Tring's performance was a
big improvement from Tuesday night's debacle
against Bishop's Stortford, but it was still not
quite good enough to stop second-placed Leyton
gaining another three points for their promotion
challenge. The Tring side showed a number of
positional changes and personnel changes from
Tuesday night, but Howard Cowley is still looking
for the right combination.
The visitors started off at a fast tempo, and
soon had Tring on the back foot. The opening
half-hour was played almost entirely in the Tring
half, with a succession of crosses and corners
coming into the Tring box. Goalkeeper David Clark
and his defence dealt successfully with the
pressure until the 29th minute, when Roy Parkyn
sent over the latest in a series of dangerous
crosses from the left, and the experienced
striker Jeff Wood got on the end of it with a
header that looped over Clark into the net.
Tring could have been level soon after when Kevin
Chakaodza broke clear and hit a great shot, but
Leyton keeper James Hassel pulled off a good save
to keep his side ahead. If Tring could have gone
into half time only a goal down it would have
been a good result from a tough half, but they
suffered a stroke of bad luck a minute before the
break. A long-range effort from Sal Abdullah was
going well wide until it took a big deflection
off Wayne Barber, and the stranded Clark had to
watch the ball trickle into the corner of the
net.
Tring refused to lie down, though, and were
unfortunate not to gain a reward for an excellent
performance in the second half. They had their
chances, the first of which came on 54 minutes
when an accurate long pass from Adam Dale allowed
Alex Kinsley to make a run at goal, but Kinsley's
eventual shot was cut out by a defender. The
resulting corner was followed by three others in
quick succession from which the Leyton defence
looked less than assured, but somehow Tring were
not able to force the loose ball home despite
several opportunities.
On 68 minutes Kinsley went on another impressive
run, this time from deep inside his own half, but
despite breezing past several defenders, he
couldn't produce a shot to match it at the end. A
minute later Leyton should have put the game
beyond reach when Manny Williams set up Wood with
a chance that a striker of his calibre should
have finished with ease, but Wood skied the ball
high and wide with only Clark to beat.
Tring continued to battle, and went close again
on 82 minutes when Chakaodza headed over from
Kinsley's cross, and again a minute later when
Kinsley pounced on a loose ball in the box but
put it just over the bar. |
|
| Tring Town: 1.
David Clark, 2. Joe Gibson, 3. Wayne Barber, 4. Adam
Dale, 5. Brian Johnson, 6. Steve Groves, 7. Sean
Sangster, 8. Kevin Chakaodza, 9. Luke Reid, 10. Alex
Kinsley, 11. Dean Hutchinson. Subs: 12. Rob Woolfrey (for
Reid H/T), 14. Gary Lawson (for Groves 62 mins), 15. Andy
Sissons, 16. Lee Rowson, GK. Leigh Dale. Leyton:
1. James Hassel, 2. Ian Bass, 3. Paul Golby, 4. Ben Wood,
5. Simon Peddie, 6. Vas Soteriou, 7. Wayne Mahoney, 8.
Roy Parkyn, 9. Jeff Wood, 10. Sal Abdullah, 11. Manny
Williams. Subs: 12. Adam Ruster, 13. Jamie Hussey, 14.
Terry Brooks (for Golby 67 mins), 15. Jermaine Hughes,
16. Stuart Hibberd.
Bookings:
79 mins - Leyton - Brooks (time wasting)
Referee:
Will Smeulders
Attendance:
47
|