Oxford City v Tamworth
Oxford City
6-1
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Tamworth
Match Report
For the next match, an Emirates FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round encounter, Tamworth travelled to face National League South side Oxford City at their Velocity Stadium in Marsh Lane.
City manager David Oldfield had himself made one appearance for Tamworth in 2007-08 and the last and only time The Lambs visited their hosts ground it was in 2015 on grass and proved to be the end of the world beating unbeaten run for boss at the time Andy Morrell’s side.
Fast forward to 2020 and a 3G surface welcomed The Lambs although no fans were allowed due to restrictions in place at clubs at step 2 and above.
There was £5625 on offer to the winners and £1875 for the losers, and The Lambs got the game underway.
They found themselves under the cosh in the opening minutes but quickly turned up the heat and a couple of Tonks throws caused problems.
A corner form Beswick resulted in Yafai seeing the ball scrambled of his toes and from the resulting throw Howkins fired high over the target when well placed.
A deflected shot brought another Beswick corner on 8 but Meikle was unable to get his header back into the danger area and City cleared.
Ashby tried his luck from distance on 10 forcing Singh into a low stop by his left hand post and a cross from Drewe on the right was taken by the Lambs keeper under pressure on 11.
There was a brief stoppage in play when McDonald needed treatment and when play resumed Oxford forced a corner on the left which Beswick booted away.
Tonks loaded another left sided throw on 17 after a through ball to O’Connor was booted away by the keeper but the home side countered and Roberts cross was turned behind for a City corner on 18.
From the flagkick the home side nearly took the lead, stabbing the ball out past the far post with the aid of a block and then Coyle struck from distance, forcing Singh to punch the powerful goalbound shot away from danger on 19.
Another City corner was forthcoming on 22 and Ashby looked for Bradbury, but it was nipped off his toes and put behind for another corner on the same side.
Beswick’s freekick into the area on 26 was nodded out of play through a crowded box and McDonald was upended by Drewe on 27 so Beswick stepped up again.
Although the deadball was cleared, Tamworth pressed and McDonald sprinted onto a ballooning pass but was unable to get a clean shot away.
O’Connor was penalised for a low two footed slide 30 yards out on the half hour.
The freekick from Ashby slammed into the stand behind the goal though and Singh was happy to leave it.
Tonks launched a long throw from the right on 31 and it found it’s way into the back of the net but a foul ruled it out.
And in the next move City took the lead through Coyle who snuck in behind Beswick and slammed the through ball between Singh and the right hand post (0-1, 33 mins)
After plenty of battling in the middle of the park over the next ten minutes City pushed on and a cross from the left found Roberts at the far post and he was allowed two touches before firing home into the back of the net to double the lead (0-2, 43 mins)
O’Connor’s snap shot bounced out past the far post on 44 and McDonald was beaten to the ball by Dudzinski in the next move, at the other end McEachran forced Singh to protect his goal from a long drive and the half time whistle blew.
Lambs hopes crushed by rampant City
City restarted proceedings with light rain covering the ground and for the opening five minutes enjoyed the majority of the ball and possession without threatening Singh’s goal.
On 53 Tamworth enjoyed a spell at the top end of the pitch but the cross was headed away as Oxford found themselves penned back for a time.
On 56, Cullinane-Liburd was adjudged to have brought down Roberts in the area an the City player stepped up to the spot and fired it low past Singh to extend the lead (0-3, 56 mins)
Fleet forced Singh into a diving save on 55 an when the ball went out of play The Lambs made 2 changes.
City added a fourth on 64 from a left sided freekick by the by-line which Bradbury deflected into the far corner with flick on near the near post (0-4, 64 mins)
The Lambs made their final change on 66 with Gordon replacing McDonald but on 71 The Lambs conceded again, a through ball from Fleet found Bradbury in space and he advanced to the right of the area and chipped home in to the net (0-5, 71 mins)
A freekick to the home side saw Ashby line up the chance and forced Singh into another save, conceding a corner rather than a goal in the process.
Drewe fired a right sided ball across the box on 80, and Ashby was handed another deadball on 82 which went straight back to Singh, low in the six yard box and Beswick’s deep freekick was headed on by Gordon on 83, but smothered by Dudzinski.
Then, on 86, City extended their lead even further through Ashby’s strike from the D which curled past Singh (0-6, 86 mins)
Gordon reduced the arrears on 87 with a strike from 25 yards which flew into the back of the net but it was nothing more than consolation and the final whistle blew almost exactly on 90 minutes to spare any further blushes.
Tamworth Team:
Singh, Stabana (Graham 59), Howkins, Beswick, Cullinane-Liburd, Rowe-Turner, McDonald (Gordon 66), Meikle, Yafai, O’Connor (McDonagh 59), Tonks
Subs: Armitage, Tilt
Oxford City Team:
Dudzinski, Drewe, Hall, Ashby, Matsuzaka, Oastler (c.), Roberts (Owusu 66), Fleet, McEachran (Bancroft 74), Bradbury, Coyle (Wright 71)
Subs: Benyon, Gough, George, Fernandez
Attendance: 0
Referee: Mr. A. Humphries
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