Tring Athletic v Sun Sports    9th May 2016  at Hemel Hempstead FC   West Herts St Mary's FINAL

Match report courtesy of Tring Athletic FC, with a few amendments made!!

From the start Sun right winger Brima Johnson whipped over an early cross that was crying out for a touch but fortunately for Tring went unclaimed.  In the 5th minute the same player nearly benefited from our failure to deal with a routine pass and only a super save from Jack Hopwood who came out quickly to block the shot prevented Sun taking the lead.
A nice lofted pass from Stuart Stedman picked out Lee Stobbs who tried his luck with a first time volley and although it failed to hit the target was a good attempt.  The game was still in the early stages and young Ben Seaton did very well to collect the ball and play it out to Lee Stobbs, whose cross picked out Kieran Turner at the far post who acrobatically found the side netting with a difficult chance.
The game was flowing nicely and Sun won three corners on the trot around the quarter hour mark which Athletic were able to deal with.  Straight away they broke quickly and Ben Seaton laid a lovely pass into Kieran Turner's stride.  His shot was partially saved by keeper Ross Hampton with a defender coming to his rescue to clear the danger.
Ben Seaton laid a nice pass off to Taylor Collins who struck a firm shot not too far off target. 
Tring had lucky escape midway through the half when Sun's powerful midfielder Ashley Lewis ghosted past two challenges and struck a terrific 35 yard shot that came back off the post. 
Athletic soon retaliated with a trade mark run from Lee Stobbs who saw his shot deflected for a corner.  Taylor Collins took the kick which fizzed along the goal line and somehow came out safely on the other side.  Sun had to replace big centre forward Liam James just before the break with Karl Penny, which presumably didn't weaken the side as he is their leading scorer.
A close first half drew to a close with no goals but Sun could justifiably claim to have come the closest to breaking the deadlock.  HT Score 0-0.
The second half restarted in the same vein as the first with Kieran Turner producing a nice dribble but failing to match that with a similar quality finish.  Taylor Collins was presented with an opportunity following a sliced clearance but was denied the chance to exploit it by the Referee stopping play for a head injury in the other half of the pitch. Probably the right decision but still frustrating.
But Taylor did not have to wait long for a crack at goal when Tring were awarded a free kick in the 58th minute on the left hand edge of the Sun penalty area.  It was the perfect angle for his left foot and he did not disappoint as he curled the ball beyond the keeper into the top right corner.  It was a superb strike and gave Athletic the lead.  Score 1-0.
Following the goal Ian Richardson bravely took a more attacking approach by taking off a midfield player (Ben Seaton) and bringing on a forward (Chris Stapleton) and it immediately paid dividends when we doubled our lead within four minutes.
Taylor Collins latched onto a pass from Chris Stapleton down the inside left channel and smacked a shot across the keeper and in off the far post.  It was a terrific finish and put us firmly into the driving seat.  Score 2-0.
Soon afterwards the two linked up again when a deftly taken free kick by Chris cleverly found Taylor unmarked in the area but he couldn't find the target with a volley for his hat-trick. 
Sun took off Deji Ikuzemori and replaced him with Jack "JJ" Johnson to bring more attacking flair into the game, they pressed and rallied and started to press forward in the hope that they could get the goal that would bring them back into the game.  They were presented with a free kick in a dangerous position just outside our area but Louis Bircham's effort was safely and easily gathered in by Jack Hopwood.
Bircham later fired an opportunity wide and Johnson had a free header from a corner that he put well wide.  Johnson later produced a spectacle overhead kick which went straight at Jack Hopwood.  But Sun were struggling to get past Tring's impressive solid defensive line which well marshalled by Skipper Dan Steadman who was rightly given the Man of The Match award afterwards.  He was ably supported by Dave O'Connor who hardly missed a header or clearance as well as by full backs Stuart Stedman and Chris Mason.  Central midfielders Sam Joliffe and Luke Dunstan also played their part by providing cover in front of the back four.
The main threat from the Sun came from long throws from full back Gary Wallace but United were able to deal with them.  With Sun Sports pushing forwards Tring had a number of good chances on the break to finish off the game with Jay Caines (who had come on for Taylor Collins) shooting wide after good play by Lee Stobbs and Chris Stapleton.  Then Stapleton saw his shot cleared off the line after Ryan Sturges (who replaced Kieran Turner) pulled the ball back invitingly for him.  Lee Stobbs also went close with his shot deflected just wide.
Sun's last roll of the dice saw their best player Ashley Lewis smash a shot at Jack Hopwood who did well to beat it out.  There was five minutes of added time and full credit to Sun they never gave up but in the end Tring Athletic ran out deserved winners based on their second half performance.  FT Score 2-0.

One final comment should be made about the pitch which was in superb condition after a long season and credit must go to the Hemel groundsman for looking after it so well.

Teams:
TA: 1 Jack Hopwood 2 Stuart Stedman 3 Chris Mason 4 Luke Dunstan 5 Dan Steadman (Capt) 6 Dave O'Connor 7 Lee Stobbs 8 Sam Joliffe 9 Taylor Collins (17 Jay Caines 79) 10 Kieran Turner (16 Ryan Sturges 81) 11 Ben Seaton (12 Chris Stapleton 59).  Subs not used:  14 Ryan McMahon 15 George Tomlin.
SS: 1 Ross Hampton (Capt) 2 Gary Wallace 3 Nathan Pooley 4 Edwin Twesigomwe 5 Scott Bonner 6 Ayodeji Ikusemori (12 Jack Johson 65) 7 Brima Johnson 8 Ashley Lewis 9 Liam James (15 Karl Penny 40) 10 Alex Ward 11 Louis Bircham (14 Luke Beaumont 86).  Subs not used:  16 Liam Beaumont GK Drew Oliver.