Results > First team > Report
Sat 14th Feb 2015
League
Sponsored by John & Brian
TAFC First team 4-1 London Tigers
TAFC goals: Christopher Vardy (2), Kieran Turner, Taylor Collins
League
Sponsored by John & Brian
TAFC First team 4-1 London Tigers
TAFC goals: Christopher Vardy (2), Kieran Turner, Taylor Collins
TIGERS TAMED
Our young side showed that they are coming of age as the season progresses with this fine win over a tough and talented Tigers outfit who resorted to some strong arm tactics that ultimately saw them reduced to 9 players during the last quarter of the match.
We took a worthy 2 goal lead into half time through Kieran Turner and Chris Vardy which the visitors halved from the penalty spot early in the second half. But once Taylor Collins restored our 2 goal margin Tigers lost their cool and had 2 men dismissed. Chris Vardy then registered his 23rd goal of the season to extend the visitors poor record in Tring with just one draw and 8 defeats from 9 visits.
With Skipper Chris Salmon and fellow centre back Adam Toone injured we moved Sam Joliffe back into defence and he donned the Captain's arm band. Ryan McMahon came into central midfield and we also had to do without the missing Vinnie Iannone. The pitch looked sticky after all the rain but it played remarkably well. It was also interesting to see a number of representatives from other clubs in the crowd including those from AFC Dunstable and Berkhamsted who are our next 2 opponents.
We played with verve, energy and pace from the kick off and immediately took the game to our guests with some fine attacking moves. Ryan McMahon had an early attempt at goal with an audacious volley which landed on the top of the net. After starting on the back foot Tigers showed they had quality players in their ranks particularly up front where Hesham Benmansour and Jabir Laraba linked up nicely. The latter would have scored in the 11th minute but for the intervention of Kevin McManus who has been superb since joining us at the start of the season.
We were playing well and took the lead in the 13th minute following a super passing movement which released Kieran Turner into the inside left channel in the area. He still had a lot to do but he thumped a tremendous shot past the keeper and in off the far post. It was a cracking goal from Kieran who has now bagged 12 goals this season, a terrific return for a midfield player. Score 1-0.
Tigers came into the game on the back of a good draw against 2nd placed AFC Dunstable the previous Saturday and they started to get into the game and enjoy a lot of possession. They produced a good move in the 17th minute to present Sebastian Philogene, who scored a hat-trick against Dunstable, with a sight of goal but he effort went well wide.
Tigers were playing some nice football but on occasions committed what can politely be called some tasty challenges which went unpunished. But despite continuing to enjoy a lot of possession they failed to crack our defence and test Jack Hopwood. With our 2 best headers of ball missing we were vulnerable to set pieces (only free kick as they didn't win a corner in the match) as Tigers had some tall players in their ranks, but we managed to deal with this potential threat well.
With 5 minutes to go to half time we came within a whisker of doubling our lead when Kieran Turner worked his way through the Tigers defence with some terrific footwork and then pulled the ball back to Chris Vardy whose shot was deflected onto the post and away for a corner.
But Tigers let off was short lived as the corner was played short to Stuart Stedman whose precise cross picked out the unmarked Chris Vardy who headed home to give us a valuable and merited 2 goal lead going into the break. Score 2-0.
Half Time:Tring Athletic2London Tigers0
The visitors started the second period positively and their leading scorer Hesham Benmansour tested Jack Hopwood with a well struck long shot which was their first effort on target. Tigers were somehow denied a goal when a combination of Ryan Sturges, Jack Hopwood and Sam Joliffe somehow kept the ball out of the net but we then we spoilt our good defensive work by immediately conceding a penalty. Jabir Laraba confidently dispatched the spot kick in the 56th minute to give his side a way back into the game. Score 2-1.
Despite this setback we didn't buckle and Kieran Turner held off a firm challenge from Emmanuel Njodzeka to fire a good effort just wide. Soon afterwards a Kieran Turner free kick found Stuart Stedman unmarked on the left wing and his cross whizzed across the area requiring just a touch.
The next goal was going to be crucial and fortunately it fell to us in the 63rd minute. Our opponents failed to clear a corner and Ryan McMahon seized on the loose ball and smashed a shot against the post. The ball cannoned back across goal and Taylor Collins was on hand to tuck it away. The visitors felt the goal should have been ruled out for offside but a spectator from another club was right in line and said Taylor was not off and the linesman was correct. Score 3-1.
Regrettably the visitors then started to lose their discipline and 4 minutes after we scored full back Ilyes Mohammed was rightly red carded for a wild challenge that could have seriously hurt young Ron Tomlin. Fortunately Rob came away with just a sore shin and a big hole in his sock.
We took advantage of the extra man and Chris Vardy slipped a nice pass inside to Kieran Turner whose shot was saved by the keeper. Tigers were still dangerous on the break and they had a few shots but none hit the target.
We made a couple of changes bringing teenagers Ollie Hogg and Luke Dunstan on for Ryan McMahon and Kieran Turner and later Stewart King replaced Taylor Collins.
With 4 minutes left of normal time Rob Tomlin, who had another fine game, sent Chris Vardy away with a great pass and our leading scorer rounded the keeper to score goal number four. Score 4-1.
There was still time for some more silliness when Abdullahi Wassan deliberately handled the ball to receive a 2nd yellow card. Many in the crowd felt he should have been given his marching orders much earlier in the game and it puzzling why he was questioning the decision.
Full Time:Tring Athletic4London Tigers1
This was a good all round performance from the lads who refused to let the opposition players intimidate them. Earlier in the season they may well have buckled but our young players are gaining valuable experience every week and are now made of much sterner stuff. The result keeps us in 6th place in the table but we have 2 testing fixtures coming up with a visit to promotion chasing AFC Dunstable on Wednesday and then on Saturday we make another short trip to local rivals Berkhamsted.
Teams:
TA:1 Jack Hopwood 2 Ryan Sturges 3 Stuart Stedman 4 Kevin McManus 5 Dan Stedman 6 Sam Joliffe (Capt) 7 Rob Tomlin 8 Ryan McMahon (14 Ollie Hogg 74) 9 Chris Vardy 10 Kieran Turner (15 Luke Dunstan 74) 11 Taylor Collins (12 Stewart King 83). Sub not used: James Butler.
LT:1 Benard Nasufaj 2 Ilyes Mohammed 3 Jonathan Davite (Capt) 4 Emmanuel Njodzeka 5 Gabriel Chiedozie 6 Gregory Ngeno 7 Sebastian Philogene 8 Abdullahi Wassan 9 Hesham Benmansour 10 Jabir Laraba 11 Ivan Petrov (12 John Startini 60). Subs not used: 14 Bilal El-Garni 15 Ali Soussi 16 Arlys Pampolim.
Scorers:
TA:Kieran Turner (13), Chris Vardy (44, 86), Taylor Collins (63)
LT:Jabir Laraba Pen (56)
Crowd:83
LT Website:http://www.londontigers.org/
Afterwards Julian Robinson said "Great effort by Darryl to get the game on, the pitch heavy but perfectly playable. It was great to bounce back from the Harefield and Hertford games where we played really well in the first half in both games and should have been 2 or 3-0 up at halftime. We ended up with 1 point out of a possible 6 when our performances really deserved more, especially after leading 1-0 and being in control in both games. We need to be able to kill games off.
We had a very young team again today. Ian and i thought they were excellent today, aside from the 10 minute spell where we conceded the penalty, the lads seem to be gelling really well as a group of players, but we were very stretched player wise yesterday. Vinnie was away but is back for Wednesday/Saturday, Joe Naylor was also away. Ollie Butler was injured v Harefield last week and is looking like another 1-2 weeks absence, Greg Deer looking like another 3 weeks, Adam Toone injured away to London Tigers, made welcome warm up yesterday, is a week to 10 days away, Chris Salmon the same.
Matt Evans still not right, been out since October and has been referred to specialist with deep thigh strain. Nick Holden returned to training this week and has been injured since pre season game v Aylesbury friendly, Lee Benning still unfit, when we add to this the long term injured in Jack Seaton, Jack Sunderland and Rob Duncan who have all had serious operations, and are at various stages of recuperation, you can see how well we have done as a young squad in our last 13 games with 9 wins and a draw".
We are looking forward to the AFC Dunstable and Berko games this week, will be big tests for us but the real pressure will be really on them to win the games to try and close the gap on Kings Langley.
Our young side showed that they are coming of age as the season progresses with this fine win over a tough and talented Tigers outfit who resorted to some strong arm tactics that ultimately saw them reduced to 9 players during the last quarter of the match.
We took a worthy 2 goal lead into half time through Kieran Turner and Chris Vardy which the visitors halved from the penalty spot early in the second half. But once Taylor Collins restored our 2 goal margin Tigers lost their cool and had 2 men dismissed. Chris Vardy then registered his 23rd goal of the season to extend the visitors poor record in Tring with just one draw and 8 defeats from 9 visits.
With Skipper Chris Salmon and fellow centre back Adam Toone injured we moved Sam Joliffe back into defence and he donned the Captain's arm band. Ryan McMahon came into central midfield and we also had to do without the missing Vinnie Iannone. The pitch looked sticky after all the rain but it played remarkably well. It was also interesting to see a number of representatives from other clubs in the crowd including those from AFC Dunstable and Berkhamsted who are our next 2 opponents.
We played with verve, energy and pace from the kick off and immediately took the game to our guests with some fine attacking moves. Ryan McMahon had an early attempt at goal with an audacious volley which landed on the top of the net. After starting on the back foot Tigers showed they had quality players in their ranks particularly up front where Hesham Benmansour and Jabir Laraba linked up nicely. The latter would have scored in the 11th minute but for the intervention of Kevin McManus who has been superb since joining us at the start of the season.
We were playing well and took the lead in the 13th minute following a super passing movement which released Kieran Turner into the inside left channel in the area. He still had a lot to do but he thumped a tremendous shot past the keeper and in off the far post. It was a cracking goal from Kieran who has now bagged 12 goals this season, a terrific return for a midfield player. Score 1-0.
Tigers came into the game on the back of a good draw against 2nd placed AFC Dunstable the previous Saturday and they started to get into the game and enjoy a lot of possession. They produced a good move in the 17th minute to present Sebastian Philogene, who scored a hat-trick against Dunstable, with a sight of goal but he effort went well wide.
Tigers were playing some nice football but on occasions committed what can politely be called some tasty challenges which went unpunished. But despite continuing to enjoy a lot of possession they failed to crack our defence and test Jack Hopwood. With our 2 best headers of ball missing we were vulnerable to set pieces (only free kick as they didn't win a corner in the match) as Tigers had some tall players in their ranks, but we managed to deal with this potential threat well.
With 5 minutes to go to half time we came within a whisker of doubling our lead when Kieran Turner worked his way through the Tigers defence with some terrific footwork and then pulled the ball back to Chris Vardy whose shot was deflected onto the post and away for a corner.
But Tigers let off was short lived as the corner was played short to Stuart Stedman whose precise cross picked out the unmarked Chris Vardy who headed home to give us a valuable and merited 2 goal lead going into the break. Score 2-0.
Half Time:Tring Athletic2London Tigers0
The visitors started the second period positively and their leading scorer Hesham Benmansour tested Jack Hopwood with a well struck long shot which was their first effort on target. Tigers were somehow denied a goal when a combination of Ryan Sturges, Jack Hopwood and Sam Joliffe somehow kept the ball out of the net but we then we spoilt our good defensive work by immediately conceding a penalty. Jabir Laraba confidently dispatched the spot kick in the 56th minute to give his side a way back into the game. Score 2-1.
Despite this setback we didn't buckle and Kieran Turner held off a firm challenge from Emmanuel Njodzeka to fire a good effort just wide. Soon afterwards a Kieran Turner free kick found Stuart Stedman unmarked on the left wing and his cross whizzed across the area requiring just a touch.
The next goal was going to be crucial and fortunately it fell to us in the 63rd minute. Our opponents failed to clear a corner and Ryan McMahon seized on the loose ball and smashed a shot against the post. The ball cannoned back across goal and Taylor Collins was on hand to tuck it away. The visitors felt the goal should have been ruled out for offside but a spectator from another club was right in line and said Taylor was not off and the linesman was correct. Score 3-1.
Regrettably the visitors then started to lose their discipline and 4 minutes after we scored full back Ilyes Mohammed was rightly red carded for a wild challenge that could have seriously hurt young Ron Tomlin. Fortunately Rob came away with just a sore shin and a big hole in his sock.
We took advantage of the extra man and Chris Vardy slipped a nice pass inside to Kieran Turner whose shot was saved by the keeper. Tigers were still dangerous on the break and they had a few shots but none hit the target.
We made a couple of changes bringing teenagers Ollie Hogg and Luke Dunstan on for Ryan McMahon and Kieran Turner and later Stewart King replaced Taylor Collins.
With 4 minutes left of normal time Rob Tomlin, who had another fine game, sent Chris Vardy away with a great pass and our leading scorer rounded the keeper to score goal number four. Score 4-1.
There was still time for some more silliness when Abdullahi Wassan deliberately handled the ball to receive a 2nd yellow card. Many in the crowd felt he should have been given his marching orders much earlier in the game and it puzzling why he was questioning the decision.
Full Time:Tring Athletic4London Tigers1
This was a good all round performance from the lads who refused to let the opposition players intimidate them. Earlier in the season they may well have buckled but our young players are gaining valuable experience every week and are now made of much sterner stuff. The result keeps us in 6th place in the table but we have 2 testing fixtures coming up with a visit to promotion chasing AFC Dunstable on Wednesday and then on Saturday we make another short trip to local rivals Berkhamsted.
Teams:
TA:1 Jack Hopwood 2 Ryan Sturges 3 Stuart Stedman 4 Kevin McManus 5 Dan Stedman 6 Sam Joliffe (Capt) 7 Rob Tomlin 8 Ryan McMahon (14 Ollie Hogg 74) 9 Chris Vardy 10 Kieran Turner (15 Luke Dunstan 74) 11 Taylor Collins (12 Stewart King 83). Sub not used: James Butler.
LT:1 Benard Nasufaj 2 Ilyes Mohammed 3 Jonathan Davite (Capt) 4 Emmanuel Njodzeka 5 Gabriel Chiedozie 6 Gregory Ngeno 7 Sebastian Philogene 8 Abdullahi Wassan 9 Hesham Benmansour 10 Jabir Laraba 11 Ivan Petrov (12 John Startini 60). Subs not used: 14 Bilal El-Garni 15 Ali Soussi 16 Arlys Pampolim.
Scorers:
TA:Kieran Turner (13), Chris Vardy (44, 86), Taylor Collins (63)
LT:Jabir Laraba Pen (56)
Crowd:83
LT Website:http://www.londontigers.org/
Afterwards Julian Robinson said "Great effort by Darryl to get the game on, the pitch heavy but perfectly playable. It was great to bounce back from the Harefield and Hertford games where we played really well in the first half in both games and should have been 2 or 3-0 up at halftime. We ended up with 1 point out of a possible 6 when our performances really deserved more, especially after leading 1-0 and being in control in both games. We need to be able to kill games off.
We had a very young team again today. Ian and i thought they were excellent today, aside from the 10 minute spell where we conceded the penalty, the lads seem to be gelling really well as a group of players, but we were very stretched player wise yesterday. Vinnie was away but is back for Wednesday/Saturday, Joe Naylor was also away. Ollie Butler was injured v Harefield last week and is looking like another 1-2 weeks absence, Greg Deer looking like another 3 weeks, Adam Toone injured away to London Tigers, made welcome warm up yesterday, is a week to 10 days away, Chris Salmon the same.
Matt Evans still not right, been out since October and has been referred to specialist with deep thigh strain. Nick Holden returned to training this week and has been injured since pre season game v Aylesbury friendly, Lee Benning still unfit, when we add to this the long term injured in Jack Seaton, Jack Sunderland and Rob Duncan who have all had serious operations, and are at various stages of recuperation, you can see how well we have done as a young squad in our last 13 games with 9 wins and a draw".
We are looking forward to the AFC Dunstable and Berko games this week, will be big tests for us but the real pressure will be really on them to win the games to try and close the gap on Kings Langley.
