Tring returned from the
long trip to fourth-placed Hungerford with a
well-deserved point after a double substitution
sparked a second half revival. Manager Howard
Cowley was short on strikers, with Jamie Hall
injured and Kevin Chakaodza unavailable, so opted
to start with just Alex Kinsley up front.
The first half was something of a dour struggle,
with neither side able to create clear-cut
chances. Tring's best moment came on 31 minutes
when Kinsley received Leon Hibbert's long ball
out of defence, and played a cross-field pass to
Gary Clark, whose shot from 20 yards was turned
round the post by the keeper. Tring keeper David
Clark was forced into his only serious save of
the half on 37 minutes when Andy Philpott got on
the end of Shaun Thorpe's cross with a header
that Clark did well to tip over the bar.
Tring were comfortably holding their own until
conceding a soft goal on 50 minutes. Their first
blunder was to fail to clear Gareth Evans'
overhit free kick, allowing the ball to be
crossed again. Clark took the cross but then
dropped it, and Ben Hopkins was on hand to
sidefoot home the loose ball.
Four minutes later, Tring could have been out of
the game altogether. Hopkins ran clear of the
Tring defence, and looked set to score until
being brought down just inside the area by
Hibbert's marginally mistimed tackle. The referee
awarded the penalty, but surprisingly, given that
he was the last man, took no further action
against Hibbert. Philpott sent Clark the wrong
way from the spot kick, but it came back off the
post. The rebound went straight to Dean
Mildenhall, but Clark saved his shot, and Tring
were reprieved.
On 56 minutes Tring made a double change,
bringing on Ricky Levenston and an extra striker
in Andy Sissons, and it produced the desired
response as Tring played their way back into the
match. Sissons provided some neat one-touch
passes and was involved in some nice interchanges
with Kinsley and Clark.
On 68 minutes Clark's pass allowed Kinsley to set
up a shooting chance for himself, and although
Kinsley's shot was deflected wide by a defender,
from the resulting corner Wayne Barber's cross
was met by Hibbert with a powerful header that
found the back of the net and brought Tring back
on level terms.
The threat from the Hungerford side dried up
after this, and Tring should have gone on to win
the match, however they couldn't quite create the
chances their pressure merited, and had to be
content with a point against a team regarded as
one of the leading promotion contenders. |
|
| Hungerford Town: 1.
Paul Haines, 2. Lee Howell, 3. Shaun Thorpe, 4. Gareth
Evans, 5. Martin Fox, 6. Dan Kirby, 7. Marc Green, 8.
Jason Brizell, 9. Andy Philpott, 10. Ben Hopkins, 11.
Dean Mildenhall. Subs: 12. Chris Howard, 14. Simon Cadle
(for Kirby 82 mins), 15. Calvin Newell, 16. Matthew
Folley. Tring Town: 1. David
Clark, 2. Rob Woolfrey, 3. Wayne Barber, 4. Leon Hibbert,
5. Brian Johnson, 6. Joe Gibson, 7. Steve Groves, 8. Gary
Clark, 9. Sean Sangster, 10. Alex Kinsley, 11. Dean
Hutchinson. Subs: 12. Ricky Levenston (for Woolfrey 56
mins), 14. Andy Sissons (for Groves 56 mins), GK. Mark
Whittamore.
Bookings:
58 mins - Tring - Barber (trip on Thorpe)
59 mins - Hungerford - Thorpe (retribution foul on
Barber)
Referee:
Dele Sotimirin
Attendance:
59
|