WE EXTEND OUR UNBEATEN RUN TO 6 GAMES

Following the intensity of Saturdays fine win at Leighton Town would the players be able to motivate themselves again just 3 days later against tough opponents who were 4 places and 8 points above us in the table and who have fine record in Tring with just 8 defeats from 25 visits?

The answer was emphatically Yes with a strong second half performance that should have yielded more goals but importantly it stretched our unbeaten run to half a dozen games and as a bonus secured our 2nd clean sheet on the trot.

After scoring the crucial opening goal on Saturday Ronan Hutchins was unavailable due to an illness so Ollie Butler came into the side. What was so pleasing was how strong our bench was and Ryan Sturges and his assistants used them wisely bringing on in the second half Tommy Twelves, Jack Stevens and Frankie Hercules with the latter causing Jets all sorts of problems. In addition we also had Harry Seabrook as an unused sub.

Its fair to say that the first half was scrappy with few goal mouth incidents with little to write about. We probably edged possession and territory but the game was fairly even with not much to choose between the 2 sides.

With half time looming Eli Hearn struck a fierce shot which the keeper spilled and in his attempt to reclaim the ball fouled Leo Farruch. In the absence of Ronan Hutchins Leo took the penalty but the young Jets keeper redeemed himself by making a good save. However the reprieve was short lived as from the corner the ball fell to Charlie Miller who smashed home a left foot shot to clock up his 4th goal for the Club. Score 1-0.

After a first half with few scoring chances it was sods law that almost immediately Jets had an opportunity to level the score but a shot from the edge of the area was blocked and then scrambled away so we were able to retain our one goal lead going into half time. HT Score 1-0.

We started the second half brightly and looked much sharper going forward. A super ball from George Carbery found Adiel Mannion but his header went over the bar. Soon after Leo Farruch tested the keeper with a fine shot.

Despite the fact that we looked more threatening we still only had a one goal advantage so we brought on 3 subs which included Frankie Hercules who made an immediate impact with his tricky skills down our left wing.

He soon linked up nicely with Charlie Miller and his pass across the area was agonisingly just out of the reach of Ollie Butler. To calm the nerves we needed a second goal and it duly arrived 8 minutes from time when Charlie Millers super pass picked out the run of the onside Leo Farruch who calmly lofted the ball over the keeper and headed into an empty net. Amazingly it was Leos debut goal for Athletic and was a just reward for a superb performance in midfield where he seemed to run the show. Score 2-0.

We should have added to our goal tally with Frankie Hercules setting up Godlove Oppong who should have scored from close range and then Frankie had a go himself with a thunderous shot that forced a superb save from the keeper. FT Score 2-0.

A much improved second half performance secured a fully deserved win and whilst every one played their part our defence deserve special praise. Keeper Jake Alley and defenders Eli Hearn (then Tommy Twelves), Harrison Cornick, George Carbery and Adam Sawyer were superb and they restricted the opposition forwards to very few chances.
Having picked up 16 points from our last 6 games we are now closing in on the teams above us in mid table. On Saturday we entertain New Salamis who are 2nd in the table a point behind Risboro Rangers who have 2 games in hand so this will be another tough contest.

Teams:

TA:Jack Alley, Harrison Cornick, Adam Sawyer, Eli Hearn (Tommy Twelves 62), George Carbery (Capt), Lennie Armstrong (Frankie Hercules 75), Leo Farruch, Charlie Miller, Godlove Oppong, Adiel Mannion (Jack Stevens 75), Ollie Butler. Subs not used; Harry Seabrook.

OJ:

Scorers:

TA:Charlie Miller (45), Leo Farruch (82)

OJ:-

Crowd:68

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