| Bishop's Stortford |
(5) |
9 |
(Wolf 2, Paul 10, 37, 45, 72, John 36
pen, 60, 84, Hayes 59) |
Tring were taught a harsh
and painful football lesson last night, as their
hopes of a cup final place were blown out of the
water by a near full-strength Bishop's Stortford
side. However, although the Premier Division
outfit were very good, it was also the complete
ineptitude of the Tring display that contributed
to the size of the scoreline, and few of the
Tring players could come out of this game with
any credit.
The nightmare began in the second minute when
Danny Wolf got on the end of a corner with a
header that looked eminently savable, but Tring
keeper Mark Whittamore somehow let it through his
hands into the net. After ten minutes it was 2-0
when Trevor Paul turned the ball home from close
range for the first of his four goals on the
night.
Tring were unable to keep possession of the ball
for any length of time and their defence could
not cope with the speed and cleverness of Paul
and his strike partner Vinnie John, who should
have made it three on 30 minutes when Russell
Williamson's pass put him clear, but his chip hit
the top of the crossbar.
That could have been a turning point, as within a
minute Alex Kinsley had a great chance to put
Tring back in the game when Dean Hutchinson's
cross fell to him at the far post, but he blasted
his shot over the bar from close range. Another
chance came two minutes later when Luke Reid's
long pass found Kevin Chakaodza, who beat a
defender before hitting a fine shot that came
back off the post.
Tring's revival was short-lived, though, as
firstly on 36 minutes Leon Hibbert was penalised
for a push inside the box and John netted the
third Stortford goal from the penalty spot, and a
minute later Paul latched onto a poor defensive
header to slot the ball under Whittamore for the
fourth.
By now their task was hopeless, but Tring did
manage to pull a goal back on 43 minutes when
Kinsley threaded the ball through to Chakaodza,
who drilled the ball home from the edge of the
area for one of the goals of the night. However,
in first half stoppage time Whittamore rushed
forty yards out of his goal to tackle the
oncoming Paul, unsuccessfully, and Paul was left
to walk the ball into the empty net with
embarrassing ease for a 5-1 half time lead.
Whittamore's nightmare was over, as he was
replaced in goal by David Clark for the second
half, but Clark fared no better, as time and
again Tring's non-existent defending left him
hopelessly exposed. On 59 minutes Paul's run set
up player-manager Martin Hayes to score the
sixth, and number seven arrived within a minute
when John's shot looped over Clark's head via a
deflection from Wayne Barber. By 72 minutes it
was eight when John set up Paul for a simple
tap-in, and on 84 minutes John seemed so
embarrassed by the ease with which he was allowed
to run and shoot home the ninth that he could
barely bring himself to acknowledge the goal
which gave him a hat-trick.
The Tring side were shellshocked and dispirited
and could only console themselves with the fact
that they just about avoided a double-figure
disaster, and that they will not meet sides this
good every week. However, they will have to
perform considerably better than this if they are
to compete with second-placed Leyton in this
Saturday's league match. |
|
| Tring Town: 1.
Mark Whittamore, 2. Luke Reid, 3. Wayne Barber, 4. Leon
Hibbert, 5. Joe Gibson, 6. Steve Groves, 7. Chris Gibson,
8. Kevin Chakaodza, 9. Andy Sissons, 10. Alex Kinsley,
11. Dean Hutchinson. Subs: 12. Sean Sangster, 14. Gary
Clark, 15. Rob Woolfrey (for Reid 71 mins), 16. Lee
Rowson (for Groves 54 mins), GK. David Clark (for
Whittamore H/T). Bishop's Stortford: 1.
Micky Desborough, 2. Chris Dorrian, 3. Alex Riches, 4.
Danny Wolf, 5. Al-James Hannigan, 6. Darren Wiltshire, 7.
Martin Hayes, 8. Troy Braham, 9. Vinnie John, 10. Trevor
Paul, 11. Russell Williamson. Subs: 12. Richard Hooper,
14. Jason Haniff (for Williamson 61 mins), 15. James
Parker, 16. Denver Birmingham (for Hayes 72 mins).
Bookings:
None
Referee:
Chris Turner
Attendance:
75
|