Alfreton Town  v  Tamworth

Sat 3 Feb - 15:00 National League North

Alfreton Town

0-0

Tamworth

Match Report

On the back of Tuesday night’s victorious trip to Scunthorpe Andy Peaks took charge of the Lambs for his 100^th competitive encounter as they made the short journey North to the Impact Arena, North Street, home of Alfreton Town.

Peaks was forced to make three changes to the side that ran out at Glanford Park with Liam Dolman, Callum Cockerill-Mollett and Kai Williams coming in for Matt Curley, Kyle Finn and Luke Fairlamb in the starting eleven and Dempsey Arlott-John, Brad Gascoigne and Callum Reilly taking spots on the bench.

After a minutes silence following the passing of a home town season ticket holder was impeccably observed around the terraces, Alfreton got the game underway with Tamworth attacking the away fans end on the banked terrace behind the goal.
Both sides had early forays forwards without testing either keeper, and a foul on Acquaye set Williams down the right and a throw resulted. From Tonks’ throw Willets rose highest and powered a header towards the near post but it dropped just the wrong side and the game continued goalless.
A mic up at the back let the home side in on 8 though, with Waldock the culprit screwing his shot from 18 yards at a gaping open goal over the target with a half volley that should really have punished The Lambs.
A threaded ball through the Tamworth back line saw Jenkins fail to beat the offside trap but he still took it around Singh and finished the ‘chance’ on 17, and when play restarted it quickly switched to the other end and Lund took a blow to the head and needed prolonged treatment in the area before he got back to his feet and returned to the action.
Creaney released Cullinane-Liburd out of midfield on 22 who in turn played Williams in down the right wing, and he got the better of his marker to force a corner from his low shot which Willis protected at his near post. The flag kick came to nothing.
Williams wa.s upended by Newell as he took the ball past him over the halfway line on 24, earning the Alfreton man a booking.
Perritt got on the end of a flow of purposeful Alfreton attacking moves on 32, powering a header into the Lambs defence at the far post and with the gentle North Street slope in their favour the home side kept the pressure up and frustrated Tamworth’s attempts to get upfield.
Dolman was on hand to get in the way of a Newell shot which looked like it would cause some problems for The Lambs defence on 40, but the defender manage to stab it away before he pulled the trigger.
Inside the final five minutes, a foul on Tshikuna set up Milnes to put a teasing ball into the box but Alfreton countered and it took a well tied sliding challenge to deny the run of one time Lamb McDonagh who was chasing the pass down the right wing.
Acquaye had to leave the field, unable to continue, as the first half went into added time, bringing Arlott-John on for his first appearance since the end of November.
With drizzle falling the home side were awarded a freekick in the right channel on 47 and home captain Brisley missed his shot at the far post, although Singh had it covered.
Two minutes added time were shown in the fourth minute of added time, and a long Tonks throw fell in a crowded box but Cullinane-Liburd couldn’t dig a shot out.
Newell then found himself brought to ground by Dolman, and the Lambs defender was booked for the sliding foul which was headed on by Digie and cleared by Cockerill-Mollett as the whistle blew.

HT 0-0

The second half kicked off at 10 past 4, and the floodlights popped into action as Tamworth got the game back underway.
In the opening exchanges, the balance of play was much as the first half with Alfreton looking to push upfield as Tamworth defended in what some were describing as more of a battle than a flowing game of football. In fact Alfreton had only lost 3 of their 14 home league games so far.
Willis plucked a Milnes corner out of the air on 52 and on 54 a similar flagkick was left by the keeper and skipped under the sliding boots of Creaney at the back of the box.
A Milnes corner from the right rather than the left on 57 was met by the head of Cullinane-Liburd but he got too much on it, and it looped over the bar.
The Lambs defender was then booked for a clumsy challenge on Cantrill in the centre circle on 58 but there were shouts for a foul earlier in the play which had not been given.
Willis punched a Tonks throw clear of danger on 61 but only as far as Arlott-John and he found Tshikuna whose shot deflect off a defender for a corner.
Brisley was then yellow carded for getting in the way of Williams and Deacon came on for Tshikuna before Milnes restarted the play with a short freekick to Cockerill-Mollett but his long ball into the box was too strong to cause a problem.
The home side forced a couple of corners on 67 which The Lambs defended strongly and broke down the right with Milnes and Williams combining to get the ball to Deacon but his flick ricocheted out for a goalkick.
Akfreto struck the Lambs woodwork twice in two shots on 70 with Waldock smashing a shot from the left against the frame of the goal, and it came out to Fewster on the right who saw his shot smack against the crossbar and the sense of relief on the away terrace could be felt around the ground!
At the other end, Deacon managed to flick a header over his marker into the path of Creaney, who tried to pick his spot but lifted his shot over the target.
Dolman tried his luck too from a considered build up on the right, and a shot from 30 yards on 73, but he was off target but a wide margin.
The Lambs put their bodies on the line to deny an Alfreton throw into the box on 75 from causing a problem, and when Cullinane-Liburd broke through down the right and drilled it across, Perritt put himself in the way of Arlott-John who was well positioned to try and turn it home.
Williams released Arlott-John on 80 and his low cross was cut out by Lund for a Lambs corner on the left but Willis caught the floated ball amongst a crowd of players.
Waldock struck a dipping half volley from 20 yards over the target shortly before Meikle came on for Cockerill-Mollett.
A double cross from Perritt forced a corner on the right when Salmon was beaten to it by Dolman but it didn’t come to anything as a foul halted play.
As four minutes added time were shown, a card was shown to Waldock for a challenge on Milnes and from Singh’s freekick Cullinane-Liburd’s shot was put behind for a corner which took a deflection and looped goalward but was cleared, and play had to be stopped when Perritt needed treatment in the area and player protested that there has been no foul decision against the involved Lambs player. There was a great deal of confusion and discussion all round, until Creaney and Digie were booked in the final act of a difficult game, which ended soon after and extended the unbeaten run to eleven games, with seven clean sheets on the bounce.

TEAMS

Alfreton Town
Willis, Cantrill, Newell, Lund, Perritt, Waldock, Digie, Fewster, McDonagh, Thewlis (Salmon 78), Brisley (c.)
Subs: Wiley, Clackstone, Day, Askew
YC: Newell 24, Brisley 63, Waldock 90, Digie 94

Tamworth
Singh, Cullinane-Liburd, WiIlets, Dolman, Cockerill-Mollett (Meikle 83), Milnes (c.), Tonks, Tshikuna (Deacon 63), Creaney, Acquaye (Arlott-John 45), Williams
Subs: Gascoigne, Reilly
YC: Dolman 49+5, Cullinane-Liburd 58, Creaney 94

Referee: Mr. T. Wilson
Assistant: Mr. J. Howell, Mr. J. Cunningham

Att: 799