Oxhey Jets 2 - 5 Tring Athletic (AET 2 - 2)

Tring overcame South Oxhey Jets under the spring sun at the Boundary Ground to push their way forward to the final of the West Herts St. Mary's cup semi final.

The boys went into this semi final off the back of beating Berkhamsted Raiders way back in January and were hoping to improve over the last domestic game that they played last week.

From the kickoff of the first half, you could see the boys were coming into the match with a very positive attitude, controlling possession of the ball in the composed manner we are oh-so used to them doing.

Despite the positivity, neither team were really threatening for the opening 10 minutes, with the best chance seeing a cross from Godlove Oppong being met by Callum Shortt, whose shot came slamming off of the outside of the post.

However, Tring’s positivity and composure told when Davide Pobbe latched onto a loose ball and played the ball over his head and over the defenders which was met by Goddi, who took the ball forward to the right hand sign of the penalty area and finished from the tight angle via the post to put Tring 1-0 up.

After the goal, Tring didn’t take their foot off the gas, pushing forward and winning many dead ball scenarios. The finishing edge was however not quite there to match the positive play.

Tring were made to pay the price for this, though, when a Tring corner led to a counter attack from South Oxhey that saw the ball end up in the back of the Tring net and level the tie 1-1.

This goal did little to dissuade Tring from playing the same as they had for the majority of the half, and they continued to play with positivity and composure but just missing the finish to match the way they were playing. There were a couple of free kicks which Tring couldn’t quite work into a full chance. Eli Hearn showed more of the quality he displayed throughout the domestic season with beautiful mazy runs and the continued pressure he put on the defence.

His play did well to create more chances for Tring, with lovely interplay between him and Goddi leading to another good chance which needed to be blocked on the line from a defender after Goddi rounded the keeper. The Jets ‘keeper needed to then produce some heroics to tip a header from Goddi over the bar following the resulting corner.

Shortt and Cornick also had chances to restore the Tring lead, but were unable to beat the Jets ‘keeper and so the first half came to a close with the boys playing well but just needing that killer edge.

The pace in the second half was dramatically slower than what we had seen in the first, but with plenty of dead ball scenarios still around. Despite this slower start, it was Tring who again managed to grab the lead in the half when Eli managed to capitalise on a fumble by the Jets ‘keeper to turn the ball into the empty net to make it 2-1 to Tring in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

If there was one way to describe the match following this goal, it would be slow. Tring still made chances, with Goddi working another chance that was saved and Shortt (who was excellent on and off the ball today) forcing another save from the Jets ‘keeper. Overall, though, the pace of the match was slowed dramatically by the Tring goal. However, great credit to Jets who kept plugging away in search of an equaliser.

Unfortunately, the next incident of note was for Oxhey. A ball was played through which Eric Negraru was able to save and Eli was capable of poking it behind. But the resulting corner was turned in by the jets to equal the game in the 83rd minute.

With the prospect of extra time looming, the game became very back and forth. Harrison Mead had a good chance kept out by the opponents ‘keeper, but the full 90 came to a close with the teams equal. Thus, to extra time!

It was here in extra time that we were able to see the true quality of this Tring team and their brilliant attitude and composure that we have enjoyed all season. The first half of extra time kicked off with Tring attacking the home end, and once again saw many dead ball scenarios. To put it into perspective, Tring had 16 dead ball situations alone in the 90 minutes we played.

Once again, it was Tring that managed to give themselves the lead first out of the two teams, and what a goal it was! The ball was fired forward toward Shortt on the edge of the box who did really well to touch the ball back for Mead who fired the ball into the back of the Jet’s net from the D on the half volley, with an absolutely beautiful strike that restored the Tring lead.

Such a lovely strike is always going to take a toll on the opponent’s mindset, and this seemed to be the case as the first half of extra time came to a close without much incident. The second half kicked off and Tring continued to be brilliant, with Mead being central to some brilliant play that created two good chances.

This pressure paid off when a ball was played over the top which Mead did well to hold, drawing fouls in the process. However, the ref played an advantage, and Shortt was able to take the ball through on goal and around the ‘keeper to slip the ball into the unguarded net and give him a much-deserved goal and to extend the Tring lead to 4-2.

There was little action left in the match, but there was just enough time for another Tring goal. Shortt capitalised on a poor pass back to the ‘keeper that the Tring forward very unselfishly laid off to Mead who took the ball and finished into the bottom left corner, to give Tring a 5th goal, and to put the game to bed. The full time whistle blew, and Tring celebrated their progression to the final of the cup!
Man of the match today could go to several players, but goes Callum Shortt. He was a constant source of pressure on the Oxhey jets’ defence, he took his goal really well and was so unselfish in his creation of the fifth goal.

A good result and performance and thanks to Jets for being such great hosts - great to see them again and we wish them all the best for next season.

The boys will take on the winner of the match between Leverstock Green and Amersham at the Vauxhall Road Football ground of Hemel Hempstead FC on the 8th of May, the bank holiday monday. We look forward to hopefully seeing you there, but whatever the outcome, we’re proud of the boys for putting in the effort and getting this far in this competition!

TEAM SHEET:

Negraru, Hearn, Carberry ©, Cornick (Harvey, ‘59), Sawyer, Mead, Sheppard, Pobbe, Armstrong, Oppong (Mann, ‘73), Shortt