30/10/01: Ryman League Cup Preliminary Round

Tring suffered a heartbreaking extra-time defeat after a superb battling performance in last night's Ryman League Cup Preliminary Round tie. Manager Howard Cowley had only 14 players available for the match, several of whom were carrying injuries, but they were never outclassed by their Division Two opponents.

The first half was held up by two long delays caused by a serious injury suffered by Tilbury's Danny Mold when he collided with Tring keeper Neil Hunt. Play was stopped for ten minutes while Mold was treated on the pitch, and stopped again later when paramedics arrived to take him to hospital with what was believed to be a collapsed lung.

With the strong wind in their favour, Tring had the better of the first half and took the lead in the 40^th minute of the match, although some twenty minutes before half time actually arrived. Mark Underwood delivered a free kick across the face of goal, and Antony Beamish ran in unchallenged at the far post to head home.

In the second half it was Tilbury who were playing with the wind, and Tring often had problems in simply getting the ball over the halfway line, and were not helped by the loss of Beamish at half time due to a calf injury. Tilbury began to build up pressure and equalised on 61 minutes when Shaun Rees finished from close range after Hunt had parried a shot. However, Tring continued to battle and regained the lead on 79 minutes. Neal Bartlett floated a cross into the box, where makeshift forward Leon Hibbert flicked it on for Sean Sangster to shoot home from six yards out.

Tring could only hold onto their lead for four minutes this time, though, as Tilbury equalised with a goal out of nothing. Steve Jones' speculative shot took a big deflection off Brian Johnson, and trickled past Hunt, who was diving the wrong way.

The goal which eventually decided the match arrived in the 10^th minute of extra time. A Tilbury corner was helped on by a Tring defender and Michael Hart headed home. Tring came close to equalising at the end of the first period when Alex Kinsley's header was saved, and they had most of the play in the second period, but could not force home an equaliser despite a great effort.

Team: Hunt, B.Johnson, Groves (Jeffrey), Bartlett, L.Johnson, Gibson, Oliver (Dyer), Underwood, Hibbert, Kinsley, Beamish (Sangster).