Tamworth Men's Firsts Vs Redditch

Tamworth beat Redditch 2-0 in a top of the table clash in West Midlands Division 1.  With the sides only separated by goal difference they knew that with Market Drayton two points behind, whichever team won would guarantee control of their promotion and title aspirations.

Despite looking nervous initially Tamworth came out of the blocks quickest and dominated early on.  The defence and midfield controlled possession and enabled the forwards to drag Redditch around the pitch, with Hancox having particular joy on the right wing.  Early opportunities came and went with Sperrink missing a good one-on-one opportunity as well as having two strong shots saved.  Wagstaff also saw a short corner strike scrambled away by the Redditch defence at the last moment.  Redditch slowly came into the game but with the midfield trio of Herring, Wagstaff and Haywood man marking it restricted Redditch to opportunities from short corners, although Pipe had to be alert to save from a drag flick midway through the half and Langford reacted quickest to clear the ball away from danger.

The second half saw end-to-end action with both teams desperate to break the deadlock.  Tamworth were briefly down to ten men when Martin was yellow carded for intercepting an aerial but Tamworth weathered the pressure with Pipe this time keeping out a low strike with his toe before having his crossbar to thank when a shot from Redditch flew off the frame and to safety.  When the deadlock was broken it was eventually by Tamworth.  Hancox was released down the right by Goode and his cross took multiple deflections before dropping to Sperrink to tap home at the far post.  Redditch pressed for an equaliser but the defence stayed firm keeping out another short corner.  Redditch then went down to ten when they had a player sin binned for dissent and Haywood almost punished them further but saw his effort drift wide.  As the home side pressed for an equaliser it was Tamworth who had the final say, scoring with the final touch of the game.  Again Hancox broke down the right and when his cross was pushed out by the ‘keeper it fell for Sperrink to drill his shot into the turf and over the stricken Redditch stopper.

Having kept a fourth consecutive clean sheet and this time against a team who had scored at least two in every other game this season, the news filtered through of Market Drayton’s draw at Bloxwich meaning Tamworth now know there are guaranteed second place and a point in the final match next weekend will see them crowned deserving champions of West Midlands Division 1.