30/1/99: Ryman League Division Three
Corinthian Casuals 2 Tring Town 0
Tring were unable to break their away bogey after a disappointing defeat at Corinthian Casuals left them still looking for their first point on the road this season.
There was never much to choose between the sides from the start, and this manifested itself in a tight game with few direct chances. Tring had the bulk of the possession, while Casuals made little headway into Tring's half as they were constantly being caught offside.
Tring's first real chance came on 19 minutes when Gavin Hart won the ball near the goal-line and pulled the ball back for Wesley Morrey, who should have done better than hitting the side netting. On the half-hour Keith McLoughlin had saved Tring when they were caught on the break following a mix-up between Liam Campbell and Matt Condon, and within a minute Tring had the ball in the net at the other end but Steve Hale's effort was ruled out for offside. On 37 minutes McLoughlin pulled off a close-range save in a goalmouth scramble, and again Tring counter-attacked quickly. Hale's pass put Dave Kearney through, but he shot wide.
The second half continued in similar fashion until just after the hour mark when McLoughlin was penalised for holding onto the ball too long. Casuals made nothing from the close range free kick, but the long delay caused by the protests and the referee having to keep the wall far enough back seemed to knock Tring out of their stride and allow the home side to get on top. Casuals' period of pressure resulted in them taking the lead on 69 minutes when Iain Waghorn latched onto a short clearance and struck an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area.
Tring should have equalised two minutes from time when Paul Turner hit the ball across the face of goal after a neat one-two with Adam Dale, but somehow Jimmy Crofts did not manage to get enough of a touch on it at the far post to divert it in.
That proved the turning point, as within a minute Casuals sealed the match when John Russell-Smith headed in a cross at the near post after confusion between McLoughlin and a defender.
Team: McLoughlin, Bainborough, Condon (Turner), Campbell, Crofts, Bray, Hart, Dale, Hale, Morrey (Williams), Kearney (Foster).