Coalville Town v Tamworth
Coalville Town
4-0
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Tamworth
Match Report
After a performance that joint boss Gary Smith thought needed an extra 5-10% but ultimately ended in defat to 3rd placed Peterborough, The Lambs made the short trip to 2nd placed Coalville Town in what would be another tough test. The game was only been called on after a frozen pitch inspection deemed the surface playable at midday and as the game kicked off the cold fog dropped slowly onto Owen Street making it difficult to see past the external permitters of the Sports Ground.
The Lambs had bid farewell to recently re-signed midfielder Bilal Yafai during the week, and welcomed pacey winger Shaquille Whittingham into the squad, signing from Stratford Town, and made four changes to the side that ran out against The Turbines.
Lucas Yeomans returned to the side and Dan Creaney took the number nine shirt while Nya Bell replaced Charlie Shaw at 10. New signing Shaquille Whittingham took a place on the bench and when Aaron Forde pulled up in training before kick off it meant that Jordan Clement was called upon to come off the bench at short notice.
The Ravens, with a near perfect unbeaten home league record got the game underway but it was The Lambs who had the first chance inside the first minute when Walters crossed from the left and Bukowski was able to catch it under pressure.
Creaney was then booked by the referee on 3 after a challenge on Smith in the Coalville half which left the player needing treatment.
Singh punched a deflected cross from Dean out for a corner on 5 and after Singh punched the resulting flagkick away Smith was deemed unable to continue and Coalville made an early change in personnel.
Thomas then launched a left sided freekick from the halfway line but neither Walters nor Bell could get ahead of their markers and Coalville cleared their lines.
Creaney made headway down the left and put a solid cross into the mix which on 8 and caused the home defence some problems, and in the next move he bore down on the keeper as he looked to boot the ball clear but it cannoned back off the striker and out for a goalkick and at the other end, Singh palmed Dean’s right wing cross over the bar for a left sided corner which The Lambs cleared.
Bell was tripped by Dean as he tried to power down the left wing on 17, and Walters unleashed a right footed freekick onto the head of Creaney but he was too far past the far post and Bukowski caught it with ease.
Good play from Clement worked the ball towards the edge of the Coalville box on 22 and Walters got the ball at his feet and he struck for goal from the left of the area but was unable to get it past the keeper who caught it at head height.
The home side quickly forced a left sided corner and Berridge struck low from 18 yards but Pendley got his body in the way and Tamworth dealt with the pressure.
Coalville took the lead on 21 though, and Doyle-Charles celebrated his goal which came from a low angled shot which seemed to have completed baffled Singh who looked to be letting it go out of play before it rolled inside his left hand upright (0-1, 21 mins)
And two minutes later the deficit doubled when very poor defending allowed Kee to set up McGlinchey to curl into the far left of the goal almost unhindered. (0-2, 23 mins)
And as if to add insult to Lambs injury, Creaney was shown a second yellow card on 27 for an unnecessary challenge on Dean as they both went for the high ball on the left wing which really gave the referee no other choice but to send him for an early bath. Kee reacted to the foul with a push on the Tamworth man but was not punished for the retaliation.
Pendley did very well to deny a shot from Shaw in the area after a strong move down the left channel on 35 a minute or two before a right sided corner dropped into the danger area before being dealt with and Clement denied the run of McGlinchey with a shirt pull and earned himself a booking on 39 as Coaville went in search of a third goal and it took a hefty clearance to get the ball away on more than one occasion.
Singh dropped to gather a shot from Shaw on 45 in the final action of a first half that started brightly but by the end would want to be quickly forgotten.
HT 2-0
The ten men Lambs got the game back underway in the increasingly cold and foggy conditions and the travelling fans were hopeful of a solid performance to keep the scoreline respectable as The Ravens circled Singh’s area in the early exchanges.
Taylor was booked on 50 for a foul in the centre circle and this allowed Tamworth to push forwards through Walters and Clement but Coalville countered and forced Singh into a low stop from the right on 53.
It looked like a third strike had come on 54 from a threaded pass into the box but the shot from Kee went wide of the right hand upright as the fog slowly thickened on proceedings..
But it didn’t take long for the next goal to come and on 58 Kee met a right sided looping high cross with a far post header which Singh was unable to get to before it crossed the line (0-3, 58 mins)
Tamworth responded with a move downfield through Bell who did manage to get the ball towards goal via a diagonal shot but it was never going to beat Bukowski.
Clement then needed treatment on the field on the hour and was replaced by Lissimore for the remainder of the game.
A couple of powerful shots from the home side cannoned back off the Lambs defence on 67 and the full force of second one, from Taylor, was taken by Cox who needed a minute or two to recover under the watchful eye of the physio before returning to the field.
The fog became thicker as the minutes ticked by and it was not possible to see the far corner of the pitch from the press bench when Walters went to take a corner from which Coalville broke upfield, beat the defence with apparent ease and this allowed Berridge to break through one on one against Singh and slot it home (0-4, 71 mins)
The Lambs made a double change on 75 handing Whittingham his debut as Coalville introduced former Lamb Waite for the final 15 minutes too.
Yeomans went down clutching his knee when chasing a loose ball on 83 in obvious pain but recovered sufficiently to continue for the final minutes making a positive run down the right on 87 and linking with Whittingham before a tackle put the ball out of play.
Waite and McGlinchey combined to get the ball into the box in added time and as it was booted away the referee blew time on a disappointing afternoon and scoreline for The Lambs.
Singh, Yeomans, Wilder, Clement (Lissimore 64), Pendley, Cox, Concannon (Cockerill-Mollett 75), Thomas, Creaney, Bell, Walters (Whittingham 75)
Subs: Kinina, Beswick
YC: Creaney 3 + 27
RC: (Creaney 27)
Bukowski, Dean, Putman (Carter 81), Eggleton, Robertson, Smith (Taylor 05), Shaw, Doyle-Charles, Berridge, Kee (Waite 75), McGlinchley
Subs: Tomlin
YC: Taylor 51
RC: (none)
Referee: Mr. R. Eley
Attendance: 697
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