Results > First team > Report
Sat 16th Nov 2013
FA Vase - 2nd Round Proper
Sponsored by Chris & Diane Stoneman
TAFC First team 1-0 Eynesbury Rovers
TAFC goals: Chris Salmon
FA Vase - 2nd Round Proper
Sponsored by Chris & Diane Stoneman
TAFC First team 1-0 Eynesbury Rovers
TAFC goals: Chris Salmon
The road to Wembley is still open following this hard fought win over Eynesbury Rovers in front of a healthy crowd of 160 that took us into the 3rd Round Proper of the FA Vase. A goal from Chris Salmon early in the second half secured a place in the last 64 to equal our best ever run in this prestigious national competition.
Our opponents made the 90 mile round trip from St Neots in Cambridgeshire on the back of an impressive start to the season in which they have lost just 3 of their 21 games in all competitions and sit 2nd in the United Counties League Division 1. Having disposed of Fakenham Town and Diss Town in the earlier rounds they came to the game full of confidence and that was reflected in the first half in which they were much the better side.
Julian and Ian had to make some changes to the line up with Tony Fields and Trevor Gibbs being unable to play so in came David Salmon at right back and Lee Benning into central midfield.
Our guests looked sharp from the outset winning a number of set pieces and going close when Mike Underwood did well to keep out a header from former Biggleswade Town man Paul Reynolds that deflected off a player, with the ball being hacked to safety. Reynolds tried his luck again from another free kick but this time Mike Underwood easily plucked the ball out of the air.
Around the 10 minute mark Rovers put pressure on us by winning 3 corners in succession but despite the presence in their ranks of some big lads we managed to deal with them effectively which says a lot about our defensive qualities.
We had hardly got going but in the 18th minute there was a faint glimmer of hope when the Rover's keeper Andrew Wale, who interestingly played in glasses, nearly mucked up a back pass and he must have been relieved when the ball bounced off Martin Skinner for a goal kick. But that was a rare moment of hope for us and Rovers were soon back on the attack and following a lovely move Lee Bassett back heeled the ball to Aaron Cavill who fired a shot just wide of the far post.
Gradually we started to get in to the game a bit more and the best chance of the half fell to Ryan Sturges after the visitor's defence failed to clear a free kick, but just as Ryan was about to shoot a defender got a slight touch to the ball and that was enough to put him off and he sliced the shot wide of the post.
Rovers tricky left winger Jack Weeden was causing problems down our right and in the 36th minute he whipped over a super cross that was begging to be finished off but fortunately for us none of his team mates were on the same wave length. Michael Green then had to come to the rescue right on half time, hooking a ball over his own bar to prevent Bassett from breaking through.
After a difficult half we were fortunate to be going into the break on level terms.
Half Time:Tring Athletic0Eynesbury Rovers0
We opened the start of the second half with our first corner but almost shot ourselves in the foot when the cleared ball was not dealt with by Stuart Stedman and David Salmon on the half way line allowing Lee Bassett a run at goal. Bassett is a scoring machine who has notched 97 goals for Rovers in 125 appearances and our supporters must have feared the worse but Mike Underwood got down well to make a crucial save.
After being second best for most of the match we responded in the best way possible by taking the lead in the 53rd minute when Chris Salmon met a corner from Graham Hall and although it was hardly a rocket of a shot it seemed to find its way into the net. Score 1-0. It was the third goal of the season for our defensive rock who alongside Michael Green helped to keep Bassett quiet and therefore blunt the oppositions main goal threat.
The nature of the game changed and we were now much more involved and looking quite dangerous in attack. We had several opportunities to settled the tie with Chris Salmon just failing to make contact when a free kick fell to him close to goal and then later Sam Joliffe smashed a great chance over the bar after Vinnie Iannone had intelligently pulled the ball back to him from the bye line with the visitor's defence in total disarray.
A growing sign of our confidence came when Graham Hall tried his luck with a left foot shot that was firmly struck but wide of the target. Graham then turned provider when his cross picked out Martin Skinner who couldn't get his header on target.
But Rovers were far from finished with Cavill testing Mike Underwood with a well struck low free kick from just outside the area and big centre back Paul Reynolds produced a header from a corner that had to be scrambled away with difficulty. As the clock ticked down Rovers threw everything at us but our defence stood firm to secure a memorable victory.
Full Time:Tring Athletic1Eynesbury Rovers0
After a disappointing first half we showed great resilience to bounce back in the second period to clinch a terrific win against a very strong side who are flying this season and who are strong favourites for promotion. Full marks should go to our defenders who kept a clean sheet against a side that failed on just one occasion to score this season and in 21 games had scored 69 goals, an average of over 3 goals a game.
After the game Julian Robinson said "I thought our players wanted it more and their will to win was the difference. It's the sign of a good team when you can win after a poor first 45 minutes. I was really pleased for everyone, after a tricky lead up to the match with Tony Fields failing a fitness test before the game, Graham Hall having been ill most of the week and missing training and Trevor Gibbs had to drop out for family reasons. So all in all I thought they did really well against a very strong side".
We now wait to hear with interest on Monday who we will get in the next round which will be played on 7th December 2013.
The other South Midland sides through to the next round are Ampthill Town (7-0 winners at home to Barking), Colney Heath (2-1 at home to Newmarket Town) and Hanwell Town (2-1 at Great Yarmouth Town). Welwyn Garden City drew 0-0 at Ely City and have a replay on Wednesday and Hadley play Brantham Athletic on Sunday.
Unfortunately those that didn't make it are Cockfosters (2-0 at Great Wakering Rovers), Berkhamsted (1-0 at Hullbridge Sports) and Oxhey Jets (2-3 at home to Hadleigh United).
Teams:
TA:1 Mike Underwood 2 David Salmon 3 Stuart Stedman 4 Chris Salmon 5 Michael Green (Ollie Butler 85) 6 Lee Benning 7 Chris Vardy 8 Sam Joliffe 9 Martin Skinner ( Vinnie Iannone 74) 10 Graham Hall (Capt) 11 Ryan Sturges (Jack Sunderland 62). Subs not used: George Tomlin, Matt Myatt.
ER:1 Andrew Wale 2 Nathan Fields 3 James Ducket 4 Paul Reynolds 5 Darren Woodend 6 Aaron Cavill 7 Tom Coles (Capt) (Ben Colmer 75) 8 Stephen Smith 9 Lee Bassett 10 Scott Field (Ben Cole 72) 11 Jack Weeden. Subs not used: Robert Duicket, Ross West, Ryan Inskip.
Goals:
TA: Chris Salmon (53)
ER:-
Attendance:160
ER Website:http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/eynesburyrovers
TAFC Match programme
http://issuu.com/tringathletic/docs/tring_athletic_vs_eynesbury_rovers
Our opponents made the 90 mile round trip from St Neots in Cambridgeshire on the back of an impressive start to the season in which they have lost just 3 of their 21 games in all competitions and sit 2nd in the United Counties League Division 1. Having disposed of Fakenham Town and Diss Town in the earlier rounds they came to the game full of confidence and that was reflected in the first half in which they were much the better side.
Julian and Ian had to make some changes to the line up with Tony Fields and Trevor Gibbs being unable to play so in came David Salmon at right back and Lee Benning into central midfield.
Our guests looked sharp from the outset winning a number of set pieces and going close when Mike Underwood did well to keep out a header from former Biggleswade Town man Paul Reynolds that deflected off a player, with the ball being hacked to safety. Reynolds tried his luck again from another free kick but this time Mike Underwood easily plucked the ball out of the air.
Around the 10 minute mark Rovers put pressure on us by winning 3 corners in succession but despite the presence in their ranks of some big lads we managed to deal with them effectively which says a lot about our defensive qualities.
We had hardly got going but in the 18th minute there was a faint glimmer of hope when the Rover's keeper Andrew Wale, who interestingly played in glasses, nearly mucked up a back pass and he must have been relieved when the ball bounced off Martin Skinner for a goal kick. But that was a rare moment of hope for us and Rovers were soon back on the attack and following a lovely move Lee Bassett back heeled the ball to Aaron Cavill who fired a shot just wide of the far post.
Gradually we started to get in to the game a bit more and the best chance of the half fell to Ryan Sturges after the visitor's defence failed to clear a free kick, but just as Ryan was about to shoot a defender got a slight touch to the ball and that was enough to put him off and he sliced the shot wide of the post.
Rovers tricky left winger Jack Weeden was causing problems down our right and in the 36th minute he whipped over a super cross that was begging to be finished off but fortunately for us none of his team mates were on the same wave length. Michael Green then had to come to the rescue right on half time, hooking a ball over his own bar to prevent Bassett from breaking through.
After a difficult half we were fortunate to be going into the break on level terms.
Half Time:Tring Athletic0Eynesbury Rovers0
We opened the start of the second half with our first corner but almost shot ourselves in the foot when the cleared ball was not dealt with by Stuart Stedman and David Salmon on the half way line allowing Lee Bassett a run at goal. Bassett is a scoring machine who has notched 97 goals for Rovers in 125 appearances and our supporters must have feared the worse but Mike Underwood got down well to make a crucial save.
After being second best for most of the match we responded in the best way possible by taking the lead in the 53rd minute when Chris Salmon met a corner from Graham Hall and although it was hardly a rocket of a shot it seemed to find its way into the net. Score 1-0. It was the third goal of the season for our defensive rock who alongside Michael Green helped to keep Bassett quiet and therefore blunt the oppositions main goal threat.
The nature of the game changed and we were now much more involved and looking quite dangerous in attack. We had several opportunities to settled the tie with Chris Salmon just failing to make contact when a free kick fell to him close to goal and then later Sam Joliffe smashed a great chance over the bar after Vinnie Iannone had intelligently pulled the ball back to him from the bye line with the visitor's defence in total disarray.
A growing sign of our confidence came when Graham Hall tried his luck with a left foot shot that was firmly struck but wide of the target. Graham then turned provider when his cross picked out Martin Skinner who couldn't get his header on target.
But Rovers were far from finished with Cavill testing Mike Underwood with a well struck low free kick from just outside the area and big centre back Paul Reynolds produced a header from a corner that had to be scrambled away with difficulty. As the clock ticked down Rovers threw everything at us but our defence stood firm to secure a memorable victory.
Full Time:Tring Athletic1Eynesbury Rovers0
After a disappointing first half we showed great resilience to bounce back in the second period to clinch a terrific win against a very strong side who are flying this season and who are strong favourites for promotion. Full marks should go to our defenders who kept a clean sheet against a side that failed on just one occasion to score this season and in 21 games had scored 69 goals, an average of over 3 goals a game.
After the game Julian Robinson said "I thought our players wanted it more and their will to win was the difference. It's the sign of a good team when you can win after a poor first 45 minutes. I was really pleased for everyone, after a tricky lead up to the match with Tony Fields failing a fitness test before the game, Graham Hall having been ill most of the week and missing training and Trevor Gibbs had to drop out for family reasons. So all in all I thought they did really well against a very strong side".
We now wait to hear with interest on Monday who we will get in the next round which will be played on 7th December 2013.
The other South Midland sides through to the next round are Ampthill Town (7-0 winners at home to Barking), Colney Heath (2-1 at home to Newmarket Town) and Hanwell Town (2-1 at Great Yarmouth Town). Welwyn Garden City drew 0-0 at Ely City and have a replay on Wednesday and Hadley play Brantham Athletic on Sunday.
Unfortunately those that didn't make it are Cockfosters (2-0 at Great Wakering Rovers), Berkhamsted (1-0 at Hullbridge Sports) and Oxhey Jets (2-3 at home to Hadleigh United).
Teams:
TA:1 Mike Underwood 2 David Salmon 3 Stuart Stedman 4 Chris Salmon 5 Michael Green (Ollie Butler 85) 6 Lee Benning 7 Chris Vardy 8 Sam Joliffe 9 Martin Skinner ( Vinnie Iannone 74) 10 Graham Hall (Capt) 11 Ryan Sturges (Jack Sunderland 62). Subs not used: George Tomlin, Matt Myatt.
ER:1 Andrew Wale 2 Nathan Fields 3 James Ducket 4 Paul Reynolds 5 Darren Woodend 6 Aaron Cavill 7 Tom Coles (Capt) (Ben Colmer 75) 8 Stephen Smith 9 Lee Bassett 10 Scott Field (Ben Cole 72) 11 Jack Weeden. Subs not used: Robert Duicket, Ross West, Ryan Inskip.
Goals:
TA: Chris Salmon (53)
ER:-
Attendance:160
ER Website:http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/eynesburyrovers
TAFC Match programme
http://issuu.com/tringathletic/docs/tring_athletic_vs_eynesbury_rovers
