The summer league saw a mixed bag of results with the club using this as a good opportunity to give some younger players more experience of men’s hockey and in the latter matches, also an opportunity to get first team players fit and ready for the start of the season.  The team finished the season in mid table in with 10 points from 9 games.

The first game saw a very youthful team take on Stafford at home and Tamworth cruised to a 7-2 victory over a veteran Stafford side.  Performances from Ryan Brisco and Nick Martin were particular highlights.  With Dave Belson scoring twice and Brisco, Martin, Simon Miles, Will Housen and Ian Wagstaff all getting their names on the score sheet.

The fixture at Coventry & Coventry Uni the following week saw a much different outcome with Tamworth having to field a heavily under strength team against a Cov team who still had most of their 1st team Uni players available. 

Despite the 13-4 scoreline the team showed a lot of spirit after an 8-0 half time scoreline.  Goals from short corners were scored by Ian Wagstaff and Tom Sperrink with Dylan Waldren scoring from open play, but the highlight of the game, from a Tamworth perspective, was a breakaway goal starting with Ian Wagstaff with the ball in Tamworth’s 22 and resulting in Callum Taylor converting with a cool finish.

Lichfield were Tamworth’s next opponents and having taken a 2-0 lead it was disappointing to finish with a 2-2 draw with an outstanding contribution from Robert Trevasse in midfield marking Lichfield’s key man out of the game.  Ian Wagstaff scored an unstoppable short corner and Ryan Brisco scored his second of the season to give Tamworth a more than deserved point.

Bloxwich fielded a strong team in the 4th game of the summer league and ran out 7-1 winners.  Despite a couple of first team players returning to bolster the defence Tamworth were shown up for lack of fitness and discipline and having fallen 4-0 down in the first half it was always going to be difficult to recover from.  Tom Hancox scored Tamworth’s consolation goal in the second half but this wasn’t enough to spark a recovery.

The best team performance of the season came away at Sutton where Tamworth came out on top with a closely fought 3-2 win.  Excellent displays from both George and Ben Popple were ably assisted by Nick Martin and Tom Hancox, who produced his best performance to date, and the hard work up front from Callum Taylor and David Cook produced a deserved win.  Goals came from Hancox , Cook and Tom Sperrink.

The return leg at Stafford saw them field a much changed and stronger side and Tamworth edged it with a 1-0 win, with Tom Sperrink scoring the only goal of the game midway through the 2nd half.  The team were indebted to James Miles for his MOM perfromance as he pulled off a string of saves and bailed out the defence when faced with 5 or 6, 1-on-1 situations.  Dylan Waldren and Simon Miles also produced tireless displays to keep pressure on the opposition.

The first team turned out for Tamworth against a re-enforced Lichfield team, with a handful of their 1st team players included, and the extra class in front of goal they demonstrated proved the difference.  Despite a 5-2 defeat there were encouraging signs with Nick Martin excelling in attacking midfield and Ryan Briscoe showing a great touch and turn of pace.  Having been 3-0 down at half time to get 2 goals in the second half from Tom Sperrink and Tom Hancox was an encouraging improvement and had chances been converted in front of goal the scoreline may have been tighter.

Tamworth faced top of the table Bloxwich, who will be new opponents for the 1st team in the season proper.  After conceding early on Bloxwich scored again just before half time against a young Tamworth side and were eventually beaten 5-0 by a strong Bloxwich team as the game became more and more stretched in the second half.  The defence had to withstand a huge amount of pressure and Dan Rhodes coped well with a lively front line and Will Houson showed a lot of promise on the right wing.

Sutton beat Tamworth 8-4 in a disappointing result for the home side.  After conceding early Tamworth managed to recover to 3-3 by half time after Tom Sperrink capitalised on the Sutton goalkeeper misjudging an aerial and converting Dylan Waldren’s excellent run and cross to the back post.  Ben Acheson ensured parity at half time when converting a slick short corner routine.  Tamworth had chances to move ahead but credit to Sutton who converted lengthy spells of pressure into goals in the second half, Jack Corden making his return to the team in goal made a number of impressive saves to maintain some respectability to the scoreline.  Ian Wagstaff did score a consolation goal midway through the second half after being teed up by David Cook however Tamworth could not convert regularly enough to affect the overall result.