112 days after their final game in the National League North, Andy Peaks’ National League side welcomed Steve Morison’s relegated Sutton United to The Lamb.
​It was the first meeting between The Lambs and The Us in any competition and also 3759 days since Tamworth had last played at Step 1 of the Non League Pyramid as both sides looked to get their respective seasons off to a good start.

KICK OFF!

Tamworth kicked off the new season, attacking the Castle End in the first half, and went on the offensive without testing Arnold, deck out in day glo pink, in the visiting goal.
At the other end, a teasing cross from De Silva on 3 was headed away from Harris by Fairlamb at the far post as Singh, in his all-white kit, remained protected.
A foul on Acquaye on the left on 6 gave Tshikuna the deadball and although Creaney rose high to try and flick it past Arnold he couldn’t get the height he would have needed and Arnold grasped it at full stretch above his leap.
A couple of Cullinane-Liburd throws caused the visiting defence to react while De Silva dragged his half volley from 18 yards well wide of the mark, bringing ‘The Shed’ into song on 11.
Tshikuna blocked a Sutton United clearance on 13 and it ballooned up for Creaney to try a difficult first time lob over Arnold from 30 yards, and if it had come off it would have been spectacular but he couldn’t get the direction on it and it curled wide of the mark.
De Silva then did similarly at the other end, trying to take advantage of a stumble by Singh on the left of the area, only finding the populated away terracing and then he went toe to toe with Hollis, but the referee was having none of his claims for a penalty when he went down under pressure.
Creaney was bundled down by Muller on 15 and Finn took the dead ball with a two man wall ahead of him but it was flicked behind for a corner on the left which Finn took himself and Creaney, headed high over the target.
The first shot on target came on 19 when Harris found the ball at his feet between two defenders after Willets, Cullinane-Liburd and Hollis had been unable to clear the danger, but his low strike was easy for Singh to smother.
A foul by Acquaye on Boateng then gave Vaz the deadball by the Cross Street entrance, and Creaney headed it away from the near post.
Cullinane-Liburd was booked for kicking the ball away after a foul midway into the Tamworth half on 22 and it took a telling stop and clearance from Willets to keep Sutton away from Singh’s goal.
De Silva had already gone down after a strong tackle with Willets, and required treatment on 27 after Tshikuna had gotten the better of him and he was unable to continue bringing the first change of the game.
Harris brought down Fletcher in the centre circle on 32 and The Lambs pushed up with a deep freekick which Acquaye forced out for a Cullinane-Liburd throw which Arnold grabbed off the head of Creaney.
There were shouts for handball against Finn in the Lambs penalty area on 36 but they were mainly from the away terraces and the referee did not seem interested in the calls for a spot kick.
A right sided switched freekick between Vaz and Coley on 39 saw the ball come into the box low from the right and Singh was able to smother it at his near post.
Finn beat the offside trap to make a run for goal on 40, but the bounce on the ball allowed the defenders to get it off his toes, and Cullinane-Liburd launched the resulting throw in into the area.
It was cleared, but only as far as Acquaye and he struck a sweet shot from 25 yards just wide of the right hand upright with Arnold flat footed.
Williams and Hollis combined to prevent a Sutton attack as three minutes added time was shown and there referee had to sort out some pushing and shoving before Cullinane-Liburd could launch a throw from the clubhouse in the final act of a goalless first half.

HT 0-0

After making a change at the break, United restarted proceedings and a short pass from French gave Acquaye a run at goal and he angled a low shot but Arnold was able to stop, low to his left.
Substitute Nadesan was then involved drilling the ball twice in the box with Coley and then Boateng seeing their low attempts well blocked by The Lambs defence.
Tshikuna tried to cushion the ball down, in the right of the field on 52, but caught French who had dipped his head to attack the ball, and the Lambs player was duly booked for his efforts.
He responded by bringing a good stop out of Arnold from a right footed strike from the edge of the area on 54 after good build up play from Acquaye while at the other end, Simpson curled a left footed shot from 20 yards just over the bar.
Muller was then booked, on 56, for pulling Creaney down to the ground and he escaped a straight red as the referee felt it was not a ‘last man’ situation.
Finn was then booked a fair distance away from the referee, and the press bench assumed it was for words said rather than an actual foul.
The Lambs kept pushing on, and struck on target although it was never going to beat Arnold, and the visitors counter attacked, with Hollis defending strongly to prevent Harris getting to a teasing cross on the hour.
On 64 Tshikuna found to Finn in a acre of space on the right but with a defender ahead of him and he managed to get the better of his marker, but his on target strike towards the far post was denied by the keeper who pushed it away for a corner.
Willets needed a moment to recover from a knock on 71 so left the field while he was bandaged up and returned shortly after as Tshikuna spotted Arnold off his line and tried a snow covered looping strike from the halfway line but only found the corner flag.
United captain French was booked for pulling Acquaye to the floor on the left wing on 74 as Tamworth pushed the former EFL side back into their own third.
But it wasn’t all The Lambs as substitute Sivi broke down the right into the box but thumped his shot, under pressure from Morrison, over the target with Singh well placed.
With the home fans sensing something more than a point could be taken from the game, Creaney needed treatment so both sets of players took a well earned drinks break before the striker was able to leave the field before returning, although he was replaced by Okafor soon after.
And The Lambs erupted on 84 when Tshikuna received the ball in the centre with a man to beat, duly took it slightly sideways and picked his spot nestling the ball into the bottom right corner past Arnold (1-0, 84 mins)
Okafor nearly doubled the advantage on 88 doing extremely well to get his boot to a bouncing ball on the edge of the box and watched in agony as it dropped just to the right of the post.
But it was all square in the first minute of five added minutes when Coley was left in space on the left of the area and he rifled home a powerful half volley to beat Singh and allow the travelling fans to celebrate (1-1, 90+1 mins)
A late United corner was dealt with by a resolute Tamworth defence and a half chance fell for Okafor and Enoru in the dying seconds, but they were unable to get the ball down and past the equally stubborn Sutton defence and the final whistle blew on a point a piece.

TEAMS

Tamworth
Singh (c.), Fletcher, Finn (Enoru 85), Creaney (Okafor 82), Fairlamb, Morrison, Acquaye, Willets, Cullinane-Liburd, Tshikuna, Hollis
Subs: Tonks, Wreh, McGlinchey, Phillips, Moore
YC: Cullinane-Liburd 23, Tshikuna 52, Finn 59,

Sutton United
Arnold, French, Odeulsi (Nadesan HT), Simpson, Davies, De Silva (Coley 28), Vaz, Muller, Boateng (Sivi 66), Jackson, Harris
Subs: Sims, Ransom, Waller, Wadham
YC: Muller 56, French 74, Coley 95

Referee: Ms. Abigail Byrne
Assistant: Mr. R. Cheosiaua & Mr. C. Gough
4th Official: Mr. J. Roberts

Att: 1676 (448)

Directors Man of the Match: Chosen by Turpins: Luke Fairlamb