7/4/99: St Mary's Cup semi-final
Tring Town 0 Tring Athletic 2
Tring Town have shown improvement of late, but they didn't have enough to overcome the challenge of their neighbours from the South Midlands League. Athletic have a team comprised entirely of locals, and play a physical, bullying game, and Town did not show the necessary fight to overcome it.
The goals came at the midway point of each half, both scored by Danny Robbins. The first was a near post header from a free kick, the second a close-range tap-in after Town had failed to clear a corner. The second half saw the return of Steve Hale after four weeks out injured, but he didn't look fully fit. Hale, Dave Kearney and Ricky Fletcher brought saves out of the goalkeeper, but never really extended him.
The one plus point for Town was the receipts from the large crowd, but they did not do themselves justice and will hardly have made any new converts with this disappointing display. They must now pick themselves up and get on with the task of collecting league points.
Team: Brown, Bainborough, Turner, Campbell, Condon, Lewis (Morrey), Hart, McKane, Fletcher, St John (Hale), Kearney (Crofts)