5/2/02: Ryman League Division Three

Tring continued their superb run of form with their best result of the season to date. Second-placed Croydon Athletic had scored 99 goals from their previous 26 league games, but they were shut out for the first time by a Tring side that defended magnificently and battled tirelessly until the final whistle on a pitch that resembled a quagmire by the end of the game.

The winning goal arrived 20 minutes into the game and would have been worthy of winning any match. There seemed little immediate danger when Ben Chesters picked up the ball near the halfway line and ran with it, but Chesters had spotted the keeper off his line and flighted a perfect chip from 35 yards that went just over the keeper's outstretched arm and just under the crossbar.

Three minutes later Simon Bartley pulled off the first of a series of great saves when he kept out Simon Liddle's header from six yards, although Croydon were limited to few chances in the first half. Tring had the better of things and went close again on 41 minutes when Scott Walters got on the end of Mark Underwood's corner with a header that the keeper did well to tip over the bar.

The second half was a different matter, as Croydon attacked down the slope and Tring had their backs to the wall for virtually the entire half. On 51 minutes Bartley saved again when Liddle finished off a flowing move with a close-range shot, and on 59 minutes Jon Waite's point-blank header was again brilliantly saved. Even when Bartley was beaten he had luck on his side; on 77 minutes John Fowler's shot deflected off the heel of a Tring defender but hit the post.

Bartley's handling and positional sense were flawless throughout, but the whole team contributed to a brave rearguard action, and Tring well deserved the points which avenged the 8-0 defeat that Tring suffered at Croydon's ground back in September, and takes them up to 11^th place - the first team they have appeared in the top half of the table this season.

Team: Bartley, Oliver, Sangster, Bartlett, L.Johnson, Underwood, Chesters (Boad), Walters (C.Gibson), Butler, Kinsley, Beamish.