20/11/01: Herts Senior Cup 2^nd Round

Penalties:
Tring - Underwood (miss), Bartlett, Chesters, Sangster, Kinsley, L.Johnson, Barber, Beamish (miss)
B.S. - Double, Kimble (miss), Southam, Purcell, Paul, Hercules, Beale, Risley

Tring suffered an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat after a brilliant second half fightback had seen them wipe out a two-goal deficit against Division One high-flyers Bishop's Stortford.

In a largely scrappy first half, Tring went behind to a soft goal on 9 minutes. A ball over the top gave Martin Hayes, the former Arsenal player, now player/manager at Stortford, the chance to run at the Tring defence. Hayes squared the ball to Trevor Paul, who hit a weak sidefoot shot that Tring keeper Neil Hunt seemed to think was going wide, but instead the ball crept inside the post.

Tring's best chance of an equaliser came on 36 minutes when Leon Hibbert delivered an excellent cross, but Mark Underwood headed wide. On the stroke of half-time Stortford added a second, equally strange goal. The ball seemed to be bouncing around the Tring penalty area for an eternity, and most of the players stopped, thinking a foul had been committed on Hunt. Hayes kept going and put the ball in the net, though, and the goal was allowed to stand.

Hunt went off injured at half time to be replaced by Simon Bartley, but Tring got back into the game with the early goal they needed in the third minute of the second half. From Underwood's free kick, Scott Walters' header was tipped onto the bar by the keeper, but Lee Johnson was on hand to net the rebound. Tring dominated the game for the next half hour, and equalised on 65 minutes. Underwood sent over another long-range free kick, which was flicked on by Antony Beamish and Alex Kinsley arrived at the far post to shoot home.

Kinsley had two very good chances to put Tring ahead but failed to connect properly with the first effort, and hit another shot wide of the far post from a narrow angle. Stortford also missed three very presentable chances and the game went into extra-time, just as in the two epic meetings between the clubs in the Ryman League Cup two years ago.

In the opening minute of extra time Walters fired over the bar from a good position, but there were few other chances. Tring's best effort of the second period came from Ben Chesters, who shimmied on the edge of the area before hitting a fierce effort that was well saved. The deadlock could not be broken, so the dreaded penalty shoot-out was required.

The opening penalty by Underwood was saved by the Stortford keeper, but Bartley saved Stortford's second by Gary Kimble to level the scores at 1-1. The next ten penalties were all netted without trouble before Beamish stepped up to take Tring's eighth. The keeper pulled off a good save, and Mark Risley's success from the subsequent kick sent Stortford into the quarter-finals.

Team: Hunt (Bartley), Hibbert, Underwood, Bartlett, L.Johnson, Barber, Sangster, Walters, Chesters, Kinsley, Beamish.