FA Cup First Round as Robins beaten by Lambs

Tamworth 1 (Chadwick 19')

Cheltenham Town 0

FA Cup First Round Proper, 9th November 2013

Attendance - 1566

This is what I'd call a proper FA Cup game. Non league Tamworth beating League 2 Cheltenham, a shock result? Not in my opinion. The gap between the Conference and football league is now very thin, with the Skrill premier hosting plenty of ex football league sides and even the Skrill North and South improving every season with the calibre of sides. Tamworth had mixed form before this game with a convincing 4-1 victory over Solihull Moors showing they'll be up for the fight, Cheltenham have also had a tough start to the season being fairly low down like Tamworth, although a league above. The history and drama of the FA Cup always attracts more fans and becomes a popular television viewing with nonleague vs league games usually being shown. It can make some money for teams that desperately need it and usually all league form accounts for nothing in these games. There were some interesting results across the games, including this one.

I firstly went into the club shop where I purchased football manager 2014 for an amazing £15 and my programme for the usual price and started talking to friends when I walked into the ground. Everyone seemed happy and nervous for this big game.

Tamworth went onto the pitch looking positive which was shown in the attacking football early on, Cheltenham seemed nervous and maybe a little bit complacent. The Lambs hit the crossbar on about 10 minutes in a carbon copy of the 3rd goal against Solihull, Capaldi free kick, Chadwick connected but this time onto the upright. The wait for a goal wasn't too long though, a cross into the box was held well by Richards who laid it off for Chadwick to calmly slot the ball into the bottom right hand corner. 1-0 Tamworth. The rest of the half was spent in a tight midfield battle with neither team really troubling but the best chance went too Cheltenham with a goo passing move leading to a good chance but was wasted. It remained Tamworth 1-0 Cheltenham at Half time.

The second half saw Cheltenham become very attacking, guessing they got an ear full in the interval! It proved effective with them playing a lot better but still not being able to find the goal they needed. Belford made a number of great saves in the process and it would have been devastating for us not to have won in the end. The second half was very tense, with desperation sometimes telling. Tamworth also had some good chances when on the counter attack, Richards had a one on one which was well saved and the keeper done well to deny a point blank header from Todd. The last couple of minutes were nail biting and Cheltenham had a penalty appeal turned down, I wasn't sure on it myself but the Ref was close enough so I trust his decision. It finished 1-0 to Tamworth and big cheers went up from the home crowd and manager Dale Belford. It's set up a tie at home against Bristol City in the second round with the ITV cameras. It's also giving us much needed money and will hopefully attract a big crowd. Overall it was another great game at the team I support.

Admission - Category A (£14,£9,£4 terrace)
Programme - £2.50 (usual size)
FM14 - £15 (special offer, usually £35 in shops)

Entertainment - 5/5
Price - 4/5
Programme - 3.5/5
Facilities - 2.5/5

Pictures taken by me