Match Report - Thursday 19th July 2007
Cranfield Town 0 Tring Corinthians 1
Another shut-out as Cranfield become next Div 1 side to fall to Corinthians
This midweek fixture saw Tring trek thirty miles north to Division 1 outfit Cranfield Town. With the majority of players, and including Barter who took the side for the first time, arriving perilously close to kick-off, the preparation for this one was far from ideal. But in the end, this proved to be a victory against adversity as the players dealt with the circumstances and proved again their desire to win prevailing above all.
As the squad continue to adapt to new ideas and new ways of thinking, there have inevitably been times when the play has been disjointed as they familiarise themselves with their roles. But on this occasion Waite, Hatton and Gurney in particular delivered the required levels of performances that drove others around them on.
The winning strike came from Byrne who grabbed his third goal in successive pre-season matches with a measured lob over the keeper on the half hour mark following good work from the increasingly eye-catching Hoque and Herring. In the second half Corinthians created numerous chances which similarly to the Holmer game were not converted with Hoque, Lewis, and Corbitt all missing the target from close range.
Barter had this to say:
It’s never good when you’re the last to arrive, especially if you’ve got the keeper in your car! But the players showed their worth by accepting the situation and going out and producing a win. And let’s put this result into perspective – this was against a side from the division above that had monitored us in our last game and had done their homework. Yet we came away from this away fixture with another win and importantly another clean sheet – something we weren’t very good at doing last year.
Playing on what appeared to be a youth team pitch - at times (the football) may not have been pretty and we may even feel we were average for periods but don’t underestimate the virtues of resilience and will-to-win that afforded us this result. These will be crucial throughout the campaign.”
With six games in the next eleven days there will be plenty more for the management to ponder before the inter-squad match, karaoke and barbeque on the 11th August