Droylsden F.C.-The bloods on the net!

TAMWORTH 2 – 0 DROYLSDEN

Blue Square North – Saturday 19 December 2008

Report by Gary Owen

The Bloods came away empty handed from the league leaders following this disappointing performance by Dave Pace's men. It was a cabbage patch of a pitch, very bumpy in places, which was not conducive to Droylsden's passing game, who instead at times had to revert to percentage football by hitting the channels for runners, particularly in the second half.

Given the FA Cup exploits of recent weeks, it is the league that always remains the fundamental aim of any side, and so to fall a further three points behind the leaders will not be welcome.

Playing up the notorious slope at The Lamb, Droylsden gave themselves a bigger hill to climb when they fell behind as early as the 7th minute. The impressive Alex Rodman cut in from the left flank to beat two defenders, and shoot past Craig Mawson, who remained rooted to the spot.

The Bloods then enjoyed some good spells of possession, but without ever stretching Danny Alcock, making his debut in goal for Tamworth. Tony Gray shot wide and then failed to get sufficient power in a second shot as Droylsden looked to get back on level terms.

The Lambs had their moments, too, and Bradley Pritchard almost looked like he was going to extend their lead but for a great tackle from Lee Roche at the crucial moment.

Alcock then beat Gray to a long through ball with Tamworth looking for offside, before Kevin Townson's shot was easy for Alcock to gather in.

Townson again threatened when he collected a pass from Matthew Tipton to cut inside, but his shot was a yard wide of the mark.

Gray was again off target, before Michael Wylde almost doubled the hosts' lead on the stroke of half-time with a far post header, but Mawson saved well at the expense of a corner.

The second half was mostly one-way traffic towards Mawson's goal, but Steve Beck was way off target for Droylsden early on after he had been teed-up by Liam Brownhill from a free kick.

Moments later, Sean Newton had to clear off the line under pressure from Gareth Sheldon after Pritchard's shot had beaten Mawson and was heading goalwards.

Just after the hour mark, a mistake by Carl Ruffer provided Rodman with an opportunity, but his shot was fortunately deflected away for a corner. This was a sign of things to come for the former Chester defender, but before his next clanger, Mawson had to save from Pritchard.

Droylsden were probing for an opening, but Ruffer dallied on the ball on the half-way line, and was robbed by Pritchard, who exchanged passes with Nick Wright before drilling past Mawson to seal the points.

The Bloods huffed and puffed, but came nowhere near to blowing Tamworth's house down. Instead, Carl Lamb shot weakly at Alcock from a tight angle, and Townson missed Droylsden's beat chance of the game, when he curled his effort wide of the far post with only Alcock to beat.

If Droylsden are to make the most of their games in hand and make an impression in the league, then there will have to be an improvement on performances like this one, against a rather ordinary team who looked anything but league leaders, but who will no doubt be in the promotion frame come next April.

TEAMS:

Tamworth

Alcock, Burgess, Law, Smith (McAughtrie, 23'), Wylde, Foster, Wright (Lea, 84'), Shaw, Sheldon, Rodman, Pritchard.

Unused Subs: Sheridan, Birley, Melbourne

Droylsden

Mawson, Roche (Brownhill, 46'), Newton, Byron, Ruffer, Sorvel, Beck (Tandy, 63'), Pickford, Tipton (Lamb, 54'), Gray, Townson.

Unused Subs: Brown, Halford.

Referee: Mr. B. Smallwood (Northwich, Cheshire)

ATTENDANCE: 690