WOKING v TAMWORTH

12:00am, Sat 17th Feb 2007

3.00pm on Saturday 17 February 2007
Nationwide Conference

The Cards entertain bottom side Tamworth this weekend. We did the double over Tamworth last season, scoring 6 and conceding none. They beat us 3-1 earlier in the season at the Lamb.

LAST SEASON

Despite struggling in the bottom half since they reached the Conference, the Lambs made history in the 2005-06 season by getting to their furthest ever stage in the FA Cup, they beat both Bournemouth and Hartlepool United 2-1 (both games where away ties for Tamworth) in the first and second rounds respectively. In the third round, Tamworth came up against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, the game ended 0-0 and Tamworth where rewarded with a home tie at The Lamb Ground, the replay finished 1-1 after normal time, no goals where scored during extra time, but their dream was ended when they where eventually eliminated 4-3 on penalties.

They completed perhaps their highest profile signing of all time on 23rd February 2006 when former Arsenal, Aston Villa, Walsall and England midfielder Paul Merson signed a contract for the club. However, until the end of the season, the majority of Merson's wages were to be paid by the club he used to manage, Walsall. This arrangement only lasted two games (with Merson playing only once) before he announced his retirement from professional football. Although the club finished 21st in the Conference last season, the second relegation position, the club were spared the drop after Canvey Island resigned from the league.

RESULTS SO FAR

The Lambs are currently botton of the league with just 6 wins so far this season, 4 of those have come at home with only two on the road. Their last win was a shock 2-0 win away at York, their first win since they beat Woking back in November. Taiwo Atieno is their current top goal scorer with 7 goals. Last week they drew 1-1 at home with Southport. Carl Baker gave the away side the lead after 23 minutes but John McGrath pegged it back to 1-1 before half time.

THE TAMWORTH SQUAD

Now departed Manager Mark Cooper bought in a couple of new faces during pre-season. Former Doncaster winger John McGrath joined the ranks, along with defender Simon Weaver, who was released by York City during the summer. Striker Taiwo Atieno signed at the end of August following spells with Dagenham and Kidderminster. Man-mountain Matt Redmile was released earlier in the season. Mark Cooper departed the Lamb on 24 January after a poor run of results and Gary Mills was appointed Manager.