5/2/00: Ryman League Division Three

Tring Town 3 Ware 1

Tring climbed a further three places up the Division Three table after registering their biggest win of the season thanks to an excellent performance against Ware in Saturday's game.

The game only went ahead after some hard work on the pitch during the morning which was still cut up badly from Tuesday night's game. It was still a difficult surface to play on but Tring coped with it much better from the start.

Early shots from Neal Bartlett and Anthony Beamish had warmed the hand of Ware keeper Martyn Patching before Tring took the lead on 8 minutes. The ball was played out to Fergus Nevin in space on the left, and he chipped a ball into the area which went over the head of the last defender and found Scott Walters with only Patching to beat. That he did confidently, blasting the ball home into the top corner.

Ware offered little threat at this stage, but might have pulled level on 13 minutes when a mishit shot found Andy Keepence in space towards the right of the penalty area, but he shot over the bar. Tring should have increased their lead on 28 minutes when a pass from Tony Oliver set Walters on the chase. Walters beat the last defender and went round the keeper but by then a defender had got back to clear his shot off the line, and Rob McKane put the rebound wide. Tring had another good chance on the stroke of half time when Oliver had a free header from a corner but put it inches over the bar from close range.

The early stages of the second half belonged to Ware, as they kept Tring pinned in their own half and won a series of corners, but Tring defended strongly and kept them out. On a rare foray forward on 59 minutes Tring won a corner. Chaos ensued in the Ware penalty area, and two efforts were cleared off the line before Nevin forced the ball over the line to put Tring 2-0 up.

Three minutes later Tring pushed forward again. Marcus Davis hit a shot from distance which was going well wide, but Ware's Stewart Jones inexplicably stuck out a boot to block it. The ball deflected into the path of McKane, who was clean through and produced a classy finish, slotting the ball into the bottom corner to make it 3-0 to Tring.

A lapse of concentration allowed Ware to pull a goal back with 15 minutes left. Tring gave the ball away on the halfway line, and Dean Harding broke down the left to chip Keith McLoughlin from outside the area. However, Tring stood firm after that to thwart any hopes of a Ware comeback, and claimed a well-deserved three points.

Team: McLoughlin, Gordon, Simpson, Bartlett, Beamish, Boad, Nevin, Davis, Walters, Oliver, McKane.