Captain Joe Madden was forced to make changes again this week with hooker Dougie Fraser being promoted to first team duty as well as losing Luke Spears (torn quad) and Ant Georgiou (concussion) to injuries sustained against Burton in the previous fixture.

Olly Mansfield stepped in at hooker with regular props Martin Page and Gaz Skirving either side of him whilst the heavyweight pairing of Richard Jebb and Rich Bayliss formed the second row engine room. Ben Homer moved to number 8 in place of the injured skipper Madden with Paul Thomas and Scott Pearce on the flanks.

A new look back line saw Josh Squires keep his shirt at scrum half and newly promoted colt Joe Watson making his debut at fly half. Chris Jenkins came into the 12 shirt with exciting rookie Adam Fletcher at 13. The back three consisted of Alex Lees, Mark Gothard and Keith Clarke.

Replacements included Stuart Egan, Richard Fitzgerald, Chris Heather, Aaron Andrews as well as talented colts Owen Jackson and Matt Jones.

As always Manager Martyn Bowden's pre match preparation was good and the team were ready to go at the first whistle. Town kicked off to Cannock who as expected had a large, experienced pack and they ran the ball hard back into the town forwards, testing their defence in the opening exchanges. Prop Gaz Skirving led the way with some huge hits on his opposite number whilst flanker Paul Thomas was disrupting ball in the tight.

After a dominating the possession in the opening minutes Cannock found that they could not breach the town defence and were forced to kick, the kick however was loose and well covered by full back Alex Lees. Winger Keith Clarke called him right into space and he opened his legs, leaving the Cannock backs in his wake. It was then a sprint finish between him and his opposite number and Lees won with a classy step to score a wonder try under the posts from no less than 75 metres. Homer converted to give town an early 7-0 lead.

Cannock bounced back and it was clear the type of game they wanted to play with their strong tight five. This didn't suit Town though who are trying to play classy expansive rugby this season and they quickly learnt this lesson after running into the Cannock pack and being turned over several times. The home pack began to play smarter rugby and started to move the ball away from the visiting men giving debutant fly half Joe Watson chance to show his class. His first major contribution to the game was to find second row Richard Jebb in space who came charging out of his own half to make a superb 40 yard break. He then showed his ability by drawing two defenders and floating a pass over the head of he third to hit centre Chris Jenkins in support. once again the Cannock full back was beaten for pace as Jenkins outstripped him to score another classy backs try. Homer again converted to give town a 14-0 lead.

It was looking like a tough afternoon for the Cannock back line who we're being outpaced by the expansive rugby of Tamworth. Even when they did maintain some possession they were met by the brick wall of Watson, Jenkins, Fletcher and Gothard who were leading the defence like men possessed.

The forward pack were having a good afternoon finding their feet in the scrum and carrying well. Martin Page and front row partner Mansfield were carrying very efficiently and second rows Jebb and Bayliss seemed to be covering every blade of grass on the park to support their ball carriers. A break from Scott Pearce gave Town excellent opportunity to spin fast ball out wide and Squires found Watson with a sublime 25 yard pass. He executed a sweet miss move to find rookie centre Adam Fletcher charging through the middle. He bulldozed the covering defenders out of the way to make a smashing 50 yard gain, only the covering tap tackle of the visiting winger was enough to stop Fletcher, playing only his third game for the second XV. Fletcher managed to flick a pop pass on his way to ground which found the hands of supporting winger Keith Clarke who crossed under the posts to open his account for the season. 21-0 Tamworth.

Cannock once again bounced back though and for the following ten minutes marched Tamworth back up the park. Indiscipline cost Town who were caught napping by tap penalties on more than one occasion. Several times Cannock tested Town's defence and each and every time it held firm. More big hits from Jenkins and Thomas kept the integrity of the Town defence. Eventually Cannock took the chance to have a shot at goal from a penalty which was pushed just wide.

Town cleared their lines after a hard spell of defending with a huge drop out from Ben Homer. Winger Mark Gothard, also playing only his third game for the twos, raced after the ball and caught the covering winger with a textbook tackle, the supporting pack then joined the chase and open side Scott Pearce hit the counter ruck with a huge amount of force giving town turnover ball. Again Squires and Watson were on hand to make the most of the opportunity. Watson stepped one way and then another to create space for Jenkins to sprint in for his second try. Town went in at half time 26-0.

At half time replacements Stuart Egan and Richard Fitzgerald came in to the front row in place of Skirving and Mansfield, young second row Owen Jackson replaced Richard Jebb and debutant colt Matt Jones came on at number 8 to make his senior debut. Aaron Andrews replaced Squires and moved to the wing with Keith Clarke moving into his favoured position of scrum half.

The changes may have disrupted Tamworth but Cannock made a very clear statement by dominating the opening ten minutes of the second half. They clearly had not lost hope of getting a result and credit should go to them for the way they began the half. Town defended desperately and managed to keep Cannock out but it came at a cost as the penalty count began to rack up. Cannock marched town back down the pitch and eventually the pressure told as Town were caught napping. The visiting fly half put a nice chip kick over the top and Town failed to cover it giving the Cannock centre chance to nip over for a converted score. 26-7.

This woke Town back up and rallied the men, the replacements all keen to make an impact. It was the dangerous partnership of Watson and Jenkins that turned the momentum back in the home sides favour as the young fly half identified the overlap and screamed for the ball. Nice delivery from Clarke allowed the ten to draw two defenders and once again put Jenkins through the gap. Again the Cannock full back lost the race and Jenkins slid in for his hat-trick converted by Homer, 33-7.

It was one way traffic after that and Town began to play some really beautiful rugby. All of the replacements were making a big statement for selection, Egan, Jones and Jackson in particular were carrying the ball superbly as well as supporting their team mates in the pack.

The next score was a real gem of a try but it came from a fairly unlikely source on a day like today, the front row. A powerful carry out of the 22 by returning prop Stuart Egan was matched by a blindside carry from number 8 Jones. Watson then called for wide ball and hit Fletcher who also helped himself to a 20 yard break. Watson then popped up again in support and drew the last man to feed hooker Richard Fitzgerald who showed his dynamism to sprint in from 30 metres for a real classy team score. Homer once again converted and Town led 40-7.

Next it was Aaron Andrews turn to show his pace. A poor kick from Cannock gave Alex Lees chance to stretch his legs again. He found Fletcher who drew the man and gave the pass to Andrews who sprinted in for another 5 pointer.

The final try of the match was arguably the best and most well deserved. The platform was set with breaks from Bayliss and Page who were once again supported superbly by the back row including replacement Chris Heather. Clarke whipped the pass out to his fly half who showed a superb turn of pace to break the first tackle, offloading to winger Gothard in the process. He in turn offloaded in the tackle to find Alex Lees who drew his defender and threw a miss pass to Andrews who had space to run. He made twenty yards and drew all of the covering defence to throw a perfect pass back inside to Joe Watson who had supported all the phases of play excellently. He powered over to round off a superb debut performance with one of the best tries Wiggy Park has seen in a long time. Ben Homer also rounded off an excellent performance by nailing a touch line conversion to draw a close to an excellent performance from Tamworth 2nd XV.

Final Score 52-7

Tries;
Chris Jenkins x 3
Joe Watson x 1
Richard Fitzgerald x 1
Aaron Andrews x 1
Alex Lees x 1
Keith Clarke x 1

Cons;
Ben Homer x 6

Man of the Match;
Chris Jenkins

Town currently sit top of the Staffs Merit Division 1 with two wins from two however they are likely to face stern tests in the coming weeks as they travel to Trentham and Shrewsbury.