| Tring suffered a disappointing
defeat in their opening match in the group stage
of the Associate Members Trophy. Having come from
behind twice, Tring lost out to a late goal.
Manager Howard Cowley was missing a couple of
players due to injury, and took the chance to
bring in some others who had not yet started a
game, including former Hemel goalkeeper Mark
Whittamore. In a game where neither defence
impressed, there were plenty of chances for both
sides. The
match did not get off to a good start for Tring,
as they fell behind to a poor goal in the 6th
minute. There seemed little danger when Kingsbury
played a speculative ball forward, but Whittamore
and Rob Woolfrey left the ball to each other, and
Kingsbury forward Joel Sapiro could hardly
believe his luck as he nipped in to steal the
ball, rounded Whittamore and slotted into the
empty net.
|
 Gary
Clark's corner just eludes David Old, but Michael
Courtney (red boots) is just about to head
Tring's second goal
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| Tring fought back and
almost levelled on 13 minutes when Alex Kinsley
struck a low free kick which was heading for the
bottom corner until Kingsbury keeper Mark Jessop
pulled off a great save to palm it away. At the
other end on 23 minutes, Whittamore did well to
save Lee Johnson's close-range header with his
legs. On 30 minutes Kevin Chakaodza shot just
over the bar, and six minutes later Alex Kinsley
was denied by the keeper after a great solo run
from the halfway line. Tring's bright attacking
play merited an equaliser, and it arrived on 39
minutes. Mike Courtney's ball across the box
found Gary Clark, who had his back to goal, but
in one movement turned and fired a tremendous
shot that flew past Jessop into the net. Having got back level,
Tring got sloppy again in the final minute of the
half, as Sapiro was left wide open to head home
Johnson's cross and send Kingsbury into the break
ahead.
The chances
continued to come in the second half, and Tring
got back on level terms again on 55 minutes.
Clark swung over a corner, and Courtney took
advantage of more slack marking to power home a
header from six yards.
Tring should
have gone on from there to win the game, and had
the chances to do so, but Jamie Hall skied the
ball over the bar from Kinsley's cross on 67
minutes, and Kinsley also missed a couple of
chances as the game looked likely to finish up
level.
However, two
minutes from time Whittamore's handling let him
down as he fumbled what looked like a simple
catch, and Sapiro was in the right place again as
he completed his hat-trick with the simplest of
tap-ins to leave Tring at the bottom of Group C
at this early stage of the competition.
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|
| Kingsbury Town: 1.
Mark Jessop, 2. Dave Norton, 3. Nick Cooper, 4. Kenrick
Dyer, 5. Steve Hurd, 6. Craig Elliot, 7. Chris Connolly,
8. Doug Marchment, 9. Joel Sapiro, 10. Lee Johnson, 11.
Michael Roche. Subs: 12. Jamie Sloss (for Marchment 81
mins), 14. Dave Randall (for Connolly 56 mins), 15.
Gareth Coffee (for Johnson 90 mins), 16. Paul Strouts,
17. Joe Miller. Tring Town: 1. Mark
Whittamore, 2. Joe Gibson, 3. Steve Groves, 4. Rob
Woolfrey, 5. Sean McCarthy, 6. Michael Courtney, 7. Sean
Sangster, 8. Gary Clark, 9. David Old, 10. Alex Kinsley,
11. Kevin Chakaodza. Subs: 12. Jamie Hall (for Chakaodza
H/T), 14. Adam Moriarty (for Old 57 mins), 15. Ricky
Levenston (for Woolfrey 79 mins), 16. James Wood, GK.
David Clark.
Bookings:
76 mins - Kingsbury - Norton (foul)
81 mins - Kingsbury - Johnson (dissent)
89 mins - Tring - McCarthy (foul)
Referee:
Gary Barlow
Attendance:
50
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