TAMWORTH 1 STEVENAGE BORO 0

 

For the second time this season Stevenage Borough were frustrated by Tamworth. On the opening day of the season Borough were held to a draw at The Lamex Stadium and on this first weekend of February they fell to only their third league defeat of the season through a first half goal from Nick Smith.

 

But the points lost may have less of a long term effect than the two second half red cards that Borough suffered when first, acting captain Ronnie Henry was dismissed for a tackle on Bradley Pritchard, and then shortly afterwards Darren Murphy for a quikfire brace of yellow cards.

 

Graham Westley made three changes from the side that routed Dover Athletic in the FA Trophy last weekend. Captain Mark Roberts was missing with a slight knock, while Mitchell Cole and Tim Sills dropped to the bench. In came Darren Murphy, Charlie Griffin, fresh from his five-goal haul in the Herts Senior Cup on Wednesday evening and Yemi Odubade: Michael Bostwick dropping back from midfield to fill Robert’s centre back slot.

 

The home side began proceedings with a front pairing that was familiar to Borough fans with the formidable frame of former Borough striker Iysden Christie lining up alongside Nick Wright, who so nearly joined Stevenage during the transfer window. Wright, however was to last less than a minute before he was forced to limp out of action.

 

The opening exchanges whilst pleasing to the eye from both sides produced little in the way of goalmouth action and in fact we had to wait until the game’s twentieth minute for the first chance of note. Stacy Long broke through the centre, jinked past several defenders before slipping a pass into the path of Odubade, 12 yards from goal, but the striker got under his effort and scooped it over the bar.

 

They were made to pay heavily for that waste when against the run of play the home side took the lead five minutes later when Chris Day spilled a freekick that was floated in from wide on the left, Nick Smith poked the loose ball back towards goal and all the Borough defence could do was help the ball home. Tamworth almost doubled their advantage when Jake Sheridan broke down the left, pulled the ball back into the path of Christie, but fortunately for Borough he made a complete hash of his effort from 12 yards, slicing it embarrassingly high and wide.

 

With their early confidence seeping away Borough were unable to wrest control from the home side and their three man midfield was struggling to stem the Tamworth tide, with both wide men Sheridan and Bradley Pritchard enjoying space on the flanks.

 

So Borough trudged off at half-time with plenty to think about as they sought a way to turn the fixture around. Borough, clearly stung by some half-time words came out in determined fashion, but still failed to test Danny Alcock in the home goal. Ten minutes in and Westley rang the changes sending on the potent pair of Cole and Sills, to replace Bridges and Beardsley. But even before Borough could get themselves sorted they suffered a blow when Henry was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Pritchard.

 

Things went from bad to worse for Borough on 68 minutes when Murphy was shown a second yellow card in quick succession, again for a foul on Pritchard, leaving them to play the final quarter with just nine men.

 

One thing this Stevenage side can never be criticised for is heart, and despite the numerical disadvantage they continued to press forward. Cole, sent clear by Sills was denied by a good save from Alcock and then Sills himself glanced a header just wide from a corner. Jon Ashton followed suit with a header wide from a corner by Long from the opposite side. In fact Borough were enjoying more chances in the final quarter despite being two men down.

 

In the final minute of action Borough almost got the reward for their endeavours. A long throw from Laird was flicked on by Sills and Cole’s overhead kick beat Alcock but drifted agonisingly wide of the post.

 

STEVENAGE BOROUGH (4-3-3) C Day – R Henry, J Ashton, M Bostwick, S Laird – S Long, D Bridges (Sub: M Cole, 55), D Murphy – Y Odubade, C Beardsley (Sub: T Sills, 55), C Griffin (Sub: J Byrom, 73). Substitutes not used: A Bayes, , M Albrighton. Booked: Griffin, Murphy, Long. Sent Off: Henry, Murphy