Tring pick up four points as they start to put early struggles behind them

After the excitement of their terrific FA Vase victory the previous weekend Tring Athletic got down to the bread and butter task of collecting valuable league points and move up the table away from the relegation zone.
Trings Mark Riddick gets his head on the ball in the previous Saturdays FA Vase win.Trings Mark Riddick gets his head on the ball in the previous Saturdays FA Vase win.
Trings Mark Riddick gets his head on the ball in the previous Saturdays FA Vase win.

On Tuesday night they disposed of Cockfosters 4-0 with a clinical performance, taking a three-goal lead into half-time. An early goal at the start of the second period killed off the match although the visitors, to their credit, kept going and would have had a consolation goal or two but for some stunning saves before the final whistle from Tring netminder Jack Hopwood.

It was a fine performance from the Athletic players, with Jack Read and the outstanding Luke Dunstan both getting a brace of goals each.

On Saturday, Athletic had another home fixture, this time entertaining Hadley who have over the years been a bit of a bogey side for the Tring outfit.

Athletic looked tired and were missing their usual vim and with the visitors lacking a cutting edge it was no surprise that there was little goal mouth action or excitement.

After a goalless first-half it was inevitable that when the opening goal arrived it would come from a penalty which leading scorer Kerstun Macpherson dispatched just past the hour mark to put Hadley ahead.

It looked as if the visitors would continue to have their way with Athletic but the home players roused themselves in the last 10 minutes and snatched an equaliser two minutes from time when keeper Myles Bowman, who look assured throughout the game, failed to clear a Chris Vardy free-kick and Dave O’Connor headed home from close range.

Athletic remain in 17th place but seem to have put their early-season struggles behind them with a string of impressive results in their last seven league games.

Tring were due to face Chipperfield in the St Mary’s Cup last night (Tuesday) then travel to Biggleswade United in the league this Saturday.

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