It was only the second draw between these sides in 15 meetings as Tamworth’s equaliser 11 minutes from the end cancelled out Aaron Cosgrave’s 28th minute opener. And the visitors had to play those minutes after Tamworth’s goal with only 10 men after Franklin Domi received a second yellow card.
The Fleet made five changes with Tyler Cordner earning a first league start since September’s visit to Altrincham while Toby Edser returned following a similar timeframe on the sidelines, his last match being the win over Hartlepool.
The early momentum was with Tamworth who forced a couple of corners and utilised the incredibly long throws of Tom Tonks, one of which on five minutes caused plenty of chaos in the Fleet box as it fell but with a few bodies in the way, it was eventually dealt with.
Tamworth continued to enjoy a territorial advantage but they didn’t really threaten much further, their most promising chance seeing Ben Milnes fire a free-kick from 20 yards over the bar on 25 minutes.
And three minutes later the Fleet were ahead. Domi sent a searching ball forward to Ben Chapman down the left. Edser made a brilliant run through the middle to take on Chapman’s pass forward into the box and he squared it across the goalline with Aaron Cosgrave later confirmed as having applied the final touch for his second goal for the club.
Tamworth responded quickly with Milnes running across the Fleet box before being denied by a diving block and Callum Powell then fired over from a good position as Mark Cousins came out to put him off. But that was as much as the home side managed and the Fleet led at the break for the second time this season.
With that 1-0 advantage, the Fleet began the second period with confidence, Cosgrave enjoying a couple of promising runs and the defence comfortable enough with what Tamworth could manage. It took until the hour mark for the home side to carve out another opportunity, Nathan Tshikuna curling a shot well wide of Cousins’ dive.
Five minutes after that Fleet went close to a second. An excellent interception from Cordner released Cosgrave down the left. He cut inside and sent in a shot that eluded Jas Singh and ran free into the six-yard box but Kwame Thomas was just ahead of it and couldn’t connect.
But the hosts equalised with the clock ticking down towards the last 10 minutes. Substitute Kai Williams was able to roll the ball first-time into the corner after a long throw into the box was nodded on by Dan Creaney to land at his feet. It got worse for the Fleet when Domi received a second yellow card after Williams went over his leg and the No.16 was off.
Tamworth applied the pressure with a number of corners in the dying moments and Cousins was down well to Tshikuna’s well-aimed shot. But he saved his best for last when a cross dropped for Chris Wreh whose stooping header was on target from close-range and the Fleet keeper somehow reacted with a strong enough hand to scoop the ball away to send the two sides home with a point apiece.
EUFC: Cousins, Kane, Chapman, Stewart, Cordner, Wright, Kellermann (Wakely 75), Domi, Edser (Tanner 63), Cosgrave, Thomas. Subs: Bingham, Fonguck, Poleon, Souaré, Berry.
TFC: Singh, Cullinane-Liburd, Fairlamb, Digie, Hollis, Milnes (Wallace 66), Tonks (Fletcher 66), McGlinchey (Wreh 78), Tshikuna, Powell (Williams 69), Creaney. Subs: Cockerill-Mollett, Okafor, Phillips.
Attendance: 1,141
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