Not the start that was planned?

I’m pretty sure that Graham Westley’s idea of a good start to the new season wasn’t drawing at home against newly promoted Tamworth. It was a poor game and a poor result which will hardly help bring back the 2130 supporters that turned up at Broadhall Way yesterday afternoon.

Surprisingly Mitchell Cole returned to the squad and was named on the bench. Stacy Long started out wide with Joel Byrom partnering Darren Murphy in central midfield. Andy Drury was passed fit and started out wide, but that’s about as much as he did all day. Tamworth’s line up looked very unfamiliar from the last team they brought down here a couple of seasons ago and I suppose that is a good thing really as they surprised a lot of people yesterday with a solid performance as well as looking like a threat going forward.

Boro in fact started the game well. Long and Laird were combining well down the left and Stevenage had the tempo and momentum. It was all Boro in the first 10-15 minutes and their good start was rewarded when a run down the left from Laird resulted in the England C International being tripped. A penalty was awarded and Lee Boylan stepped up to give Boro the lead. After the start we had made I thought it would be a routine victory before we could think about Hayes & Yeading on Tuesday night, but the opening goal had the opposite effect.

Tamworth didn’t lie down and Boro became too careless with the ball. The Lambs began putting pressure on every ball and were beginning to create chances themselves. Disappointingly the long ball was gradually coming back and what had began as a good football match was turning into a game of hoofball!

About half an hour had gone when Tamworth equalised. It all started from an attack from Boro with Darren Murphy going close, but a lack of concentration led to the visitors equalising. A long ball from the goalkeeper found Rodman who was given too much time to find Pritchard with a through ball and the attacking midfielder slotted past Day. A simple goal, but a poor one for Graham Westley’s side to concede.

Stevenage didn’t react well to the Tamworth goal and barely threatened to score in the remaining 15 minutes of the half. The second half saw Boro dominate possession and although they threatened to score again they didn’t create that many clear chances. A Bostwick free-kick went close and a Byrom long range effort didn’t miss by much either, but Boro lacked any creativity throughout the game. It was a matter of a long ball up to Griffin, who didn’t win anything in the air and see what happens after that. Griffin had one chance late on, but his shot went wide.

A disappointing display to kick-off the season, but there were some positive things to look back on. Mitchell Cole made his return from injury and was arguably our best attacking player yesterday. Scott Laird looked like he was back in form at left back and Cambridge lost 2-0 against Barrow at home. Graham Westley says that “we’re up and running” and I really hope he is just trying to paper over the cracks. How can a 1-1 draw against Tamworth mean that a side that are supposed to be in with a chance of promotion this season are up and running? It wasn’t a good performance or result, but the most important thing now is how we react. If we can go and get a good result at H&Y then we can push on again, but to say that the opening day result wasn’t bad is not what I was looking for from a promotion chasing team.