Second Half Comeback Secures 3 Points For Town
Town made the short trip to Tring on Saturday but at half time it looked as if the hosts would continue their winning sequence against Leighton, who have not beaten them since their relegation back to the Spartan South Midlands League.
Leighton fielded an unchanged side after Tuesday night’s win at Hoddesdon with Lorrel Smith who was unavailable in midweek included in the substitutes.
Town started brightly but failed to create any real chances in the opening ten minutes and it was a shock when the hosts scored first after winning a corner in their first attack . The corner was driven in low from the Tring right and seemed to bypass about 8 Leighton players before being knocked in from close range by a waiting Tring player. Town pushed forward to try to find an equaliser but their final pass was never accurate enough and Tring defended sensibly.
In the 25th minute James Hatch scored a spectacular equaliser from about 12 yards to get Town back in the game. Tring went in front again when some poor defending by Leighton allowed the hosts to score a simple goal.
Leighton kicking up the slope in the second half soon had other problems when Alex O’Brien had to leave the pitch with a thigh injury in the 51st minute, he was replaced by Lorrel Smith and the lively forward was soon causing problems for the Tring defence with his pace.
Four minutes after this substitution Town brought on Jack Pursey to replace the injured James Towell. Leighton levelled the scores in the 67 th minute when Lewis McBride cut through the Tring defence after some clever work by Dom Marsala and drove a low shot into the bottom corner.
Town were now playing at a better tempo than in the first half and 3 minutes after the equaliser Lorrel Smith put them in front after rounding the keeper to slot home.
Town then made their 3rd substitution when Ricki Wigg–Booden replaced James Hatch.
About 12 minutes from time Lorrel Smith sprinted past his marker who clearly grabbed the striker’s shirt leaving the referee no choice but to award an obvious penalty. Dom Marsala strode forward and drove his penalty high into the net.
Both sides continued to push forward but Town were able to maintain their two goal lead without any major scares.
Town are now unbeaten in 3 games but they will have to show better form next week at Burnham if they wish to make further progress in the FA Vase.
Report by
Roy Parker
