A stagnant City turned
in their poorest home performance of the season to
surrender three vital points to an unimpressive Tamworth
side. The players certainly demonstrated little of their
recently expressed support for caretaker boss Brian
Hughes who will feel let down after this dire show.
Perhaps the players felt overshadowed by the presence of
departing manager Leroy Rosenior on the T-End, or perhaps
they were thrown by the sudden sale of Darren Keeling -
whatever the cause something had certainly hit them hard.
The loss of Keeling
to Yeovil meant that with Mings suspended and Hoskins,
Rutter and Mainwaring injured City were forced into
playing Burns and Hemmings up front. However this seemed
a lame excuse compared with unlucky Tamworth who were
forced to substitute keeper Tony Rowe after only 5
minutes. Left back Darren Shaw took over but needn't have
worried too much, City failed to put him under any
significant pressure until the final few minutes.
The game drifted by
entirely unremarkably with little excitement, the match
punctuated by niggling fowls born of frustration.
Holloway appeared to have escaped with an outrageous kick
at an opponent, but the referee booked him when play was
eventually halted. Burns was also booked following a
confrontation, but like the rest of the game even the
violence didn't quite ever become enough to waken the
T-End from the all pervasive lethargy that seemed to hang
over the ground.
Tamworth took a
shock lead just before half-time when Holloway was robbed
of possession and Yates was put through to chip over
Mokler. Yates had seemed a clear couple of yards offside
but the home team had only themselves to blame if their
lack of passion had sent the linesman to sleep. The only
notable event of the day was the emotional presentation
of outgoing manager Leroy Rosenior with a crystal bowl as
mark of the esteem with which he will be remembered at
Meadow Park. (This was a slight disappointment as for a
brief moment it appeared as if Rob Thomas was giving
Leroy vice-chairman Michael Tuck). The weight of
Rosenior's loss seemed even heavier after his former
charge's turgid second half performance.
Despite the
importance of the points, the fragile Tamworth defence
and their makeshift goalkeeper City failed to string
together any coherent attacks. Wyatt was thrown on to add
more width down the right hand side, but to the amazement
of the T-End Fergie was never sent forward to add some
desperately needed height and presence to the forward
line. Instead the ball was pumped aimlessly forward, time
and time again to the empty space left as Burns, Bennett
and Hemmings all drifted to the wings. Wyatt did manage
one well flighted cross but Callinan nodded wide from
close range.
At the death City
did produce some pressure, but not enough to convince
most of the home crowd who'd gone home long before the
final whistle. All in all it was a performance that
raised real doubts over everyone's previously
unquestioned support for Brian Hughes as the next
manager. Was this an expected post Leroy hangover, or do
the players feel so uninspired by Hughes that they play
at half-pace for him? I am troubled...
Mokler 
