Tamworth hit by injuries in defeat to promotion rivals
LONG EATON 41 TAMWORTH 23
Regional Two Midlands North
TAMWORTH faced Long Eaton in a second versus third clash at the weekend with the tie being shifted to the artificial grass pitch at Leicester Forest due to Long Eaton’s pitch being waterlogged.
A mix up on pitch availability meant the kick off being put back to 4.45pm meaning a disruption in Tamworth’s normal pre match routine.
When the game did eventually get underway it was immediately obvious that all 30 players out there knew exactly what was at stake in the race to pressure Lichfield for the automatic promotion place as they went toe to toe in an opening 10 minutes that contained some all out rugby that was a joy to watch.
It was Tamworth who got the breakthrough after 10 minutes when some strong work to secure the ball at the breakdown resulted in Josh Roe finding a bit of room down the short side. The skipper then unselfishly found Kit Smith with a deft inside pass for the back rower to dot down for a nice score.
The lead was wiped out 10 minutes later as Long Eaton flooded forward drawing in defenders before moving the ball wide for the winger to score in the corner, just staying infield despite a last ditch tackle from Tamworth’s scrambling defence.
Tamworth then lost outside centre Liam Saayman when he was caught high with a swinging arm which was only deemed worthy of a yellow card for the Long Eaton lock but meant the end of proceedings for Saayman and a reshuffle for Tamworth.
They went back into a narrow lead when Danny Norton slotted a penalty to make it 8-5.
Long Eaton would score next when their second row found a gap to exploit diving over. The extras were added and Long Eaton led 12-8.
There was more bad news to come on the injury front for Tamworth as they firstly lost Kit Smith with an ankle injury closely followed by Roman Mustchin, a victim of an accidental clash of heads with his own team mate meaning that not only did they have to reshuffle the side even more, they were all out of replacements before they had even reached half time.
Despite the upheaval it would be Tamworth who would take a lead into the break when the ball was won at the lineout and it was whipped across field stretching the Long Eaton defence and Leighton Norton broke off the back of a ruck to catch the hosts unaware diving over. Danny Norton added the extras and Tamworth led by three 15-12 at the break. The first 20 minutes of the second period were a real purple patch on the scoreboard for Long Eaton as although the possession was relatively even and Tamworth were still playing their part in a really entertaining spectacle it would be the hosts that would surge out into a 29-15 lead as they scored three unanswered tries to take control of the match.
Tamworth came back again though when, some good work on one wing by Will Kilby-jenkins and then a strong carry from Liam Mcgreevy getting to within inches of the line, the ball was recycled and whipped out to the other flank for Jack Dalton to score giving Tamworth hope of salvaging something from this encounter.
This was followed by another Norton penalty to bring them back to within one score at 29-23.
As time was running out for Tamworth they had no choice but to throw caution to the wind as they pushed for that elusive fourth try. This meant that there were huge gaps at the back for Long Eaton to exploit and they did just that with a couple of fine kicks forcing Tamworth back into their own 22 and onto the back foot as their brave resistance was finally broken as they conceded two late tries and Long Eaton came out deserved victors on the day.
Tamworth’s players deserve as much credit as they went down fighting with broken tired bodies after giving 100 per cent and then some in pushing a quality Long Eaton side to the limit in their first season at this level and although not a winning performance it was a performance that the whole of Tamworth should be proud of.