22/4/00: Ryman League Division Three

East Thurrock United 2 Tring Town 2

Tring put a dent in East Thurrock's title ambitions by holding them to a well-earned draw in Saturday's match at Rookery Hill. In fact Tring were disappointed not to have taken all three points, having led 2-0 at one stage of a impressive display.

Tring made a confident start to the game that had the home side on the back foot. They went close to scoring in the sixth minute when Neal Bartlett's long-range cross was heading for the top corner of the net before the Thurrock keeper Grant Lee just managed to palm it away. Tring continued to pile on the pressure and began to force a number of mistakes from the Thurrock defence. Tring had already won several corners before the decisive one in the 24^th minute. The corner was headed away to the edge of the area, but Steve Groves met it with a fierce volley that flew past Lee to give Tring a deserved lead.

Even better was to follow three minutes later. Tony Oliver floated over a free kick that looked to be a simple take for Lee, but he fumbled it and Antony Beamish stabbed home the loose ball to put Tring into a shock 2-0 lead that stunned the expectant home crowd.

However, Tring were caught napping within a minute of the restart. Scott Mallon got to the bye-line and delivered a cross for Mark Cox, whose glancing header looped over Alistair Joslin to put Thurrock back into the match.

The promotion contenders were now awake and could have levelled on 31 minutes when Cox got the better of a tussle with Beamish and tried to lob Joslin, but the Tring keeper just got his palm to it to turn it away. On 42 minutes Joslin was called into action again when Mallon curled a well-struck free-kick around the Tring wall. However, Tring almost reestablished their two-goal lead on the stroke of half-time when Groves received the ball with his back to goal on the six-yard line before turning and hitting a shot that Lee did well to turn around the post.

Thurrock made the better start to the second half, and they could have levelled on 50 minutes when a mistake allowed Rikki Finning through to shoot, but Beamish cleared off the line after Joslin was beaten. Three minutes later, however, they were level. Thurrock won a free kick just outside the Tring box, and Keith Wilson struck a thunderbolt into the top corner of the net that gave Joslin no chance.

Thurrock looked much more a table-topping side in the second half and had Tring under the cosh for long periods, but the Tring defence largely held firm. Thurrock's best chance to win the game came on 63 minutes when Cox's cross found Mark Cartlidge alone in front of goal, but Joslin produced a wonder save from point-blank range to keep the scores level.

Towards the end Tring began to relieve the pressure and create some chances of their own. On 74 minutes James Armstrong made a powerful run past several Thurrock defenders, but at the last moment his shot was blocked by Neil Cannon. In the closing moments Armstrong's shot from a narrow angle was turned away by Lee, and Oliver's effort from the edge of the area was barely a yard wide. In the end, though, a draw was a fair result and took Thurrock one point closer to clinching their first ever promotion.

Team: Joslin, Bartlett, Harrhy, Hawley (Burfoot), Beamish, Boad, Gerrard, McKane, Armstrong, Oliver, Groves