Following the disappointment of last week’s loss, the Vets committee held an emergency meeting on Sunday to reassess the situation the team found themselves in (pictured), and looked to get the team back on track and bounce back in style as they made the trip to perennial rivals Willenhall. The home side had resurrected their Vet’s team after being disbanded and spread throughout other senior teams for the last year. Tamworth’s style of play this year, and historically, has generally been based around the sheer power of their pack, and the depth in size and skill from the bench, but this was one occasion where the opposition actually had the edge in terms of size throughout the team, meaning Tamworth were going to be tested in every phase, asking questions of their technique to defeat their opponents.
The game didn’t start too well for the Wigginton park outfit. Willenhall were able to turn over possession in midfield, and quickly launched a counter attack from their own half, stacking runners down the wide blind side, they executed a two on one attack neatly, seeing the right winger race in under the posts for a 7-0 lead with barely five minutes played.
Tamworth’s response was swift, and proved they did have the tenacity and skillset to grind down the Willenhall pack. The lineout was functioning well with Grayson Marks providing a steady stream of ball from Tom Franks’s throwing, and generally being a nuisance forcing wayward throws from the opposition. The pack drove from one lineout inside Willenhall’s half, eating up the ground towards the tryline before the home side infringed. Robbie Smith, back in situ at scrum half, was alive as ever to the opportunity, and took a quick tap, selling the obligatory dummy before crashing over for Town’s opening score. Fly half Leon Milligan stepped up to covert, with dropped goal conversion, to tie up the scores 7-7.
Now on the front foot, Tamworth took the game to Willenhall again. The makeshift centre pairing of back row duo Paul Stewart and Dave Yardley were, after initial teething issues due to playing out of positon, standing up to the barrage of midfield runners well, and with Scott Tamplin and Tim Whittington putting in solid shifts on the wings, blocking off that particular avenue, Graham Wright at full back was left very much on mopping up duty for any kicks over the top. The pack were standing up to the task too, the front row of Olly Tomson, Franks and skipper Stuart Burrows, with Graham Hakes and Andy Goodeve digging in behind them, were proving to have an edge over the counterparts at scrum time. That solid platform gave Tamworth something to build from, and after a Paul Willars break from the base of the scrum got them going forwards, back row colleague John Smith secured possession, allowing the forward runners to flood onwards. Robbie Smith and Milligan took charge, swinging play from right to left, where having the two flankers in the centres proved useful in continuity of possession, drawing the bulk of the home defence across, John Smith spotted the overlap back on the right that had been created, and swung the ball back across field, Marks and Tomson involved in the move that found the ball safely into the hands of Burrows, to race in from the 22 and put Tamworth in the lead.
Not to be discouraged, Willenhall kept coming back, and forced an overlap on the right, to exploit, Tamworth scrambled well to temporarily halt the attack, but once stretched, Willenhall made the most of the disarray and managed to slice through for a converted try.
If the previous two Tamworth scores had been all about Tamworth’s ability to grind out field position, the third was all about the ruthless efficiency of their counter attacking skills. With Willenhall trundling forwards deep inside Tamworth’s half, Willars and Franks were heavily involved in ripping out the ball for a turnover at the breakdown. With Robbie Smith scooping up the ball going backwards, he was able to buy himself a yard of space with a clever dummy, and looped the ball round the back of a tackler, setting Burrows free on the right. Burrows showed the ball, causing hesitation in the defence, and took the gap, powering away over halfway. Marks was racing up on a great support line, screaming for the pass, Burrows found him with an offload through the traffic, allowing Marks to wrong-foot the oncoming defender and drive infield. With the defence now working to track his run, Marks found Yardley, with a well-timed pass, Yardley cutting back on a hard line towards the right touchline, away from the drift of the defence, showing a neat step and no little pace to beat the covering winger, and slide home. A 60m sucker punch.
Half time and 17-12 up, Tamworth rang the changes, seeking fresh legs for the second half barrage that was sure to come, as they faced both the slope and the howling wind. Rich Spencer entered the second row, adding to Tamworth’s potency around the breakdown, whilst Richard Randolph bought his all action style of play to No.8. Wright took a rest, to be replaced at fullback by Andy Lakin. Willenhall also made changes, and set about utilising their power runners down the slope. Tamworth were on the back foot, finding themselves trapped in defence by the onslaught of heavy runners, and wind assisted kicks into the corners. Clarke now on at scrum half, and Milligan were utilising some intelligent kicks to relieve the pressure, Tamplin and Whittington putting in the chase to pressure the home winger into repeated handling errors and make the kicks even more effective. Tamworth managed to earn a penalty and kicked to the corner. From the lineout, another well executed catch and drive saw them surge forwards, rumbling ominously closer to the line, Marks plundered over for the fourth Tamworth try.
Tamworth made further changes. Morris Merriman and Tom Collins joined the second and back row respectively, adding to Tamworth’s breakdown presence, and Kane Densley made his Vets bow on the wing. Willenhall ramped up the pressure, battering away at Tamworth’s defence with wave after wave of forward runners, Randolph, Spencer and Collins were doing some sterling work at the rucks, slowing down or turning over opposition ball to stem the tide. After several phases of play, and with bodies strewn across the park due to the ferocity of the contest, Willenhall forced a breakthrough with less than ten minutes remaining.
17-22, Tamworth were still in the lead, but under pressure. Marks returned as Spencer picked up an injury. Willenhall kept coming, but Tamworth increased their efforts in defence, the workrate was immense. Densley manage to snuff out one threat, with a terrific bit of covering as Willenhall kicked into space in the corner, looking to win the race for the touchdown, Densely came out of nowhere to clear. The town scrum came to the rescue, holding firm as Willenhall tried to put a drive on 5 metres out, and forcing them to pick up, Randolph was on hand to steal the ball and provide more breathing space. Clarke cleared to touch. Willenhall had one last roll of the dice as the ref called last play. They went for the catch and drive, but as the jumper landed and the maul set, Burrows managed to get his hands through on the ball and wrestle it free, splintering off the side, offloading to Franks to clear to safety. The match ended, two very tired teams, but a thoroughly enjoyable game.

Team – O Tomson, T Franks, S Burrows (c), A Goodeve (R Spencer), G Hakes (M Merriman), J Smith, G Marks (T Collins), P Willars (R Randolph), R Smith (M Clarke), L Milligan, T Whittington, P Stewart (K Densley), D Yardley, S Tamplin, G Wright (A Lakin).