2/2/02: Ryman League Division Three

Tring continued their rise up the Division Three table with an excellent win in difficult windy conditions. A hat-trick from Scott Walters helped to ensure that Tring completed a league double over Ware for the second consecutive season.

Tring manager Howard Cowley commented: "It was an excellent team performance, particularly in the first half. Scott Walters and Alex Kinsley finished flowing moves superbly, which put us in the driving seat. Scott is a genuine goalscorer, and I was really pleased he was able to complete his hat-trick"

The strong wind made conditions tough for both sides, although Tring coped the better in the first half as they moved the ball around well and created a number of good chances. On 6 minutes Ben Chesters broke from his own half and sent the ball forward to Dave Butler, who beat a defender before laying on a chance for Alex Kinsley, but Kinsley's shot was disappointing. On 15 minutes Walters ran onto Chesters' pass and hit a shot that was heading for the top corner before 'keeper Richard Hayward tipped it over. Two minutes later Hayward had to do equally well to tip over Chesters's shot from a narrow angle.

Tring deserved a goal and it arrived on 26 minutes. They started a move from deep inside their own half which culminated in Kinsley's pass putting Walters clean through. Walters kept ahead of the chasing defender and kept his cool to slide the ball past the advancing Hayward and give Tring a lead, which they subsequently doubled on 33 minutes. Walters got on the end of a long kick from Simon Bartley, and lifted the ball over a defender to put Kinsley in with a shooting chance, and this time he made no mistake as the ball ended up in the corner of the net.

Bartley didn't have a lot to do in the first half, but a goal-line clearance from Tony Oliver in the last minute ensured that Tring went into the break with their two-goal lead intact.

Ware began to show more as an attacking force early in the second half, and they put Tring under some pressure, but the defence, with Brian Johnson in for the suspended Antony Beamish, did their job well. Even so, it looked like Tring would need the cushion of a third goal, and they got it somewhat against the run of play on 65 minutes. Neal Bartlett made a driving run down the right touchline and curled over a superb cross, which Walters met with a perfectly placed header over Hayward's reach for his second goal of the match.

However, Ware refused to lie down, and as a touch of sloppiness began to creep into Tring's game, Ware got themselves right back into the match. On 68 minutes Tring could not clear a corner, and in the ensuing scramble Lee Mitchell netted from close range to pull a goal back. Nine minutes later Ian Hart broke from the halfway line and laid the ball off to Dave Annetei, who hit a shot that gave Bartley no chance and brought the score back to 3-2.

Having worked so hard to reduce the deficit, though, Ware promptly gifted Tring a goal which restored their two-goal advantage. Mark Underwood played in a low cross from the left, and Alan Hatherley slid in ahead of his keeper, diverting the ball towards his own goal. Hatherley tried to recover his mistake, but Walters was following up to ensure that the ball crossed the line and complete his hat-trick.

This time Tring held on with little trouble, and almost added a bizarre fifth in the last minute. Bartley's wind-assisted goal kick cleared everybody and took a big bounce just in front of Hayward, but the keeper just managed to get a hand to the ball as it went over his head to divert it just wide.

Team: Bartley, Oliver (Hemingway), B.Johnson, Bartlett, L.Johnson, Underwood, Chesters, Walters, Butler, Kinsley (Barber), Sangster.