Needham Market  v  Tamworth

Sat 20 Nov - 15:00 Southern League Premier Central

Needham Market

Needham Market

1-0

Tamworth

Tamworth

Match Report

After Tuesday night’s defeat to in-form Banbury, The Lambs travelled to Bloomfields to take on 13th place Needham Market.
Tamworth made three changes to the side that fell to the Puritans with Callum Cockerill-Mollett making his league debut, while Lucas Yeomans and Jack Concannon came into the starting eleven.

Tamworth got the game underway attacking the 3G pitch end of the ground, and Jones did well to beat his man down the right on 3, forcing Fitzgerald to defend his cross.
Concannon crossed from the left on 5 and Jones got a touch but didn’t strike the ball with enough power to trouble Garnham and it was put behind for a corner.
Jones nearly opened his account on 7 but a close range shot was blocked and cleared and Concannon picked up the ball on the edge of the area on 11 but struck his low shot just a yard past the edge of the left hand upright.
The Lambs continued to press at all opportunities and work from the back as required but on 20 Dye got his head to a cross from the left, and a minute later Dye crossed and Singh had to watch it go out past the far post.
And the home side took the lead on 22 through Page who picked up the ball from a chipped pass, on the edge of the box, and rifled a left footed strike into the bottom right corner (0-1, 22 mins)
After recovering from a shoulder knock earlier in the game, Cockerill-Mollett went down on 27 and had to be substituted, bringing Riley into the central back position, forcing The Lambs to restablise themselves.
Jones received a pass from Yeomans on 34 and fired against a defender for a corner on the right and the flagkick was headed on by Waite and nearly turned home by Jones but fell kindly for Garnham.
At the other end, a long range strike from Fitzgerald forced Singh into midair but he was happy to see it out.
Waite seemed to have been upended by the home keeper on 40 but no penalty was given and the Tamworth player was booked for diving.
The Lambs then laid siege on the Needham goal around 43 but the Marketmen's defence put themselves on the line none moreso from Jones who struck a powerful shot against a Needham man.
Four minutes added time was shown and the home side continued to frustrate The Lambs and nearly capitalised on a mix up at the back but Mpongo was unable to get his boot onto the ball and Tamworth survived before the whistle blew for the break.

HT 1-0

Needham restarted the match but it was Tamworth who pushed on from the whistle and Waite was unlucky with a low strike from the left after good movement down the wing set him up with the chance.
Jones struck low from 20 yards on 52 forcing Garnham into a stop to his right, and although Tamworth kept possession a foul by Wider earned him a booking on 54. Referee Mr. Quick also booked joint boss Gary Smith on the bench.
It looked like Needham were odds on to make it two on 55 when Ingram fed Collard, but he saw his strike come back off the underside of the bar before being cleared.
McDonald replaced Waite on the hour as Needham played deep and defended strongly.
Collard shot over the target from distance on 65 and both sides continued to work hard, without really threatening either keeper until the 73rd minute when a freekick by McDonald was struck powerfully along the ground for Garnham to drop and smother.
There were lots of scratched heads on 82 though when the referee showed Jones a straight red card for something that must have happened off the ball as play was no where near him at the time.- and it was later learned he was dismissed for foul and absive language towards a match official.
The Lambs tied to respond however Singh was called upon in the final minutes when Collard and Page combined a yard from goal, but the keeper was on hand to prevent a close range finish.
In a last gasp atempt to get a point from the game, Yeomans went through down the right in the first of four minutes added time but he was denied his first Tamworth goal by Garnham who advanced and blocked his angled dink over the keeper.
So, there was no last minute equaliser and The Lambs players and fans alike had a long journey back down the A14.

Singh, Cox (Brown 83), Cockerill-Mollett (Riley 28), Beswick, Pendley, Wilder, Yeomans, Forde, Jones, Concannon, Waite (McDonald 61)
Subs: Thomas, Shaw

YC: Waite 40, Wilder 54
RC: Jones 82

Graham, Northwood, Dye, Hammond, K. Morphew, D. Morphew, Ingram (Machaya 61), Collard, Mpongo (Maycock 61), Page, Fitzgerald
Subs: Cullum, Sturgess, Munson

YC: Fitzgerald 14

Referee: Mr. Quick

Attendance: 288

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