home side didn’t make their dominance count. After 30 minutes though, Tamworth were gifted a goal when Bath ‘keeper Glyn Garner cleared the ball straight to the feet of Danny Thomas, who hit the ball into the empty net while the keeper was scrambling back to try and clear the ball off the line. A soft and unlucky goal to concede by Bath, that probably best sums up their season so far. After the restart, Tamworth went back on the attack while Bath were clearly flustered from their goalkeepers frailty, having shot after shot blocked by the legs of numerous Bath defenders, before City eventually managed to clear their lines and regroup. The Romans would have been pleased when half time came, allowing them to get some reassurance and guidance from manager Adie Britton (who, if anyone missed, even though it was plastered all round the ground, had recently joined the Bath City Supporters Club).

Bath came out on the attack for the second half, trying to peg Tamworth back as quickly as possible, but at times seemed a little desperate. It was very much an open second half, with both teams attacking and defending openly. Ashley Cain came on for Danny Mils just past the hour mark, and set up a great chance for Danny Thomas shortly after, making a great run into the box before ppicking out a great pass to Danny Thomas in great space in the area, but Thomas’s shot was saved brilliantly by Garner, making up for his earlier mistake. Bath did come close to equalising late on though, when  Marc Canham (who sat near us after the game while he was eating his post match meal) latched onto a Paul Green clearance and released a good shot, but the ball went just wide of the mark, to the dismay of the Bath supporters. Tamworth were looking comfortable towards the end of the game after this point, with  Nabil Shariff making a great run before being stopped by a City defender. Tamworth made sure of the points with virtually the last kick of the game when Dan Bradley took the ball past  Paul Stonehouse, weaving past the challenge of the left back, then picking out Shariff, who scored from a few yards out for his first goal of the season. Cue the humorous celebration which I and Chris attempting to copy in the death trap of a stand behind. This was the last real movement of the game, and me and Chris for that matter, almost falling asleep in the Bath clubhouse, before crawling back onto the coach and slumping into our seats on the coach, counting down the time when we’d get home and escape to bed.

A much better performance by Tamworth than last time The Lambs made the journey down there under the ‘guidance’ of Des Lyttle. Especially pleasing was the fact that another striker finally scored, so hopefully now the forward line might start to look more dangerous and rely less on Iyseden Christie, who cannot be relied on all season, especially towards the winter when pitches get heavier and matches really start to pile up. Bath do not look great and from this performance, and the start to the season they have had, look like they could be down their this season, second season syndrome is a cliché used often in football, but it seems like The Romans may well suffer from it. AFC Telford United are next up for The Lambs, visiting on bank holiday Monday, which will hopefully bring a bumper crowd to The Lamb.

Man of the Match: Danny Thomas, made some dangerous runs, and was unlucky not to score a second goal after that great save from Garner. Looks to continue this season as he finished last.

Tamworth Team: Jonathan Hedge, Richard Tait, Francino Francis, Paul Green, Scott Barrow, Danny Mills (Ashley Cain 66), Jay Smith, Dan Bradley, Danny Thomas, Iyseden Christie (Kieron St. Aimie 89), Kyle Patterson (Nabil Shairff 73)

Subs not used: Liam McDonald, Callum Reynolds

Bath City Team: Glyn Garner, Sekani Simpson,  Lewis Hogg,  Mark Preece ( Marc Canham 65),  Adam Connolly,  Jamie Cook (Scott Murray 58),  Alex Russell ( Josh Egan 76),  Gethin Jones,  Joe Burnell,  Paul Stonehouse, Lee Phillips

Subs not used:  Gary Mills, Jim Rollo

Picture Source: swns.com

[brettwalton-blog]

New Boys See Off Test Of Old Boss

After a good start to the season, The Lambs were up against a tougher test today against old boss Mark Cooper and his side Darlington. Tipped by many as contenders to go up, this was going to be a tough test for Law’s new boys, much sterner than Barrow and Ebbsfleet posed. This was the first real game where Tamworth fans would get to see what the new set of players were really about.

Darlington themselves had had a good start. A good draw mid week against title favourites Fleetwood, and a narrow victory against Blue Square Premier new boys Braintree saw the Quakers sitting on four points out of a possible six, like Tamworth.

Marcus Law made four changes to the side that beat Ebbsfleet on Tuesday, Danny Mills came in for Danny Thomas on the left; Liam Macdonald replaced Jay smith in the centre of midfield; Nabil Shariff replaced Tuesday’s captain Iyseden Christie; and man mountain Fancino Franics came in for Patrick Kanyuka to partner Paul Green (who was given the captain’s armband) at the back.

The game started with Cooper’s men the first to make things happen, Tamworth were allowing Darlington to have the ball in their area, letting them bring the ball to The Lambs in their own half, clever play by Marcus Law, providing it would work. As a result, Tamworth took a little longer to make things happen. Darlington won the first corner of the game, and had the first real chance, when Ryan Bowman connected with a Kris Taylor cross that seemed a certain goal, but somehow Jonathan Hedge in the Tamworth goal managed to save the shot, which looked destined to be a goal. A great save.

Tamworth finally settled, and a long ball from Paul Green over the top to Kyle Patterson forced a fingertip save from Sam Russell in the Quakers goal, from the resulting corner, Francino Francis managed to get a shot off, although it was somewhat tame, perhaps showing why he converted from a striker to a defender earlier in his career. He did however, manage to force another corner, but it came to nothing. Shariff created a chance on the half hour mark, his shot tipped over by Russell, who was looking a little erratic in his decision making, conceding another corner. Cooper looked to change things around just before half time, making a substitution, replacing Bowman with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. It was Tamworth who finished the stronger though, creating another chance in stoppage time, with Francino Francis making himself a nuisance in the box off another Tamworth corner.

Cooper’s men started the second half on the aggressive, a mentality which cost  James Walshaw a booking after a strong challenge on Richard Tait, to the displeasure of the Tamworth fans. Walshaw was involved with a penalty appeal a little later on, when he made a meal of a challenge by Paul Green, the appeal rightly waved away by the referee. Iyseden Christie replaced Nabil Shariff after an hour, and it was after his inclusion that Tamworth started to look more threatening. Kyle Patterson had a good shot saved before Walshaw went on a fine run, which was eventually stopped by Francino Francis in the heart of the Tamworth defence. Christie was unlucky not to score at the other end, with Kyle Patterson getting in the way of his goal-bound shot. Tamworth continued to dominate, Ash Cain on the right, who had been dangerous all game whipped in a cross that neither striker could get on the end of, but Tamworth’s breakthrough came when Ben Purkiss fouled Kyle Patterson in the box, conceding a penalty which Christie converted for his second goal of the season, giving The Lambs a one nil lead with less than ten minutes left to play. Darlington then seemed to wake up and went on search for the equaliser, but it was Tamworth who came close again in stoppage time when Christie did everything right except the finish after Dan Bradley squared the ball to him in the box, hitting the post rather than the back of the net, which from his position was harder to do than score.  

A good win for Tamworth in front of a slightly disappointing crowd, just 977 were in attendance, which after the good start and the decent attendance on Tuesday night, many people expected a higher turnout. Tamworth still seem unable to finish off their moves, and are squandering a number of chances, while they are winning at the moment, this could prove to be a problem, hopefully the strikers will bang them in once they have scored one or two, if Kyle Perry was still a Tamworth player than we really would be a force upfront, we look solid at the back and it seems as though very little will get through providing the defenders remain on top of their game. Francino Francis is a great find, and despite doubts that he wouldn’t play much of a part this season, since his arrival has really impressed. He could be a real diamond in the dirt that Marcus Law is managing to polish up nicely.

Another tough game on Tuesday night, an away trip to Wales to face Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground, who despite all of their money troubles are still a strong side in the Blue Square Premier this season. If Tamworth can come away from that game with something, then supporters could well be in for a long, sweet season ahead.

Man of the Match: Francio Francis was solid at the back and was able to get forward and make a nuisance of himself too, a great platform to build on.

Tamworth Team: Jonathan Hedge, Richard Tait, Francino Francis, Paul Green, Scott Barrow, Ashley Cain ( Jay Smith 85), Mills (Thomas 65),  Liam McDonald, Daniel Bradley,  Danny Mills (Danny Thomas 65),  Nabil Shariff ( yseden Christie 58), Kyle Patterson Subs not used: Kieron St. Aimie,  Joe Collister

Darlington Team: Sam Russell, Jamie Chandler (John McReady 61), Greg Taylor, Ian Miller, Liam Hatch (Michael Smith 70), Kris Taylor, James Walshaw,  Ryan Bowman ( Marc Bridge-Wilkinson 38),  Chris Atkinson,  Graeme Lee,  Ben Purkiss Subs not used: Scott Pocklington,  John Campbell

Picture Source: stmirren.info 21.8.11

[gavinrossdale-blog]

[brettwalton-blog]

gavinrossdale:

Check out this Spinner.com Interview with Gavin Rossdale by Cameron Matthews and has some great exclusive photos by Joseph Llanes >

Bush have been exploding eardrums and melting faces with thick layers of distortion and frontman Gavin Rossdale’s booming voice for almost two decades. Even...

[brettwalton-blog]

First Home Game, First Win

The first home game of the season for Tamworth came after a one all draw away to Barrow, up in the lakes, courtesy of an Iyseden Christie penalty in the 31st minute.

Today, Liam Daish’s newly promoted Ebbsfleet United (Gravesend and Northfleet until the idiots at Myfootballclub.co.uk took over and thought a rebranding of the club would attract new sponsorship) were the visitors. The last time these two teams met, Tamworth lost to the fleet 4-3, but the result wasn’t good enough, and the Kent side finish the relegation zone along with Grays Athletic and Forest Green Rovers, although a reprieve for forest Green (again) meant that only two teams were relegated from the Blue Square Bet Premier that season, with Chester City going bust before the end of the season.

Marcus Law made one change to his starting 11 at Barrow, Dan Bradley replacing Liam MacDonald, who took his place on the bench, along with Francino Francis, who had now served his suspension from a sending off last season at Barwell. Christie captained the side for a second time while Duane Courtney sat out with an ankle injury. Tamworth started brightly, linking up and passing well, but Ebbsfleet won the first corner of the game coming from a deflection from John Herd’s shot. Tamworth produced a number of shots, mostly off target as the midfield of Jay Smith and Dan Bradley tried their luck against Fleet ‘keeper Joe Welch. This was the story for most of the first half, Tamworth were able to create a number of chances for themselves as Ebbsfleet seemed to struggle to cope with Ash Cain and Danny Thomas running at them down the wings. Any chance that Ebbsfleet did create, which to be fair to them they did create one or two chances through Ricky Shakes and John Herd, were dealt with by Paul Green in the heart of the Tamworth defence. Just before half time, two marvellous chances fell to both Patrick Kanyuka and Iyseden Christie for Tamworth, Kanyuka stabbing a tame shot wide from a well positioned free kick, and Christie managed to somehow miss the target and slip past the far post. The BBC obviously had some sort of misunderstanding as apparently Kanyuka’s chance was the closest Ebbsfleet came to scoring. Oh dear!

come half time, Tamworth seemed somewhat wasteful, creating a number of good chances but not able to finish any of them, Ebbsfleet were hanging on, but seemed unable to create any clear chances for themselves. This game was going to go one of two ways, Ebbsfleet were either going to nick a goal and then hang onto the lead for the remainder of the game, or Tamworth were going to continue to have shot after shot, one eventually going to sneak in.

The second half began under a marvellous red sky, the summer evening sky splashing The Lamb with a touch of red. Continuing as they left off, Tamworth unleashed a number of shots that were again off target, the hard working Kyle Patterson upfront causing problems for the Ebbsfleet defenders. Tamworth were extremely lucky to not concede just past the hour mark. A Liam Enver-Marum shot hit the underside of the bar before some last-ditch defending from Richard Tait cleared the danger and prevented Tamworth from going a goal behind, had they conceded, they may have struggled to find an answer, as Ebbsfleet could have shut up shop and defended for the remainder of the game. Tamworth finally took the lead through a brilliantly timed volley from Dan Bradley, the ball coming out to the edge of the area after Joe Welch saved substitute Nabil Shariff’s shot, only for the young central midfielder to pounce on the loose ball and strike the ball cleanly into the bottom corner of goal. The Lambs seemed to grow in confidence after the goal, again going close soon after when Danny Mills, on for Danny Thomas saw a shot saved by Welch. At the other end, Paul Green gave away a free kick just outside the area around the 80 minute mark, Liam Enver-Marum was in a great position to equalise for Fleet, but his shot was met well by Jonathan Hedge in the Tamworth goal. Ebbslfeet also came very close to an equaliser when a deflection from Calum Willcock nearly crept in past Hedge, but luckily for Tamworth, the ball went wide of the mark.

A good win for Tamworth, and a decent performance to go with it. It is refreshing to see the team creating so many chance, although it would have been nice to have put a few more away, but it is still early days so there is plenty of time to address this, and certainly no need to worry just yet. Once Kyle Patterson gets one or two goals, he should hopefully bang them in. Kieron St. Aimie made a few mistakes, some that could have been more costly than they were, but hopefully these mistakes will all be ironed out. Besides, Tamworth were never meant to be world beaters this season, anything more than survival will be a welcome bonus. Far too early to be getting carried away, but a good start nonetheless, Saturday will be the first real test for Marcus Law’s new side, Darlington and former Tamworth manager Mark Cooper are the visitors to The Lamb, a team who should be in or around the playoffs come the end of the season, so Saturdays game should be an interesting one.

Man of the Match: Pual green – Defended really well and showed what a great signing he could be, despite being a right back by trade, he did extremely well as a centre back against a striker who was much taller than him.

Att: 921  

Tamworth: Jonathan Hedge, Richard Tait, Patrick Kanyuka, Paul Green, Scott Barrow, Ash Cain, Danny Thomas (Danny Mills 66) Jay Smith, Dan Bradley, Kyle Patterson ( Kieron St. Aimie 83), Iyseden Christie (Nabil Shariff 60) Subs not used: Francino Francis, Liam  McDonald

Ebbsfleet United Team:

Joe Welch, Criag Stone (Joe Howe 88), John Herd, Clint Easton, Ian Simpemba, Calum Willcock, Liam Enver-Marum,  Michael West,  Ricky Shakes ( Lanre Azeez 69),  Ranbir Marwa, Alex Stavrinov (Giannoulis Fakinos 83) Subs not used: Adam Williams, Preston Edwards

Attendance: 921

 Picture Source: upthefleet.com 17.8.11