On Saturday, Tring welcomed top of the table Westcombe Park to Cow Lane for what would be a key early season battle between the two sides. With the home side hit by further injuries in mid-week, Head Coach Giles Wallis selected Max Graham and debutant Toby Russell on the wings, with Ted Stanford moving to fullback. Jack Flanagan was the only change in the forwards, replacing Archie James at hooker, who dropped to the bench. The sun was shining down on Cow Lane and there was a buzz of excitement around the ground.

Westcombe Park got off to a fast start, with the wind and slope on their side. The visitors quickly established a 0-12 lead. Tring managed to get a foothold in the game 13 minutes in, when a well-executed line out led to a near 40m driving maul, creating quick ball in the Westcombe Park 22m. Patient play eventually led to scrum-half Richard Beeny sniping over the line for Tring’s first try, Cullen Murfitt successful with the conversion. (7-12). Westcombe Park had a long stretch of possession late in the first half. However, a mammoth defensive effort from the home team kept the deficit at 5. The frustration of the Westcombe Park players was beginning to show. With neither side able to fire another meaningful shot before half time, the score remained 7-12 at the break.

The visitors’ poor discipline continued into the second half and Tring established a long period of possession deep in the Westcombe Park 22m. Unfortunately, the home side were unable to capitalise. With 17 minutes remaining, a fantastic break and offload by Oliver Beeny had Tring flooding down the pitch. The forward pack was able to utilise the quick ball to gain further territory. Eventually, it was Beeny again with an outstanding carry who crashed over to level the scores (12-12). 5 minutes later and a strong carry from Harry McCartney led to another penalty for Tring, this time in Murfitt’s range. The fly-half successfully converted the penalty to give Tring the lead for the first time in the match (15-12).

With minutes remaining, Westcombe Park successfully broke down the Tring blindside to score the final try of the game (15-19). It would be a disappointing end to the game for the home side, who had showed a huge amount of grit and quality throughout, however struggled to recover from a poor start. Final score, 15-19.

Tring now enter a rest week before heading to Sidcup on the 15th of October.

MOTM: Richard Beeny
Tries: R Beeny (2)
Cons: Murfitt
Pens: Murfitt