Tadley Calleva pull off huge Alton comeback, as all-time leading goalscorer returns
Tadley Calleva pulled off a sensational comeback on Saturday as they beat Alton away from home.
The Romans found themselves 2-0 down at half time, after Alton scored a rebound in their first passage of play in the fifth minute.
Calleva had a big penalty call from Alex Fragata denied, with Alton running straight up the other end and doubling their lead.
An amazing second half comeback was kicked off by Ash Neal, as he met full-back Aime Kamdem’s whipped cross to head home and halve the deficit.
With twelve left on the clock however, it was still 2-1 to the hosts.
A moment of magic followed, as Jack French’s diagonal pass was met by Adam Everiss, whose backheel volley found Kieran Rodgers to equalise.
With three left to play, Brad Neal completed the comeback.
A hopeful cross was met with a clean header into the bottom right corner, as Tadley players and staff sprinted onto the pitch in celebration.
GOOOOOOOAL. ANSTEY PARK IS SILENCED.
— Tadley-Calleva FC (@tadleycallevafc) January 11, 2025
87' | 2-3 pic.twitter.com/LEQMuRinLy
“We basically gave them the first two goals,” reflected manager Joe Lawler.
“But they were very combative and won a lot of second balls, we were second best in terms of mentality.
“In the second half we tried to put a couple more bodies forward, sustaining pressure and winning battles.”
Lawler was delighted with his side’s fightback, but not entirely surprised.
“We’ve shown that mentality over the last couple of years,” he said.
“It’s always nice to see, especially after the break over Christmas.
“Our targets are clear, we really needed a good start.
“It gives us a lot of confidence.”
Another thing Tadley needed was goals.
Despite some big scorelines this season, their total of 38 in the league seems low when compared to most teams in the playoff places, where the average is more like 60 or 70.
To address this, a familiar face has returned.
Striker Brett Denham, Tadley’s all-time leading goalscorer, returned to the club last week to strengthen their playoff push.
Welcome back, Brett Denham.
— Tadley-Calleva FC (@tadleycallevafc) January 10, 2025
Tadley-Calleva's all-time leading goalscorer returns to Barlows Park to strengthen the group as we continue to hunt a play-off position.
With 6 goals in 13 games for @Whitchurchutd already this season, we are excited to have Brett straight into the… pic.twitter.com/AslGmzd1SH
“His record speaks for itself,” said Lawler.
“Goals scored is something we would like to address, Alton was a good start to that.
“Brett is a very different centre-forward to Kieran Rodgers, but I also think they can play together.
“Brett really put pressure on defenders, making runs in behind, whereas Kieran likes to drop deeper and get involved in the build-up.
“When the big run of games comes at the end of the season, adding someone of Brett’s calibre will really improve us.”
