ARDLEY UNITED 1-1 TRING ATHLETIC (3-4 ON PENALTIES...): THE INDEPENDENT MATCH REPORT...

 Tring’s Late Flurry Means Ardley Pay Penalties…

Ardley United 1-1 Tring Athletic (3-4 in a penalty shootout)

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

In truth this was not an entertaining game to witness until, that is, Tring regained parity moments from the end of the encounter thus taking the FA Vase Round 1 tie into a penalty shootout. Again Tring came from behind in the shootout and won the match when Luke Peerless scored for the guests after home striker James Casbierd had shot United’s fifth spot-kick too high.

READY FOR SPOT-KICKS...

Ardley ought to have wrapped up the victory long before Tring were awarded a very late penalty however which was coolly converted by the rather jolly Chris Blunden who then strangely missed his spot-kick in the shootout…

WHO WANTS ONE?

Tring goalie Dave Saunders saved a penalty in the shootout, as did home ‘keeper Freddie Lapworth but both glovemen had another save each ruled out for encroaching. Harsh on ‘keepers I guess…

THE TOSS...

Ardley had deservedly led 1-0 through a soft strike by Jacob Blackstock not long after the interval but that lead wasn’t extended in a very poor, if fairly competitive, second period. Tring managed very few attempts at goal but Blunden would be disappointed with two close range misses and Lapworth made a fine save from an Emmanuel Gbejuade header near the end.

Two defenders stood out in particular: United’s skipper Liam Talboys who also had a decent shot well saved by Saunders, plus Tring’s, er, vociferous number 13 (interesting choice of squad number…) George Carberry but in all fairness it was difficult to single out players in such a tense tie.

The shootout saw Tallboys, Leam Howards and Elliott Osborne-Ricketts (a re-take) score for the hosts, whilst Ben Willoughby’s attempt was saved by Saunders and of course Casbierd’s shot flew too high. Tring’s Carberry scored, Blunden’s shot was saved, then Ollie Butler scored after his first, saved shot was negated, then the industrious, belligerent John Smith and match winner Peerless netted, er, peerlessly… 

TALBOYS HAS A WORD...

Interesting that the Non League Paper reported that Tring’s point at Ardley had taken them off the bottom of the league… What the hell?

Chris Blunden & James Casbierd…

So the two opposing strikers both missed spot-kicks in the shootout… I believe that home forward Adaclet Odhiambo (on the bench due to a wrist injury) was possibly going to be substituted on for United late in the tie because of his penalty-taking abilities but it simply didn’t happen…

Casbierd did have a shot from downtown pushed low past his left upright by the diving Saunders early on and also nodded over the target but when he bore down on goal from the left flank, it seemed he might fire an angled left-footer at the ‘keeper but instead he struck a right-booter which flew across the face of goal with no colleague near. He poked wide in the second period too when he anticipated Ben Johnson’s back-pass but the only other real chance he had was a downward header from Callum Convey’s free-kick.

WAITING TO GET ON WITH IT...

Blunden was assisted by Butler for a close range opportunity before the break but he was foiled from 7 yards by a combination of Talboys and Lapworth. After scoring the equaliser from a penalty, following an incident when Emmanuel Gbejuade and Lapworth collided, leaving the Tring replacement in a heap beneath the ‘keeper, the striker might have won the match for his team when Gbejuade’s close range header from Butler’s right-byeline centre was well saved by Lapworth but somehow Declan Benjamin managed to block the ball and Smith fired the next rebound too high.

1-1: BLUNDEN'S PENALTY HAS REGAINED PARITY FOR TRING...

Tring’s other offense…

Not much really… A long free-kick by Frankie Hercules was bodged across the goalmouth from right to left by Butler but Convey managed to prevent Smith from scoring at the left upright. 

LAPWORTH: NOT OVERWORKED...

Attacking with Ardley…

Before the interval Mason Courtney nodded a low header over the crossbar from a Convey set-piece, Howards drove too high, Blackstock headed and fired a shot off target, whilst Talboy’s well struck 11 yard drive was turned over his crossbeam by the alert and reactive Saunders.

SAUNDERS: DID WELL ENOUGH...

The goal scored by Ardley arrived following a contentious moment, for the main official stopped the game for a home player to receive treatment. Tring were certain that they had been in possession at the time but the referee dropped the ball for Ardley instead. United struck the ball forward at inside-right but visiting left-back Adam Sawyer misjudged the bounce which freed Courtney on the right side of the 18 yard box. He passed the ball square, as Blackstock’s marker Temi Bankole abandoned him to cover Courtney’s possible shot and Blackstock’s low shot from 15 yards trundled into the bottom left corner of the net.

1-0: BLACKSTOCK HAS STRUCK...

A couple of efforts were blocked by Tring’s defenders late on but the best chance fell to lively United replacement Osborne-Ricketts whose free-kick from the right corner of the penalty-box brought another low save from Saunders, getting down well to turn the curling ball away.

A very late shot by Lewis Gabbidon was collected by Saunders…

The last words…

A fine welcome from Ardley for which I was grateful and the Tring contingent was friendly too. I enjoyed a short chat with Anaclet Odhiambo near the end of the tie although he reckoned he won’t be ready to play for a short while yet…

TWELVES TALKS TEN TO THE DOZEN...

So, a tough watch for much of the time with Ardley having plenty of possession without the penetration and Tring having ‘ardly any possession… Fair play to the guests though for their pluck in hanging in there and nearly winning the match near the end of ninety minutes. 

Subsequently their penalty-taking won the day however and they progress to Round 2…

TRING JOY...

TEAMS:

ARDLEY UNITED:

FREDDIE LAPWORTH, JORDY NGATHE, CAELAN ISAAC, LIAM TALBOYS (CAPT), BEN WILLOUGHBY, DECLAN BENJAMIN, MASON COURTNEY, CALLUM CONVEY, JAMES CASBIERD, JACOB BLACKSTOCK, LEAM HOWARDS.

SUBS:

TOM FRANKLIN, ELLIOTT OSBORNE-RICKETTS, LEWIS GABBIDON, BEN GASCOIGNE, ZARIUS EDWARDS-GIRAUD, ANACLET ODHIAMBO.

TRING ATHLETIC SQUAD:

DAVE SAUNDERS, ADAM SAWYER, TOMMY TWELVES (CAPT), FRASER BRYDEN, FRANKIE HERCULES, OLLIE BUTLER, CHRIS BLUNDEN, EMMANUEL GBEJUADE, BEN JOHNSON, GEORGE CARBERRY, JAMES DOHERTY, TEMI BANKOLE, LUKE PEERLESS, EVANS LAMBOH, JOHN SMITH, JON PITTS.