Tring got back to winning
ways as a late goal saw them take all three
points from a cracking encounter at the White
Lion ground. Tring had let a two-goal lead slip
before being reprieved by Dave Butler's header
two minutes from time.
Manager Howard Cowley was pleased with his side's
hard-working performance, saying "We have
been through some dark days recently, but this
was a well-deserved victory".
It was especially satisfying for Butler, who has
had to wait a month to begin his third spell at
the club, being ineligible for the Associate
Members Trophy, but made up for lost time with
two goals in this match.
The match took a while to get going, with the
first chance falling to Edgware on 20 minutes.
Brian O'Leary's cross found Anthony Thomas at the
far post, but Tring keeper Leigh Dale turned
Thomas' fierce shot round the post with his legs.
Tring had their first chance on 26 minutes when
Kevin Chakaodza got on the end of Wayne Barber's
cross, but his header looped over the bar. Two
minutes later Tring had the ball in the net when
Chakaodza put in the rebound after Alex Kinsley's
shot had been parried, but it was ruled out for
offside.
Tring's increasing threat brought a reward on 32
minutes. Chakaodza made a surging run down the
left before knocking the ball inside to Kinsley,
whose long-range shot took a big deflection off a
defender and looped over the keeper to put Tring
into the lead.
Two minutes later Dale made another crucial save
with his legs when Denis Maharjan got in behind
the Tring defence, and Tring got to the break
with their lead intact, though not before both
sides were reduced to ten men in stoppage time.
Chakaodza and Edgware's Ian Kennedy were both
shown red cards after an off-the-ball
altercation.
Tring retained control of the match in the early
stages of the second half, and increased their
lead on 57 minutes. A long goal kick from Dale
allowed Butler to run at the Edgware defence. A
superbly-played one-two with Adam Dale put Butler
clean through on the keeper and he made no
mistake with the finish to put Tring 2-0 ahead.
Over the next ten minutes Tring increased the
pressure with a series of corners from which the
keeper did not look at all comfortable, and on
two occasions Kinsley was clean through but shot
over the bar both times. Those misses began to
look important as Edgware staged a rousing
fightback. On 68 minutes Rhodri Harvey hit a
long-range shot which had Dale beaten but struck
the bar. A minute later Michael J. Howard was
allowed too much time on the edge of the area to
line up a shot which Dale parried, but Maharjan
was first to the rebound and netted it to put his
side back in the game.
Edgware had their tails up now, and on 74 minutes
were again unlucky when Thomas struck a fierce
shot from close range that clattered off the
post. Cowley sought to rejuvenate his side by
introducing Dennis Fennemore, and it almost paid
immediate dividends as Gary Donaldson's pass
allowed Fennemore to sprint clear, but he just
failed to get a shot in as the ball ran through
into the keeper's arms. Tring looked to have
steadied the ship, but fell victim to a cruel
blow on 84 minutes. A speculative shot from
Howard took a huge deflection off a Tring
defender and left Dale stranded as it flew into
the net for the equaliser.
Things looked bad for Tring, and it could have
got worse soon after when Abdulai Yoki raced
clear, only to slice his shot well wide. Tring
kept on battling, though, and two minutes from
time struck the killer blow. Dale unleashed a
huge goal kick which a defender unwisely allowed
to bounce five yards outside his penalty area.
Butler got to the ball before the defender and
headed over the advancing keeper into the empty
net to put Tring back in front.
This time they were able to defend the lead, and
indeed might have added a further goal in
stoppage time when Fennemore was through but shot
just wide. |
|
| Edgware Town: 1.
Michael Halsey, 2. Chase Casson, 3. Neil Kennedy, 4. Ian
Kennedy, 5. Alex Di Rubbo, 6. Keith Jones, 7. Rhodri
Harvey, 8. Brian O'Leary, 9. Denis Maharjan, 10. Anthony
Thomas, 11. Abdulai Yoki. Subs: 12. Ryan Hillary, 14.
Simon Carrasco (for Di Rubbo 66 mins), 15. Patrick
Cronin, 16. Michael J. Howard (for O'Leary 58 mins), 18.
Danny Croffie. Tring Town: 1. Leigh
Dale, 2. Rob Woolfrey, 3. Wayne Barber, 4. Adam Dale, 5.
Brian Johnson, 6. Gary Donaldson, 7. Steve Groves, 8.
Chris Gibson, 9. Dave Butler, 10. Alex Kinsley, 11. Kevin
Chakaodza. Subs: 12. Luke Reid (for Johnson 90 mins), 14.
Dennis Fennemore (for Groves 77 mins), 15. Jay Marshall,
16. Gary Lawson, GK. David Clark.
Bookings:
16 mins - Edgware - Thomas (late tackle)
87 mins - Tring - A.Dale (foul)
Sent
Off:
45 mins - Tring - Chakaodza
45 mins - Edgware - I.Kennedy (fighting)
Referee:
Gary Hart
Attendance:
56
|