Aldershot twice had to come from behind to end a performance that perhaps should have earned victory with a 2-2 draw against Tamworth as Jack Barham and Luca Woodhouse pegged back Dan Creaney’s brace.
Back in the dugout for the first time in the Vanarama National League after a couple of months absence through illness, Tommy Widdrington made just one change from the side that beat Oldham Athletic 3-1 away from home in their last league outing as Jack Barham came in for Jonny Stuttle.
The Shots had a number of early chances as they looked to assert themselves early on. Josh Barrett, who scored a hat-trick in the win over Oldham, had his first sight of goal in just the third minute as he was found by Barham from the left wing but his shot was blocked behind for a corner.
A lot of Aldershot’s attacking was going through Barrett and within the space of two minutes, 10 minutes into the game, forced Jas Singh into a save with a moving effort from outside the area before seeing a shot on the volley blocked after good work from James Henry.
Theo Widdrington was spraying some clever passes around the EBB Stadium and found Barrett with a through ball over the Tamworth defence but after his incredible feat of scoring three lobs in a week, was looking for an opportunity to dink it over Singh that never came. A minute later, another smart Widdrington through ball found Henry whose through ball of his own was just in front of Barrett.
Out of the blue, Marcus Dewhurst was called in to action for the first time in the 20th minute as Dan Creaney launched a dipping effort from 30-yards out. Dewhurst was equal to it despite having to scramble back to his goal though and stretched to tip it over.
The early momentum died down from the Shots as Tamworth began to assert themselves into the fixture with their ability to make every break in play last longer than it needed to and Olly Scott and Luca Woodhouse had to be switched on to break up a couple of breaks forward from the visitors before the break as they looked dangerous on the counter.
HALF-TIME
Tamworth took the lead just four minutes into the second-half via Dan Creaney from the most predictable of outcomes: A Tom Tonks long throw was launched into the box and with the Shots unable to clear the ball, it fell straight to the feet of Creaney to fire in.
But their lead lasted just two minutes as Aldershot asserted themselves from a set-piece of their own. Luca Woodhouse found himself unmarked from a corner and his header towards goal was turned in by Jack Barham who had done well to hold off his marker.
And the Shots should have gone in front just two minutes after that as James Henry was slotted through by Josh Barrett but saw his ball across to Barham just too soft and cleared away with Barham through on goal had the ball reached him.
Widdrington played another superb ball forward to pick out the run of Henry in the 58th minute but his header was caught somewhere between being an effort on goal and a knock down for Barham as Jas Singh gratefully claimed the ball.
As Tamworth began to physically introduce themselves into the game with the first three of a large tally of yellow cards for cynical fouls, they scored their second of the game in the 69th minute as Dan Creaney completed his brace. Tonks’ quick thinking saw him launch a long throw down the line and Beck-Ray Enoru did well to beat his man and deliver a low cross for his striker to turn in from close-range.
The Shots didn’t let the goal get to them, though, and pushed forward in search of a winner and found joy once again from one of their 14 corners of the afternoon. Woodhouse was again unmarked and connected with Barrett’s corner well to head home another equaliser.
The home side then once again almost found themselves in front just minutes after equalising as Josh Barrett drove forward and took the shot on himself but could only fire agonisingly wide.
But as the Shots looked to be the team that would go on to take the three points, Tamworth reminded them of their threat on the counter and Dewhurst had to pull off a fantastic save to deny Creaney his hat-trick and a Tamworth win at the death.
There was still time, however, for the Shots to be denied themselves as Widdrington almost capped off a strong performance with a great effort from distance that Singh superbly tipped wide as it looked to be heading into the top corner.
Aldershot could do nothing with their final corner of the game, however, and the final whistle blew with the teams sharing the points.
Attendance: 2323 (103 Away)
Shots lineup: 28. Marcus Dewhurst, 6. Theo Widdrington, 7. Cameron Hargreaves, 8. Tyler Frost, 10. Josh Barrett, 17. Aaron Jones (C), 18. Olly Scott, 22. Jack Barham (19. Jonny Stuttle, 81′), 27. James Henry (24. Maxwell Mullins, 81′), 33. Luca Woodhouse, 36. Will Armitage.
Subs not used: 1. Jordi van Stappershoef, 4. Luke Jenkins, 5. Christian Maghoma, 11. Ryan Jones, 34. Dejan Tetek.
Tamworth lineup: 1. Jas Singh, 3. Callum Cockerill-Mollett, 4. Tom Tonks (28. Munashe Sundire, 75′), 8. Ben Milnes (6. Alex Fletcher, 43′), 9. Dan Creaney, 15. George Morrison, 18. Jordan Cullinane-Liburd, 19. Tom McGlinchey, 22. Beck-Ray Enoru (7. Kyle Finn, 90+2′), 26. Haydn Hollis, 33. Ben Crompton.
Subs not used: 2. Matt Curley, 5. Kennedy Digie, 20. Nathan Tshikuna, 34. Jordan Ponticelli.