Tring welcomed Harpenden to Cow Lane on Saturday, expecting a tough and lively encounter. Expectations proved to be reality, with the match finishing 33-19 in Tring’s favour – but not entirely reflective of just how close this game was with 10 minutes left on the clock.

The game sprang to life in the opening minutes, with Harpenden’s number 8, Longdon, capitalising on some lacklustre tackling by the home side and snaking his way to whitewash. Climbing up the hill in the first half, Harpenden’s tighter use of possession paid dividends early on, ensuring Tring found it hard to leave their own half for much of it. With the score 0-7, Tring finally came to the party. The party piece was a stroke of luck masquerading as a fine piece of skill. A fortuitous bounce from Payne’s clearance kick found its way into Roach’s mitts, before a deft offload found the rampaging Inmonger (pronounced Umaga – no relation). Tring’s bullocking number 6 showed a deft turn of pace and Zumba-inspired snake hips to run out wide and bring Tring to the party (conversion missed).

At the midpoint of the first half, the game finally settling into an even pattern; Harpenden enjoying the lion’s share of possession but only threatening sporadically, and Tring using both Draper and Bowness to punch meaty holes. Despite the fine weather the game turned into “one for the purists” – with mistakes being the flavour of the day; scrums, lineouts and knock-ons all became in vogue.

However, with half time fast approaching, Tring struck with a well-worked forwards move as Inmonger (again) pounced just before the claxon (HT: 12-7).

With some stern words from Tring’s make-a-wish foundation mascot (Boniface), Tring upped the ante in the second period. Cutting the error count and with a functioning lineout (a rare treat), the home side began to unpick the Harpenden defence and exert sustained pressure. A quick score seemed enough to extinguish the Harpenden flames, with Archie scoring a really well-worked try. The score a result of patient hands, some silky footwork and hard-lines by Bloomfield and Haywood. Special mention must go to Roberts (potentially the league’s best-looking front row) for unrelenting physicality, one which lead to Harpenden’s 10 being cartoonesque splatted and the other, which created space for his teammates to score. Roach also brought his last week’s kicking boots, extending Tring’s handsome lead, and perhaps contributing to the early popping of champagne bottles (19-7).

Back came Harpenden. Tring’s indiscipline contributed to their own downfall and Harpenden seized the momentum – two tries of their own (Stanley) crossing out wide following sustained pressure and the quick thinking of their 9. The score was beautifully poised at 19-19 at this stage. Squeaky bum time. With both sides throwing caution to the wind, the game continued to flow. Harpenden’s rolling maul became a thing of beauty, and Tring became increasingly reliant on Adams, Bloomfield and Roberts to retaliate in kind. However, fortune favours the brave, and one opportunist break by Payne on his own line led to a brilliant run by Bowness. The perma-tanned centre breaking tackles and Tring, for once, used a little patience to unlock Harpenden’s defence, before Bowness himself scored under the posts (Draper converted) – 26-19.

With the away side eager to chase the game, and with a flurry of changes to personnel (the afternoon’s underlying theme), Tring reasserted their dominance. Bowness again acting as lurker in chief, slipping undetected through a ruck and under the posts for the easiest of conversions to end the game 33-19. The game certainly wasn’t a thing of beauty but will hopefully provide the home side with the confidence to win tight games in the future. The return fixture is set for January.

Team:
T. Adams
L. Wright
S. Roberts
A. Bray
J. Eccles
J. Inmonger
L. Meredith
G. Haywood ©
O. Roach
S. Payne
J. Patterson
J. Draper
R. Bowness
M. Beddall
A. Manning

Replacements:
A. Bunker
S. Bloomfield
L. Constable
T. Pecorini