Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2009 22:44:56 GMT
With our game at Notts being on Sunday, I wanted to take in a game in the Midlands on Saturday. With no Premier League or Championship business – and nothing appealing in the lower divisions – I decided to go to Tamworth for the game against Histon.
The Lamb is a ground I’ve seen from the railway line on countless occasions and it’s half-haunted me since our cup defeat there in the year Dot. Check the records and you’ll see that the Lambs have played at the Lamb for seventy-five years moving there a year after their formation in 1933 (the town’s previous senior club being known as Tamworth Castle). That means it has overseen Tamworth’s transformation from a small market town to a place now bigger than Torquay, a process mainly due to overspill from Birmingham since the 1960s.
This gives the surrounding area something of a mixed feel: part terraced housing; part New Town. The ground is named after the former Lamb Inn and, apparently, pigs were once kept there (Tamworth being known for its breed of pigs). The Lamb is a tidy little “lower Conference” ground – neither special nor bad – with a ten-year-old main stand and a curious partly-covered arrangement behind one goal. There’s also covered terracing along most of one side. Overall it’s functional and adequate if a little forgettable.
Indeed that would sum up the first twenty-five minutes of Saturday’s game against Histon. As is often the case, Histon’s tactics set the agenda and broke up Tamworth’s normal style of play. Then Histon got the ball on the ground and took the lead through Nathaniel Knight-Percival (I’m surprised he hasn’t moved to a higher level yet). Tamworth equalised and, just as the game seemed to be drifting towards a draw, Histon upped the ante with two late goals. Fair result, fair entertainment.
Naturally I’m hopeful we won’t be darkening the Lamb for a league game just yet but – now I’ve made a point of visiting – you should put it down as a probable in this season’s FA Cup (Tamworth are away at Ilkeston or Eastwood in the 4th Qualifying – remember that? - which was my other possibility on Saturday).
Background at www.thelambs.co.uk/content/the-lamb-ground-44.htm
Pictures below taken from www.conferencegrounds.co.uk/tamworth.htm
The Lamb is a ground I’ve seen from the railway line on countless occasions and it’s half-haunted me since our cup defeat there in the year Dot. Check the records and you’ll see that the Lambs have played at the Lamb for seventy-five years moving there a year after their formation in 1933 (the town’s previous senior club being known as Tamworth Castle). That means it has overseen Tamworth’s transformation from a small market town to a place now bigger than Torquay, a process mainly due to overspill from Birmingham since the 1960s.
This gives the surrounding area something of a mixed feel: part terraced housing; part New Town. The ground is named after the former Lamb Inn and, apparently, pigs were once kept there (Tamworth being known for its breed of pigs). The Lamb is a tidy little “lower Conference” ground – neither special nor bad – with a ten-year-old main stand and a curious partly-covered arrangement behind one goal. There’s also covered terracing along most of one side. Overall it’s functional and adequate if a little forgettable.
Indeed that would sum up the first twenty-five minutes of Saturday’s game against Histon. As is often the case, Histon’s tactics set the agenda and broke up Tamworth’s normal style of play. Then Histon got the ball on the ground and took the lead through Nathaniel Knight-Percival (I’m surprised he hasn’t moved to a higher level yet). Tamworth equalised and, just as the game seemed to be drifting towards a draw, Histon upped the ante with two late goals. Fair result, fair entertainment.
Naturally I’m hopeful we won’t be darkening the Lamb for a league game just yet but – now I’ve made a point of visiting – you should put it down as a probable in this season’s FA Cup (Tamworth are away at Ilkeston or Eastwood in the 4th Qualifying – remember that? - which was my other possibility on Saturday).
Background at www.thelambs.co.uk/content/the-lamb-ground-44.htm
Pictures below taken from www.conferencegrounds.co.uk/tamworth.htm