Tring were left
heartbroken after they were beaten by the
penultimate kick of the ball in Saturday's game
against Cheshunt. Having come back from two goals
down against the only remaining side in the
division with a 100% record, Tring were worth at
least a point but came away with nothing.
Manager Howard Cowley was forced to ring the
changes again, and there was another new signing
on display in Dean Hutchinson, who has signed
from Kings Langley and gave an promising display
in his first game at this level. However, the
general performance of the side in the first half
was poor, and Cheshunt were gifted a two-goal
lead. In the 7th minute the ball was passed back
to Tring keeper Mark Whittamore, and perhaps
distracted by the bumpy surface, Whittamore swung
at the ball but missed it completely, leaving
Cheshunt's Darryl Cox to score the easiest goal
of his life as he followed up to tap the ball
into the empty net.
Tring lost Mike Hemmingway to injury after just
18 minutes, and posed little threat to the
Cheshunt goal apart from two efforts from Gary
Clark which went over the bar and wide of the
goal respectively. At the same time Cheshunt were
hardly putting on the kind of performance that
would be expected from a team with their record,
but they were presented with another easy goal on
39 minutes. Tring's marking was all over the
place as Steve Wales' cross found Leon Archer in
acres of space in front of goal, and Archer had
time to pick his spot and slot the ball past
Whittamore to send Cheshunt into the break 2-0
up.
However, Tring were a different proposition in
the second half, They started winning the ball in
midfield and putting some serious pressure on the
Cheshunt goal. On 51 minutes Hutchinson won the
ball with a firm challenge and passed out wide to
Alex Kinsley, whose cross was just out of reach
of Wayne Barber at the far post. On 59 minutes
Kinsley's corner was half headed away, but Paul
Turner returned it with a shot that brought a
good save out of Cheshunt keeper David Lovell.
Cheshunt still posed a threat on the break, and
when Turner and Brian Johnson collided on the
half way line to leave Archer clean through on 67
minutes, Whittamore stood his ground and saved
well with his legs. Cox hit the post with a
close-range effort on 72 minutes, and it began to
look as though the Tring revival had run out of
steam.
Eight minutes from time, though, they got a
lifeline out of the blue. There seemed little
immediate danger from a free kick thirty yards
out close to the touchline, but Clark's floated
ball was misjudged by Lovell and sailed over his
head straight into the net to put Tring back in
the game.
Within two minutes, Tring won another free kick,
this time a yard outside the penalty area. There
was nothing fortunate about this one as Kinsley
ran up and lashed the ball straight into the top
corner of the net. Lovell stood no chance and
suddenly Tring were back on level terms.
In the last minute of normal time Tring almost
pulled out a winner from another long-distance
free kick. Kinsley's cross was spilled by Lovell,
and Johnson tried to force the loose ball home,
but it was blocked on the line by Steve Obeng.
Tring looked like holding on for a well-earned
point, but deep into the fifth minute of stoppage
time, Cheshunt won a corner. Tring's marking went
astray again, Matt Allen had a free header at the
far post and made no mistake to get his side out
of jail. The referee blew for full time
immediately after Tring restarted the game,
showing just how near Tring were to pulling off
an upset. |
|
| Cheshunt: 1.
David Lovell, 2. Matt Allen, 3. Sam Ledger, 4. Adam
Norman, 5. Mark Seller, 6. Steve Wales, 7. Ryan Harris,
8. Steve Obeng, 9. Darryl Cox, 10. Leon Archer, 11. Gavin
Conway. Subs: 12. Lee Mitchell (for Harris 80 mins), 14.
Scott Beattie, 15. Stuart Jones, 16. Sam Rose, 17. Ross
White (for Seller 69 mins). Tring
Town: 1. Mark Whittamore, 2. Joe Gibson, 3.
Wayne Barber, 4. Dean Hutchinson, 5. Brian Johnson, 6.
Paul Turner, 7. Sean Sangster, 8. Gary Clark, 9. Jamie
Hall, 10. Alex Kinsley, 11. Mike Hemmingway. Subs: 12.
Rob Woolfrey (for Hemmingway 18 mins), 14. Steve Groves
(for Sangster 74 mins), 15. Andy Sissons (for Gibson 69
mins), 16. Kevin Chakaodza, GK. David Clark.
Bookings:
24 mins - Cheshunt - Ledger (foul)
41 mins - Cheshunt - Archer (dissent)
Referee:
Will Smeulders
Attendance:
68
|