After much preparation behind the scenes, the Altair Group Community Stadium welcomed Leyton Orient to The Lamb for the, live on TNT 1, Emirates FA Cup 1st Round tie.

The draw for the Second Round Proper of the competition had taken place in the clubhouse prior to kick off with Joleon Lescott and Steve Sidwell drawing the ties, which fictitiously pitted the winners of the game at home to Boreham Wood in the practise draw, and away to Salford City in the real one.

Andy Peaks’ Lambs lined up ‘as expected’ with the returning (on loan from Solihull Moors) Dan Creaney on the bench as well as goalkeeper Charles Price coming in as cover (from Stourbridge).

Meanwhile Orient boss Richie Wellens, who had netted twice for Blackpool in a FA Cup 1st Round tie in November 2004 in a 3-0 defeat of The Lambs, was mindful of the difficulties his his midtable League One side would face playing on an unfamiliar surface .

The visitors got the game underway with Tamworth attacking the packed Meadow Street end in the first half and an early Tonks throw went short to Enoru and was played into the box via the head of Digie and finished at the far post by Duku but the offside flag denied him with just 38 seconds on the clock.
A second throw by Tonks caused more problems and Bates got onto the end of it striking a right foot shot from the right of the box which whistled past the far post.
A deep freekick by Orient was headed away for a right sided corner which Connolly took and The Lambs dealt with, but it allowed the sky blue opposition to maintain possession for a period.
Enoru singlehandedly turned defence into attack on 8 bursting out of the final third all the way to the other end until the ball skipped away under pressure from the last man.
Mols then fed the ball to Milnes from the right on 10 and the Lambs captain turned and struck low but his shot went out, well wide of the left hand post.
Enoru, taking the game to the Orient back line at every opportunity, tried an uncharacteristic long range effort on 14 with Cahill out of position but his lob drifted wide of the mark and Cahill escaped the embarrassment.
Ballard had the first chance for the visitors on 15 but his left footed strike as easy for Singh to take at head height.
A foul on Tonks gave Milnes the deadball on 16 and Duku forced a corner from it, which Mols took on the right and Duku got his head to it, but it went up and over the target.
Tonks sent another long throw in from the left on 20 and it fell awkwardly to Bates who got a boot to it but it under close attention from a defender he was unable to direct it anywhere near goal.
Enoru had to leave the field after a clattering challenge on 24 and as he returned James blasted a wild shot from 18 yards high into the trees behind the Castle End.
Orient pushed Tamworth back around the half hour mark and when Duku touched Clare a freekick was awarded midway into the half which James took short to Koroma and a throw resulted but play stopped shortly after.
Duku was tripped by Koroma on the halfway line and the clearance from Singh’s freekick set up Tonks again, on the right by the Cross Street turnstile, and Digie got his head to it but there were enough defenders in front of him to clear the goalbound effort.
Tonks then forced a corner for Milnes to execute which came back out to Enoru but his low shot went straight into the arms of Cahill.
With first half minutes ticked away, Singh was forced to protect his near post as Connolly caused problems but The Lambs dealt well with the pressure and Donkor threw his body in the way of an attempt as five minutes added time was shown.
Enoru then forced a corner off a defensive block as they both chase the ball down and from Milnes flagkick Mols got his head to a defensive header and it looked like it would drop into the far corner but Cahill clawed it away in the final action of the first half.

HT: 0-0
 
Tamworth emerged from the changing rooms first, and got the game underway. Play stopped quickly when Duku and Clare met in front of the shed, and The Lambs took the freekick and there were shouts for handball as Orient cleared their lines but the referee was having none of it.
On 51, Tonks launched it long from the right but it was cleared long to Fairlamb and Singh sent it back up field for Enoru to run onto but with just one man to beat the offside flag went up to deny him.
In the next move down the left Beckles was booked for pulling Enoru’s shirt as he advanced down the left by the clubhouse and despite a after punch from Cahill under pressure from Hollis, play stopped when the flag went up.
And Abdulai was booked for a similarly strong challenge on Milnes a few minutes later, on 61.
Donkor did well to slide in and deny Connolly a strike from 8 yards on 64, and in the ensuing play it fell to El Mizouni who stabbed at the ball and Bates watched it go wide of the left hand post.
Play switched to the other end and Tonks sent a throw in from the right but Enoru was unable to get a clean shot on the dropping ball and it went out of play.
Singh watched a right footed low strike from Connolly into his arms on 66.
When Fairlamb tripped Connolly on the Orient right on 69 James sent the freekick into the area and Hollis headed it up and away for a corner on the left.
As The Lambs prepared to make changes, Tonks was able to send another throw from the clubhouse side into the box and Cahill had to scamper across his box and punch it away from Duku for a corner which saw Clare take the brunt of a challenge and he needed treatment before play could continue with Lynch, Maher and Creaney now on for the final 15 minutes of the second half.
Orient then had a spell of possession and passed it around the Lambs final third before a cross from the right sneaked in at the far post with Digie unfortunately and inadvertently heading past the dive of Singh to give the visitors the lead (0-1, 79 mins)
As The Lambs pushed upfield from the kick off Donkor was caught and play was halted by the referee to allow him to receive treatment on the pitch but he couldn’t continue and Curley came on to replace him.
As the clock ticked down Lynch made a run but was unable to keep his feet, and Enoru made way for De Silva before play restarted.
A foul on De Silva by Clare midway into the Orient half on 89 gave Maher the ball and there were shouts for a penalty when Digie went down under pressure but no penalty was awarded and five minutes added time was shown.
Tonks was handed a throw on 91, and Creaney’s flick was put behind for a corner which Singh came all the way up for too. Creaney headed it onto a visiting defender for another flag kick and when the ball was cleared with Singh still downfield Ballard race over the halfway line but was unable to get his attempted shot anywhere near the target.
Singh dropped low to smother sub Lloyds goalbound prod as the game entered the 95th minute and Singh launched it upfield but there was no time for another attack and the whistle blew on The Lambs run in the FA Cup for 2025-26.

Tamworth
Singh; Fairlamb, Hollis, Digie, Donkor (Curley 83); Milnes (c.) (Lynch 74), Bates; Enoru (De Silva 88), Bates, Mols (Maher 74); Duku (Creaney 74)
Subs: Sayer, Cullinane-Liburd, Ponticelli
YC: (none)
RC: (none)

Leyton Orient
Cahill, James, Happe, El Mizouni, Connolly, Craig, Koroma (Perkins 61), Beckles (c.), Abdulai, Clare, Ballard (Lloyd 90+3)
Subs: Simkin, Adarmola, Moorhouse, Wellend, Jaiyesimi, Obiero, Chinedu
YC: Beckles 57, Abdulai 61
RC: (none)

Referee: Mr. Matt Corlett
Assistants: Mr. Harley Hetherington, Mr. Steve Durnall
Fourth Official: Mr. Matthew Scholes

Attendance: 2820 (457 from Leyton Orient)