This was certainly not the result expected by most people from this match. Tring Athletic had endured a turbulent week in which they sacked their first team manager and lost most of their first team squad in the process. The squad they assembled today comprised mostly reserve and ‘A’ team players, but the young side turned in a performance to which a very lacklustre Leverstock Green side had no answer, and were utterly outplayed.

Tring made the better start with the slope in their favour, with Will Foley hitting a free kick from just outside the box wide in the 5th minute, and Olly Butler curling over a cross two minutes later which Green keeper Adi Connolly had to awkwardly tip over the bar with the sun in his eyes. Leverstock were unable to put together any kind of coherent football, and a free kick into the side netting from Ollie Cox in the 15th minute was the best effort they managed in the first half.

The scoring was opened in the 29th minute, from another free kick outside the box. Foley’s shot was tipped onto the bar by Connolly, and the rebound came down in play, however the backspin would have taken it into the net even if Prince Nimoh hadn’t followed in to make sure.

It was a lead that Tring’s play had very much deserved, and they almost doubled the lead a minute later as Jack Sunderland got in behind the Green defence on the overlap, but his shot was tipped onto the post by Connolly. It was only a temporary respite, however, as Tring’s second goal arrived in the 32nd minute in bizarre fashion, Joe Cowan’s cross from near the left touchline looping over Connolly’s outstretched arm into the top corner of the net. Tring were rampant now and added a third on 39 minutes, a stunning strike from Nimoh from the edge of the box that went in off the underside of the bar.

The home side were not flattered by their 3-0 half time lead, and any hopes of a Leverstock recovery in the second half were dashed very quickly as Nimoh crossed for Sunderland to tap home the fourth goal in the 49th minute.

After three substitutions the Leverstock side finally started to play some football. John Smith connected with a fierce volley from a Cox corner that brought a great save out of keeper David Saunders in the 62nd minute, and three minutes later Jamie Ovington got on the end of a Cox free kick, but his header went over the bar, and as he came down he suffered a foot injury and had to be stretchered off after nearly ten minutes of treatment. With all subs already used, Leverstock were down to ten men for the remainder of the game.

Tring added to their score with a long range strike from Will Salmon seconds before the 90 minute mark, and in the 10th minute of stoppage time another long range effort from Miles Habashi found the net, with the referee blowing for time before play could restart. It was a great day for the home club, with a young side pulling out the kind of performance that few expected in front of a big crowd, but an utterly miserable one for Leverstock, who must find a way to bounce back from one of their worst displays of the season.

Leverstock Green got off the mark for the new season as Jonathan Lacey netted a penalty deep into stoppage time to rescue a point in a dramatic finish to Tuesday night’s game at Tring Athletic. A point was the least that the Green side deserved from an evenly-contested match in which both sides had numerous chances.

The first half was a somewhat scrappy affair, not helped by the Tring pitch being in desperate need of some rain. The home side went close in the 7th minute when Elliott Goward put the ball right across the face of the Green goal, but nobody got on the end of it. In the 14th minute a corner from Jonathan Lacey was met with a glancing header from Mark Smith that didn’t quite have enough on it to divert the ball inside the far post. The best effort of the half came in the 33rd minute when Lacey played a through ball to Alex Witham, who hit a ferocious shot but was unlucky to see it come back off the post.

The second half saw both sides raise their game. In the 56th minute Leverstock were almost gifted a goal when Carl Mensah cleared a cross from Witham and only just missed putting it into his own net. The resulting corner found Shane Wood at the far post, but his shot was blocked. Four minutes later a goal kick from Arvydas Kacinkevicius found Lacey down the right wing, running on to deliver a cross which Chris Blunden just failed to connect with. On 68 minutes Lacey headed just wide from a Tom Silford cross.

Sam Nair came off the bench in the 73rd minute, and came close to making the breakthrough within three minutes. A corner was cleared to the edge of the box where Nair met it with the sweetest of hooked volleys, but Tring keeper Marcus Richardson pulled off a brilliant flying save to turn it over the bar.

Tring then had a golden opportunity to take the lead with ten minutes remaining. Luke Dunstan ran with the ball from the halfway line and wasn’t challenged until he got into the box, where Shane Wood dived in with a rash tackle that gave the referee the easiest of penalty decisions. Ashton Campbell stepped up to take the kick, but slammed it against the underside of the bar, and the ball bounced down and away to safety.

However, a minute later Tring had a corner, and despite three efforts being cleared off the line in the resulting goalmouth scramble, eventually it was Campbell who made up for his penalty miss by forcing the ball home at the fourth attempt to put Tring into a 1-0 lead.

With a couple of minutes left, it looked as though Tring might have another penalty as Kacinkevicius clashed with a Tring forward in what looked like a 50-50 challenge just inside the box, but after consulting his assistant, the referee awarded a free kick to Leverstock. The game was then held up for five minutes while Shane Wood received treatment after a challenge in the Tring box. It was five minutes into stoppage time when Leverstock won a corner, and as the ball came over, Richardson clearly threw an elbow into the face of Elliott Dobbs. The referee spotted it and blew for a penalty. By the time the referee had dealt with sending the keeper off, and Tring had selected an outfield player to take his place in goal, it was seven minutes into stoppage time when Lacey finally stepped up to confidently net the penalty and level the scores at 1-1.

There were a further three minutes of stoppage time played in which both sides were trying to win the game rather than hang onto their point, but the game finished with a 1-1 scoreline. After defeat in their opening game it was a relief for Leverstock to get their first point and goal on the board, and they now turn their attention to the Emirates FA Cup, where they travel to the ground of Ashford Town (Middx) to face Southall in the Extra Preliminary Round. This game takes place on Sunday at 3pm, due to Ashford having a home game on the Saturday.