Tring started the game brightly and could have taken an early lead. In the second minute Leon Hibbert's ball forward gave Alex Kinsley a half-chance, but he shot wide. A minute later a corner from Kinsley struck the bar. Rob Woolfrey headed the rebound goalward, but it was cleared off the line by defender Chris Tucker. However, the home side soon showed their talent going forward as they broke quickly and Dean Fenton chipped just over the bar.

From another counter-attack on 10 minutes George Gregoriou hit a shot but Tring keeper Mark Whittamore turned it round the post, and on 34 minutes Whittamore parried another fierce shot from Gregoriou but recovered well to grab the rebound with forwards closing in. For the most part Tring soaked up pressure during the first half, but allowed Leyton few clear-cut scoring chances.

The second half began similarly to the first with Tring on top. In the opening minute a free kick from Kinsley had to be parried away by the keeper, and two minutes later Kinsley broke down the right before pulling the ball back for Mike Hemmingway, but Hemmingway's goalbound shot was deflected over the bar off the face of a defender. Another chance came on 59 minutes when Sean Sangster's threaded pass put Kinsley in, but again a defender just managed to get a contact on Kinsley's shot to deflect it wide.

There was little to choose between the sides in the second half, but the match was decided by a few seconds of incisive attacking play by the home side on 71 minutes. Jon Emery fed the ball out wide to Gregoriou, who crossed low for Manny Williams to slide in and turn the ball home from six yards.

Tring continued to battle, and might have saved the game in a late flurry when Steve Groves played the ball across the face of the six-yard box, but no Tring player was on hand to make the contact that would surely have found the net.