7/8/99: Herts Charity Cup 2nd Round

Tring Town 1 Hemel Hempstead Town 7

Hemel were overwhelming favourites before the match and so it proved as Tring's young side were taught a few harsh lessons about the realities of football at this level. Tring will not meet a side anywhere near as good as Hemel in Division Three this season, but Mick Vipond has much work to do to rebuild his side's confidence for the league opener next Saturday.

Tring had started the match reasonably brightly, but were up against it from the third minute. Mark Liburd cut in from the bye-line to hit a shot from a narrow angle that Tring keeper Lee Brown should have saved, but it went through his hands into the net.

It became 2-0 on 19 minutes when Hemel won a free kick just outside the box and John Pedder curled the ball over the wall to give Brown no chance. Brown was at fault for the third goal on 22 minutes which came from a soft header, and by 35 minutes it was 4-0.

Tring had a brief moment of joy on the stroke of half-time when Kevin Godbold beat the Hemel offside trap and rounded keeper Matt Timberlake to pull a goal back.

Alex Kinsley replaced Ben McGuire on 53 minutes and almost immediately was set up with a shooting chance which produced the first serious save from Timberlake. However, two minutes later Hemel added a fifth goal from a goalmouth scramble following a corner.

On 72 minutes Liburd was brought down in the box allowing Pedder to add the sixth goal from the penalty spot, and the seventh soon followed. Hemel had enough chances to have clocked up double figures, but thankfully for Tring their finishing was often wayward.

Team: Brown, McKane, Simpson, Underwood, A.Corcoran, K.Corcoran, Sangster, McGuire (Kinsley), Rawdon, Aldridge (Barber), Godbold.