This was encouraging, I’ll say it. Yes, most of us probably feel as though our boys should have won, but this was a good result to snatch a 1-1 draw out of this. Make no mistake, as we discussed in the Know Your Enemy report before this game, Tamworth is a strong side. To come out and play as well as we did and get a draw from a very good team? Absolutely encouraging and, certainly, this continues to build on the start of the season.

This is a team on the rise, I believe, as they controlled the game for long stretches of time before coming up just short of getting the full 3 points. I am encouraged by this, as I have said, and I firmly believe that this is a result that the team can really, truly build on as we get into league play further and further. It’ll be important, certainly to build on this result Tuesday at Chorley and that game now becomes critically important to actually get some momentum going and begin building towards a good league finish.

So what happened today at home against Tamworth? With the club announcing that season tickets, for the moment, had sold out, the game started, of course, in front of a great atmosphere. With the league difficulties that the Rebels have faced through the first two games, Manager Karl Marginson making some changes, most notably handling a first full debut to Sam Madeley.

Unfortunately, the bright started didn’t last long at all as Tamworth FC made quite the inauspicious start for FCUM, with Elliot Durrell scoring for the Lambs in just the 4th minute after a lovely 1-2 in the box. After conceding that 4th minute goal, though, FC began to claw their way back into the game. Notably, that claw back began in the 21sts minute when Jerome Wright shot the ball just wide and Tom Brown followed that up by shooting over,

The claw back was complete, though, when Luke Ashworth tapped one in in the 27th minute to bring us level 1-1. It was, in our opinion, a deserved goal and a deserved score line. As the pace slowed in the game, with both teams trying to sort the other out and find an opening, the first half came to a close with the teams level. However, FC were certainly back in the game despite that poor start.

There’s truly not much, though, to say about the second half except to say that FC United truly dominated the whole 45 minutes. They had several chances to get ahead, including two chances in short succession just after the hour mark, but, unfortunately, could just not finish the deal and, despite two red cards in the last few minutes, one for Jerome Wright controversially and one for a second yellow for Tamworth’s Curtis Strong, there was no separating the two sides.

As such, the announced crowd of 3,580, went home with one point and, at least, our boys getting their Conference North campaign truly started with their first point in the league after three games.

As I have mentioned time and time again in this post, though, make no mistake that this is an encouraging result and something that we can build off of going forward. It’s time to get some momentum and get this campaign going.

Last 10 games: LLD

Current Table Position: 18th

So what’s up next? Our boys travel to Chorley FC on Tuesday as the Vanarama National League North campaign continues with the 4th game of the season.