Tring suffered their first League defeat of the 2024/25 campaign at a baking MK Irish last night. The ladies of Milton Keynes would have been delighted to see the middle aged, beer bellied Tring Army contingent descending on Manor Fields in shorts and t-shirts and Irish fans even more delighted with the start their team made.

Tring's defending has been excellent to date but a couple of uncharacteristic slips gave the home side a dream start. Cornick and Harvey were involved in a mix up and Irish pounced to fire home on 5 mins. Minutes later. Carbery gave the ball away and it was 2 nil and an uphill task already for Athletic against a side who haven't conceded yet this season.

They looked more likely to increase the lead too for the rest of the half as Tring struggled to cope with the home sides superior movement and team work. Great work by Gould kept them in the game and Jones could have got us back into it but fired agonisingly wide - to gasps from the perspiring Tring Army.

The second half saw Tring rejuvenated and far more competitive. More joy was had and the ball was sticking further up the pitch. The introduction of Osborne gave us an injection of pace that unsettled the home team. A couple of times he got in behind but that elusive final ball was blocked or went astray. Jones again could have halved the arrears but fired over. It was nip and tuck and a real contest. A goal could have made all of the difference. It did - Mk Irish got it on the break - 3-0. Game over.

Lots of positives on a tough night for Athletic - who are still short of the Hercules brothers and O'Connor. We go again next week.

Team - Gould, Stobbs, Fitzpatrick, Cornick, Carbery, Deer, Beaumont, Harvey, Shepherd, Jones, Karembo. Subs - (all used) Osborne, Bradshaw, Sales, Clark