TRING ATHLETIC (The Grass Roots Stadium)

SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION, TRING ATHLETIC 0-2 BALDOCK TOWN, ATTENDANCE 95

This was not my intended destination when I left home just after 9am, as I failed to take into account how much the rainfall over the previous days had impacted on pitches across the country. Maybe my groundhopping senses had been dulled by the lack of action in 2020!

Regardless, after scouring the fixture lists whilst at a pit stop halfway down the M40, I doubled checked on Twitter and Tring Athletic had tweeted it was matchday and it was game on. No issues.

The only thing I knew about Tring is that former Premier League referee Graham Poll was from there - a popular referee (sic) with us Blues, especially after disallowing Don Hutchinson's derby 'winner' in April 2000, a mistake he admitted after retirement.

So, it was to the Grass Roots Stadium that I headed. As I was travelling to the ground I drove by the Tring Brewery. Well it would have been incredibly rude not to pop in!

Tring Athletic were formed in 1958 as a youth set up and it wasn't until the early seventies that they became a fully fledged adult club. The club played their home games at Mansell Lane but problems led to the ground being sold to the council in 1976. The club joined the South Midlands League in 1988 and were founder members of the Spartan South Midlands League a decade later.

In 2003, with Mansell Lane failing to get permission to erect floodlights, the club absorbed Tring Town and set up base at what is now called the Grass Roots Stadium. The club reached the Premier Division that season and have remained there since.

With capacity limits in place because of Covid regulations, my heart skipped a beat when I was directed away from the car park at the ground as it was full. Surely they were not here to watch Tring Athletic? It turns out they were next door watching a rugby match. Each to their own I guess!

Baldock Town were the visitors and this was both teams first competitive game, post-lockdown. It was far from a classic but both teams seemed to have the advantage when kicking down the sloping pitch. Chances were at a premium, but Baldock managed to score a goal in each half. The first came after 28 minutes when a long throw into the box was flicked home by Ashley Jay (pictured below).

The second goal came after 80 minutes when a corner kick fell to Baldock skipper Josh Furness, who smashed home from the edge of the six yard box to seal the victory for The Reds.

The programme is online only. You can click here to read.