16/1/99: Ryman League Division Three
Camberley Town 3 Tring Town 0
Dennis Bainborough considered this to be his side's best performance so far, but it wasn't enough as a string of missed chances and soft goals saw them defeated again.
Camberley are still among the favourites for promotion, although their long runs in the FA Cup and FA Vase have left them well behind with their league fixtures. For the opening 15 minutes it was Tring who looked the better side as they had the bulk of the possession. Their first real chance came on 15 minutes when Gavin Hart, who had an impressive debut, crossed for Ben Williams but he headed straight at the keeper.
It was against the run of play when the home side took the lead on 17 minutes. From a free kick outside the area, Gary Powell hit a rather weak shot, but all the Tring defenders and Keith McLoughlin let it go, only to see it creep into the corner of the net.
Tring almost pulled level within a minute when Camberley keeper Justin Gray spilled the ball after gathering it, and Dave Kearney had a long-range effort at the empty net but his chip went just over.
On the half-hour Camberley went two up. Steve Lloyd got clear down the left, and the Tring marking went to pot as Lloyd's cross found two attackers all alone, and it was Colin Bland who took advantage to shoot home, although the general view was that it should have been disallowed for offside.
Again Tring started the second half the stronger side, but again they conceded a goal against the run of play due to poor marking. Camberley had scarcely been out of their own half until a pass from the halfway line found Paul Xiberras free on the edge of the area, and he could hardly believe his luck as he turned and shot home the third goal.
The rest of the game belonged to Tring as Camberley took their foot off the pedal, and only the Tring players will know how they managed not to score at least once. On 68 minutes a great pass from Darnell St John set Wesley Morrey clear, but he shot over the bar. On 79 minutes St John played another fine ball to put Hart through. Hart's shot was parried, and from the rebound Morrey for some reason tried to backheel the ball in but failed, and Ricky Fletcher's follow up was blocked. From the resulting corner Roger Jashek had a header cleared off the line.
Those were the best of eight presentable chances that Tring squandered in the second half, but the performance suggests that Tring have the capability to gather some points against the division's more modest sides.
Team: McLoughlin, Bainborough, Turner, Condon, Jashek, Crofts, Hart, Dale (St John), Fletcher, Williams (Morrey), Kearney.