Tring Athletic vs Dunstable Town official match programme

Official Programme

Tring Athletic v Dunstable Town Tuesday 21st September 2021 7.45pm Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Match Sponsor— Dick Lovelace

About Matilda’s Planet Some years ago Matilda, Social Entrepreneur David Evans MBE‘s five year old daughter, told him he should take more responsibility for the environment. Her words prompted him to establish Matilda’s Planet.

At Matilda’s Planet we are committed to finding solutions to our energy problems. The company’s values are to be socially responsible, sustainable – and to provide practical solutions to the real problem of keeping your house warm.

We have a solution that’s both practical and socially responsible. We all know that changing the way we consume energy is something we have to do – but actually doing anything about it is a challenge. Matilda’s Planet came from a little girl’s belief that it’s the job of the ‘grown-ups’ to make sure that the legacy we leave for our children is one both we, and they, can be proud of.

Grassroots Talk

Good evening & welcome to the Grass Roots Stadium for the visit of Dunstable Town. We welcome their players, officials and supporters and wish them a safe short journey home afterwards.

This is the second attempt to play this league match with the original fixture postponed in August due to a Covid outbreak in the Dunstable squad.

Both sides faced the top two on Saturday with differing outcomes with Town springing a surprise win against Harpenden moving above us as a result.

Today’s match sponsor is Dick Lovelace, a long standing watcher of Athletic and we would like to thank him for his continued support. We have availability on future games (see page 14) including those against Leverstock Green and Aylesbury Vale Dynamos, so please speak to Graham Bright if you are interested.

This Saturday the first team are back into FA Vase action with a trip to FC Deportivo Galicia. Spaces are available on the coach at a cost of £10 so please let us know if you would like to reserve a seat.

Our reserves host Standon & Puckeridge in the League on Saturday having suffered a defeat at the weekend against the same opposition. If you are not travelling to watch the first team they would appreciate your support.

Entry to our reserve games is free and we have a talented young side (as well as Beamer) being bloodied into adult football. Speaking of young talent, despite both of our youth sides losing at the weekend, reports are they performed well and served up some good football.

We will be hosting some social evenings at the club in the coming months starting with a Sunday Roast on 3rd October and a Sports Quiz on 16th. Into November we see a TAFC President’s Dinner on 19th and are finalising arrangements for a Pool & Darts night as well as the club Christmas Party.

If you are able to volunteer for the club on a regular basis or even just occasionally please speak to a committee member. We are always grateful for extra support.

Today’s programme

This is the second season of producing online only programmes and we hope to keep improving this offering as time goes on.

This is a work in progress so please let us know what you think. If you click on any of the logos or adverts it should direct you straight to our sponsors websites. This also means we can bring you features such as match highlights at the click of a button.

Today’s programme includes •

Pages 6 & 7—Match reports from Saturday’s game against Leighton Town.

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Page 8 — Match highlights of the FA Vase win at Long Buckby

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Page 19— Today’s match squads

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Pages 29 & 30 —On this Day, we look back to 2019 and a 5-1 over Potton United with a match report & highlights

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Pages 33 & 34—new pages for our U16s & U18s

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As always keep an eye on our website for all the latest information, fixtures and results.

Match Report Tuesday 14th September 2021 Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Tring Athletic 0-4 Leighton Town Luke Dunstan drives through the midfield, sends Ashton Campbell through and Ashton chips over the keeper to score. Has my time capsule transported me back to Ian Richardson’s side of 2017? No, damn it, Luke and Ashton are playing for the opposition and we are one down – after a minute! All we needed to make our misery complete was for Fitzy to have fed Luke – but he didn’t, thank goodness.

1 – 0 after a minute. As if our job against the league leaders wasn’t tough enough, this made it almost impossible. The perils of conceding earlier have already been dissected in this column this season.

You never truly recover and we never got back on an even footing.

Granted, we were competitive for the next hour or so and gave as good as we got. But football is played over 90 minutes for a reason and it is how you fare over that whole period that counts, not just for a portion of the game.

We did have a couple of close efforts, Kieran Turner shooting just wide and Cameron Brookes unable to finish after a mazy run but I can’t remember the Leighton keeper being tested.

The last 20 minutes were a best-forgotten disaster. Ollie Butler sent off and then three rather calamitous goals conceded, Ashton helping himself to a hat trick.

Manager Sturges juggled his resources both at the start of the match and during it but, in the end, nothing changed and we seemed to have a few square pegs in round holes.

TAFC 0-4 Leighton Town Due to other results not going our way, we drop to the bottom of the league although this does not feel a true reflection of the season so far.

No respite as we host fellow strugglers Dunstable Town on Tuesday.

Just a final hugely positive note on the off-field organisation on the day.

We hosted a crowd of well over two hundred, we accommodated more than 80 cars in The Meadow (thanks to Pendley Manor Hotel), we entertained, fed and watered many of our spectators before, during and after the game. None of this happens without an exceptional group of volunteers.

Team: David Saunders, Ben Johnson, Camm Brookes, Scott Bonner, James Ferguson, Tommy Twelves, Kieran Turner, Frankie Hercules, Chris Blunden, Ollie Butler, George Carberry.

Playing subs: Manny Gbejuade, Evans Lamboh, Chris Vardy.

MOM Camm Brookes

Highlights & Social Media Highlights — Long Buckby 2-2 TAFC (2-4 pens) Click on the image below to view

Follow, Like & Share… click on the icon to visit our pages

The League

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Leighton Town Harpenden Town Risborough Rangers Hadley New Salamis Leverstock Green London Colney Holmer Green Milton Keynes Irish Harefield United Arlesey Town

9 9 6 6 7 8 8 8 6 7 6

6 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 2

2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 2

1 2 0 0 2 3 4 4 1 3 2

14 6 17 7 12 7 -8 -12 4 1 -1

20 17 16 16 13 13 10 10 9 8 8

Ardley United Aylesbury Vale Dynamos Broadfields United Crawley Green Oxhey Jets Flackwell Heath Baldock Town Dunstable Town Tring Athletic

6 7 3 7 5 5 5 7 5

2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 0 2 2 1 0 0 2

3 4 1 4 2 3 4 6 3

0 -7 -2 0 -10 -1 -6 -12 -9

7 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2

Table as at Monday 20th September 2021

Officials Life President Life Vice Presidents

Mick Eldridge BEM David Evans MBE, Barry Johnson, Jean & Les Robins, Ralph Griffiths, Harry Bowden, Pete Stillwell, Alan Foskett, Pete Oakley, Keith Hamilton

Chairman Vice Chairman Hon. Secretary Hon. Treasurer Commercial Manager Match Secretary - South Midlands & Herts Snr Registration Secretary Club Welfare Officer First Team Manager First Team Coach First Team Technical Advisor Reserve Team Management EJA Under 18' Management EJA Under 16's Management Sports Physio Football Co-Ordinator Press Officer Website Social Media Programme Editor Groundsman Facilities Manager Membership Secretary Kit Laundering Kit Manager Catering Bar Manager

Bob Winter Tony Stedman & Mark Weston David Blair Tony Stedman Graham Bright Tony Stedman Trevor Langley Kirstie McNeil Ryan Sturges Lee Groves, Kieran Turner Ian Richardson Michael Churchill, Ian Butler Michael Churchill, Iain Lorimar David Lawless Vacant Vacant Vacant Keith Eldridge / Colin Sturges Keith Eldridge Keith Eldridge Darrell Bodimeade Bob Winter / Tony Steadman Graham Bright Vacant Vacant Vacant Tash Young

Committee Members Bob Winter (Chairman) Tony Stedman, Ian Butler, Neil Foskett, Graham Bright, David Blair, Mark Weston, Keith Eldridge, Andy Ayres.

From The Dugout We are delighted to bring a new weekly vlog hosted by Damon Wood. From The Dugout aims to bring you interviews and news from our management teams, players and others around the club. Click on the image below to watch episode 1 which features a discussion with first team manager Ryan Sturges talking about the start to the season.

Please comment, like and subscribe to our YouTube Channel so that you can tune in to future episodes

Match Sponsorship Why not support the Club by sponsoring a Match.

It only costs £50 and includes free entry for two, access to the boardroom for half-time refreshments and an acknowledgement in the match programme all season.

Contact Graham Bright on 07722 240963 or via email to tringathleticfc@hotmail.com

Saturday 7th August—Keynsham Town Tuesday 31st August—Holmer Green Saturday 4th September—Harpenden Town Saturday 18th October—Leighton Town Tuesday 21st October—Dunstable Town Saturday 9th October—London Colney Saturday 16th October—Flackwell Heath Tuesday 19th October—Broadfields United Saturday 6th November—Baldock Town Saturday 27th November—Milton Keynes Irish Tuesday 30th November—Arlesey Town Saturday 11th December—Oxhey Jets Tuesday 14th December—Hitchin Town Tuesday 28th December—Leverstock Green Saturday 8th January—Aylesbury Vale Dynamos Saturday 15th January—Harefield United Saturday 5th February—Hadley Saturday 12th March—New Salamis Saturday 2nd April—Ardley United Tuesday 19th April—Risborough Rangers Saturday 30th April—Crawley Green

The Cook Partnership Heygates Ralph Griffiths Tony Stedman & Dave Snelman Dick Lovelace Brian Lovell Available Available Available Available Available Available Mick Eldridge & Ray Brimson Available Available Available Available Available Available Available Available

Fixture List Tue 3 Aug Sat 7 Aug Sat 21 Aug Tue 31 Aug Sat 4 Sep Sat 11 Sep Tue 14 Sep Sat 18 Sep Tue 21 Sep Sat 25 Sep Sat 2 Oct Sat 9 Oct Tue 12 Oct Sat 16 Oct Tue 19 Oct Sat 23 Oct Sat 30 Oct Sat 6 Nov Sat 13 Nov Sat 20 Nov Sat 27 Nov Tue 30 Nov Sat 4 Dec Sat 11 Dec Sat 18 Dec Tue 28 Dec Mon 3 Jan Sat 8 Jan Sat 15 Jan Sat 29 Jan Sat 5 Feb Sat 12 Feb Sat 5 Mar Sat 12 Mar Sat 19 Mar Sat 26 Mar Sat 2 Apr Sat 9 Apr Sat 16 Apr Tue 19 Apr Sat 23 Apr Sat 30 Apr

D 1-1 W 3-0 L 2-0 L 1-2 D1-1 W2-2 L4-0 L0-4 7.45pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 7.45pm 3pm 7.45pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 7.45pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 3pm 7.45pm 3pm 3pm

Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Away Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division 2-4 pens FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Away Spartan South Midlands Premier Division Home Spartan South Midlands Premier Division

Oxhey Jets Keynsham Town Bishops Cleeve Holmer Green Harpenden Town Long Buckby Harefield United Leighton Town Dunstable Town FC Deportivo Galicia Crawley Green London Colney Hadley Flackwell Heath Broadfields United Aylesbury Vale Dynamos Milton Keynes Irish Baldock Town Ardley United New Salamis Milton Keynes Irish Dunstable Town Dunstable Town Oxhey Jets Baldock Town Leverstock Green Risborough Rangers Aylesbury Vale Dynamos Harefield United Holmer Green Hadley Flackwell Heath Leighton Town New Salamis Harpenden Town London Colney Ardley United Arlesey Town Leverstock Green Risborough Rangers Broadfields United Crawley Green

Today’s- Squads

Tring Athletic FC

David Saunders Jonny Pitts Ben Johnson James Ferguson Harrison Cornick Oliver Butler Scott Bonner Joe Chott George Carbery Frankie Hercules Tom Shaw Tommy Twelves Kieran Turner Chris Vardy Chris Blunden Temi Bankole Cameron Brooks Fraser Bryden Luke Cestrone Emmanuel Gbejuade Evans Lamboh

Manager - Ryan Sturges

Asst Manager- Lee Groves GK Coach - Gary Looker

Dunstable Town Dan Gould Matt Ellis Daniel Trif Gregg Douglas Jeremiah Debayo Jamie Gill Roy Byron Charlie Jackson Joe Mead Charlie Oddy Craig Packham Sam Gibson Drew Phillips Simon Richards Charlie Black Chris Stapleton Kwazim Theodore Gianluca Sinatra

Manager:

Anthony Christophi

Next Up

London Colney Saturday 9th October Kick off 3pm

FREE FREE £7.00 FREE £4.00

Our opponents IMPROVING THE LIVES OF OTHERS. DUNSTABLE TOWN FC BECOME A COMMUNITY BENEFIT SOCIETY. Dunstable Town FC have an interesting history. I think that’s the polite way of putting it. Formed in 1883 the Club had several homes before finding permanent residency at Creasey Park in the post-war years.

Those of a certain vintage may have witnessed the mercurial magic of George Best when he graced the hallowed turf of Creasey Park in 1974, playing three times for the Blues as a favour to his old Manchester United teammate, Barry Fry, who was the Club’s Manager. Fry, in his first job in football management went on to manage Barnet, Birmingham City & Peterborough Utd, where he is Director of Football.

The BBC covered the story of how George Best came to play for Dunstable Town on its website in May to mark what would have been Best’s 75th birthday. But Best hasn’t been the only former International to wear the Club’s colours, former England player Jeff Astle scored 34 times for the Blues in the 1974 -75 season.

Kerry Dixon is another former England International who started his career at Dunstable Town, before going on to play for Reading & then heading to the bright lights of London’s Kings Road, where he scored 193 times for Chelsea making him the Club’s all-time third most prolific goal scorer.

More recently, Luton Town player Peter Kioso played for the Club as an 18-year -old in the 2017 -18 season, and at the end of last season another 18-year-old, Eric Ameyaw left the Club to sign for Fulham.

But, to misquote Freddie Mercury, it hasn’t always been a “bed of roses and a pleasure cruise”. Tales of money in brown envelopes, dodgy dealings and financial mismanagement have also seen the Club lurch from peak to trough and back again on too many occasions causing the Club to go out of business for four years in the mid to late 1990’s and a partial shut-down in the 1970’s.

Us football fans, are, by and large, masochists. We derive a perverse sense of pleasure from following our teams’ (mis)fortunes, getting battered by the elements on uncovered terraces, travelling long distances on bitterly cold Tuesday nights to see our teams succumb to a penalty from a blatant dive in the last minute of stoppage time. And because we’re masochists and creatures of habit we do it every season.

But we at least have the certainty that our Club will be still in existence for us to experience this self-inflicted pain and punishment we secretly enjoy.

But try asking the fans of Macclesfield, Bury, and North Ferriby who have all seen their Clubs fold recently due to the financial pressures of boom-andbust football economics, about the certainty of where they’ll be at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.

Dunstable Town Football isn’t all about success no matter how much we aspire to achieve it. For every Club that finishes top of the league, another Club has to finish bottom.

The pressure to achieve success at all costs comes at too high a price for many Clubs.

As our own experience in the 1970’s and 1990’s showed, we’ve also ridden the football financial rollercoaster and fallen from grace in so doing.

The global Covid pandemic wrought havoc and despair to the lives of millions.

While the nation mourned the lives of countless thousands, many of the Club’s commercial sponsors saw their own businesses and livelihoods severely affected by lockdowns and the cessation of normal trading.

Faced with a loss of nearly half its income the Club had to fold its Cup winning Development Team, circle the wagons and concentrate on keeping just one senior team playing last season.

Dunstable Town became managed by the Club’s fans in 2017. Fan ownership is a relatively recent concept of running a football Club. Many clubs, even at non-league level, rely heavily on the generosity of individual donors to keep their clubs afloat, or own their own facilities and can supplement match day income by hiring out their facilities to community groups, or running popular social events from their clubhouses.

As tenants of the Council and with no individual benefactors that is simply not an option for Dunstable Town FC. Therefore, in order to protect the Club’s history and ensure a sustainable future we began talks with the Football Supporters’ Association earlier this year and started the new season as a Community Benefit Society (CBS) Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the Club operates as a social enterprise combining both traditional football activities with working in our local communities on improving the mental and physical health and well-being of individuals.

Regulars on match-days at Creasey Park may not notice much of a difference.

It’s during the week from Monday through to Friday that being a CBS club starts to do things very differently. Our links with NHS groups, charities and community groups, and the range of free activities we provide, is what sets us apart from 99.9% of every other FA affiliated club up and down the country.

The Club has been fortunate over the past few seasons to have developed a strong relationship with Mind BLMK (Beds, Luton and Milton Keynes) and for the past three seasons have had the Mind BLMK logo on the front of the playing kit. There is ample anecdotal evidence to suggest that this move encouraged and empowered many people to seek help for emotional and psychological problems they were facing from both statutory and non-statutory mental health services.

With Mind BLMK as a strategic partner the Club has worked on initiatives to actively promote better mental health through football and exercise.

We are also part of the CALM Collective and work in support of CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) More recently we have established links with Minds2gether, a mental health peer support group in Dunstable.

Dunstable Town A little-known fact. Endorphins are the body’s own natural anti-depressants and are released by the brain when you exercise. Exercise is not just good for your heart and lungs, it’s also good for your mental well-being and helps you feel better in yourself.

All of the services we offer are free to join and participate in.

We provide weekly Walking Football groups, a Walking groups and a weekly Support group for socially isolated and lonely people which meets at The Glider public house every Monday.

Our intention is to help people who want to lose weight, lower blood pressure readings and blood sugar levels by taking part in these groups.

Additionally, they’re a huge amount of fun as heydays are re-lived and glory years reenacted, complete with bad backs and dodgy knees.

We have also established links with the local NHS Community Mental Health team and will be offering free coaching sessions and 5 a side games for service users in recovery.

We have the invaluable support of our partners at DKD Coaching who provide UEFA B coaches All very noble and worthwhile you may say, but how does this benefit the Club’s supporters?

The answer is very simple. Supporters, and members of the general public, can become owners of Dunstable Town FC. By simply purchasing a maximum of one share per person a supporter automatically becomes an owner of Dunstable Town FC. It’s a scheme that has been championed by League clubs like AFC Wimbledon, Newport County, and Exeter City, and non-league clubs such as AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Lewes FC and FC United of Manchester. It is the ultimate manifestation of fan power and the pinnacle of supporter commitment to become an owner of the Club you support.

It means that you don’t have to be the owner of an oil well or a gas field to own your own football club, you can be like 1,600 people who own Lewes FC or 800 who own AFC Rushden & Diamonds, receive your owner’s share certificate and be part of the Club that is a benefit to the community.

Owners enjoy benefits from the Club’s Blue Card, shop and save discount scheme, receive preferential rates from Club partners in the health and leisure sector, the Club’s own Nike kit supplier and a growing number of shops and traders in the town, keen to do their bit and show support for the Club with a Purpose. For details on how to own your local club, please visit our website; www.dunstabletownfc.co.uk/ ownership

Dunstable Town 1. Dan Gould, Goalkeeper, Previous Club Crawley Green.

2.Matt Ellis, Defender, Previous Club Kings Langley Under 18s, Leverstock Green under 18s.

3.Daniel Trif, Defender, Previous Club London Tigers.

4.Gregg Douglas, Defender, Previous Club Langford.

5.Jeremiah Debayo, Defender, Previous Club Egham Town.

6.Dylan Fitzpatrick, Defender, Previous Club AFC Dunstable Under 18s.

7.Jamie Gill, Defender, Previous Club Totternhoe.

8.Roy Byron, Midfield, Previous Club Aylesbury Vale Dynamos.

9. Charlie Jackson, Midfield, Previous Club Winslow.

10. Joe Mead, Midfield, Previous Club Luton Town.

11.Charlie Oddy, Midfield, Previous Club Burton Albion.

12. Craig Packham, Midfield, Previous Clubs Arlesey Town.

13. Sam Gibson, Midfield, Previous Clubs Barton Rovers.

14. Drew Phillips, Forward, Previous Clubs Barton Rovers.

15. Simon Richards, Forward, Previous Clubs St.Joesphs.

16.Charlie Black, Forward, Previous Clubs Biggleswade United.

17.Chris Stapleton, Forward, Previous Clubs Aston Clinton.

18. Gianluca Sinatra, GoalKeeper, Previous Clubs Dunstable Town Development Team.

Managerial & Coaching Staff.

Anthony Christophi, Caretaker Manager. Started coaching at AFC under 18s went on to manage Ampthill Town. Currently holds his Level 2 coaching badge. Taking charge tonight following the departure of Gareth Jackson last week.

Ivan Arapov. Coach. Ivan is also a UEFA B coach who has won silverware with London Colney. Ivan came on board mid-season 2019-20 season and has proved to be a great addition to the coaching set-up.

David Paredes, Goalkeeper Coach, Previous Clubs London Colney, Berkhamstead FC. Sarah Keen, Sports therapist.

Today’s Officials Referee

Elliot Mayer

Assistant Referee Assistant Referee

Iwan Pritchard Faris Ahmad

The TAFC 1

Club

Support Tring Athletic, Join our 100 Club. This is one of the most popular fund raising activities in the UK, probably the easiest to enter, and the size of the weekly/monthly prize will depend upon the number of people participating.

The more people the larger the prize. 50% of all takings go in cash prizes.

At the current time we have a weekly CASH prize of £20 and a Monthly 1st prize of £100 and 2nd prize of £50. It costs just £1 per week.

Ask a committee member for details.

August winners The monthly 100 draw was once again undertaken remotely by the Simmons family. The lucky winners were: 3rd July: Ellie Humphreys £20; 10th July: Ralph Griffiths £20; 17th July: John Perry £20; 24th July: Dan To £20 31st July: Sam Allum £100 and Brian Bruton £30.

Once again winnings will be paid directly to the winners bank accounts.

THE INANE RAMBLINGS FROM UP NORFF “NOWT SO QUEER AS YORKSHIRE FOLK’ BY KAREN BROWNE MONDAY 13th SEPTEMBER / TUESDAY 14th SEPTEMBER / WEDNESDAY 15th SEPTEMBER MIDWEEK HEADLINES New Salamis hit double figures for the third time in their SSML history. Baldock Town win for the first time in the league this season. Leighton Town return to the top of the Premier Division.

Record crowd watch new boys Milton Keynes College Football Academy in their first SSML midweek fixture.

Midweek Stats: 13 games played of which 8 were home wins, 4 away wins and 1 draw.

The 13 games produced a total of 51 goals, an average of 3.92 per game. Ryan Hervel (New Salamis) netting a hat-trick.

100% league record to date: Stotfold.

0% league record to date: Dunstable Town.

Midweek Highest Attendance: 128 Milton Keynes College Football Academy v Berkhamsted Raiders, 107 Harpenden Town v Flackwell Heath and 104 Risborough Rangers v Ardley United.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Premier Division Clubs): 350 Harefield United v Hastings United (FA Cup), 337 Leighton Town v Risborough Rangers and 323 Leighton Town v Dunstable Town.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division One Clubs): 317 Stotfold v Letchworth Garden City Eagles, 176 Stotfold v Buckingham Athletic and 175 Ampthill Town v Langford.

Season’s Highest Attendances to date (Division Two Clubs): 130 Totternhoe v Old Bradwell United, 128 Milton Keynes College Football Academy v Berkhamsted Raiders and 112 Bovingdon v Sarratt.

The Views Expressed Are Solely My Own, Are Written Tongue In Cheek And Should Be Taken With A Pinch Of Salt A weekly column courtesy of the SSML Fixture Secretary

PREMIER DIVISION The Premier Division midweek action brought about new table toppers again as Leighton Town returned to the top of the standings on goal difference after recovering from a 0-2 interval deficit to win 3-2 at Leverstock Green while morning leaders Harpenden Town went down 0-2 at home to new boys Flackwell Heath. Risborough Rangers remain third after a 3-2 home success over Ardley United while Hadley stay fourth after defeating visiting London Colney 3-1. In a remarkable game at Aylesbury Vale Dynamos the hosts squeezed past Milton Keynes Irish by the odd goal in five with Dynamos goalkeeper Daniel McAteer on the scoresheet with a very long range punt. Things continue to look bleak for Oxhey Jets as they try to rebuild their side following the manager’s walk out last week along with several players, the club will certainly want to quickly erase memories of their midweek trip to New Salamis where they were beaten 10-0 (yes Mr Elliott it was only ten and not the eleven that you tweeted). At the bottom of the table it was an early season six-pointer as the bottom two clashed with both sides pointless something had to give and two second half strikes gave visitors Baldock Town the points to leave hosts Dunstable Town rooted at the bottom. Crawley Green doubled their points tally with a 1-1 draw at Arlesey Town while Tring Athletic drop to third from bottom after losing 0-4 at Harefield United. Elsewhere Broadfields United climb to thirteenth after a 2-0 home win over Holmer Green DIVISION TWO Totternhoe moved up to second place with a 3-1 midweek win at Codicote, the ‘Totts’ trailing table toppers Old Bradwell United on goal difference. New boys Milton Keynes College Football Academy attracted the biggest crowd midweek when 128 were in attendance to watch them defeat Berkhamsted Raiders 3-0 while the other Division Two midweek action saw Berkhamsted Comrades move into fourth spot with an odd goal in three win at home against Buckingham United.

On This Day—21st September 2019 IX WINS ON THE BOUNCE AS WE OVER-POWER POTTON First of all the goals: • 14 minutes - Dash dispossess Potton’s centre back in their penalty area and slots the ball home - 1-0 • 65 minutes - Luke feeds Frazer and our powerful forward does the rest - 2-0 • 68 minutes - Frazer runs on to Louie’s header, finds Dash and bash, it’s in the net - 3-0 • 75 minutes - Potton score after a scuffed corner isn’t cleared - 3 -1 • 84 minutes - Louie jinks through their defence and scores with a low shot - 4-1 • 90 minutes - A Jacob assist and Frankie’s first goal for the first team, a header. One of many to come, we hope. - 5-1 Now the back story: 4 key players missing again but four goals in the last half hour is testament to the quality of our finishers and to our fitness levels. Such a warm day and a hard pitch must have made it difficult to play good football and certainly a fairly average first half performance was largely due to those factors and a blustery wind which made creative football down the slope extremely difficult.

TAFC 5-1 Potton United Top Performers: Luke and Frazer were prominent, both having their best games of the season. Charlie’s legs are going to be a feature this season. Today he made three fine saves to keep Potton out and showing us what a fine keeper we have. We will need him for tougher tests to come.

On the down side: Frazer’s sin bin – we’ll forgive you this once Frazer. And the PA announcement of the subs - keep practising Dave!

And congratulations: To Ben Johnson, deserved winner of the August Player of the Month Award.

And next: North Greenford, bottom of the league but will they be a pushover? Most definitely not.

Team: Charlie Mann, Jack Sunderland, Connor Church, Ben Johnson, Jake Carter, Phil Lowen, Luke Dunstan, Mulik Rickman (Louie Collier 65 mins), Charncey Dash (Frankie Hercules 80 mins), Frazer John, Oran Swales (Dan Ferrigno 55 mins).

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH MATCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS GAME

TAFC Reserves An excellent win for the reserves against Harpenden Town to get their first victory of the season.

The first half hour was a fairly even affair with few clear cut chances but Tring took the lead just before the break . Max Machen put a teasing cross in from the right and Ollie Ruttle nodded in clinically at the near post. (bottom left) Ten minutes into the second period Tring doubled the lead. After a good passing move involving many of last seasons u16s, a low cross from the left just evaded Ruttle but Max Machen was on hand to finish confidently on his senior debut (bottom right) Harpenden continued to threaten and look dangerous going forward but this left some holes in their defensive lines which we looked to exploit. Tring made the game seemingly safe midway through the second half. A deep free kick from the right was headed back across the six yard box

by Max Dechamps finding an unmarked Ollie Ruttle to finish from close range. 3-0.

With around 15 minutes to play Harpenden hit us on the counter attack and pulled a goal back. 31. With just over 5 minutes left, the visitors were rightly awarded a penalty for handball. George Saunders in the Athletic goal stood his ground as the ball drifted over the bar and into the rugby ground. A let off for the lads which could have set up a nervy final period.

There followed chances for both teams, Charlie Hendry-Smith shot wide and Saunders saved well at the other end but no further goals were added. The final whistle blew and three points were well and truly earned. With a few players missing for various reasons today, the squad stepped up giving Michael Churchill some nice selection headaches ahead of the cup match at Buntingford next Saturday. Highlights of the game can be found by clicking on the left picture below.

Sponsored by NP Electrics Herts Senior County League - Division One POS

P

W

D

L

GD

PTS

1 Hertford Heath First

7

7

0

0

22

21

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

6 6 3 5 4 5 6 5 5 7 4 4 3 0 6

4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0

1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

1 2 0 2 1 2 3 3 3 5 3 3 2 0 6

7 6 13 12 6 4 -3 -4 -11 -8 -3 -4 -5 0 -32

13 10 9 9 9 9 7 6 6 4 3 3 3 0 0

Next up

Hinton First Hertford United FC First Standon & Puckeridge FC Buntingford Town First Oracle Components First Harpenden Town Reserves Evergreen First Bovingdon Reserves Aldenham FC First Tring Athletic Reserves Hatfield United First Knebworth First Oxhey First Wheathampstead Wanderers First Old Parmiterians First

Sat 25th September Standon & Puckeridge (H)

League

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U18s Eastern Junior Alliance League - U18s Blue POS

P

W

D

L

GD

PTS

1 St Albans City FC Academy U18

2

2

0

0

7

6

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 1 2 2 3 0 1

1 1 1 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1 1 0 0

0 0 1 1 2 0 1

3 3 0 -2 -6 0 -5

3 3 3 1 1 0 0

Results

London Colney Youth U18 EJA London Lions U18 EJA Ware FC Academy U18 EJA Tring Athletic U18 EJA Baldock Town U18 EJA Leighton Town Youth U18 BSC FC Youth U18 EJA 5th September

Baldock Town 4-4 TAFC

Sun 19th September TAFC 3-5 Ware Academy

Next up

Sun 26th September

London Lions (A) @ 12pm

League

Tues 28th September

Hashtag Utd (H) @ 7.30pm

Cup

Sun 3rd October

Cockfosters (H) @10.30am

Cup

U16s Eastern Junior Alliance League - U16 Green POS

P

W

D

L

GD

PTS

1 Cockfosters (Youth) U16

2

2

0

0

15

6

2 Enfield Borough (Youth) U16 Leopards 3 Ryan (Youth) U16 Red EJA 4 Berkhamsted FC Youth U16 EJA 5 Hemel Hempstead Town Youth U16 Blacks 6 London Colney Youth U16 EJA 7 Tring Athletic U16 EJA 8 Edgware Town U16 9 Hadley Youth U16 EJA

2

2

0

0

15

6

1 2 2

1 1 1

0 0 0

0 1 1

1 0 3

3 3 3

2 1 2 2

1 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

1 1 2 2

3 -5 -9 -23

3 0 0 0

Results

Sun 19th September

London Colney 5-0 TAFC

League

Next up

Sun 26th September

Hadley Youth (A) @11.30am

League

Sun 3rd October

Brantham Athletic (A) @11am

Cup

Tue 5th October

Ware Academy (H) KO TBC

Cup

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TAFC Membership For the 2020/21 season we have introduced a new membership scheme GOLD - £99 (£75 concessions) Free entry to all home league games. 20% discount at the bar. Please see the opposite page for additional offers from local businesses.

SILVER—£50 (£40 cons) Free entry to the first six matches each season.

20% discount at the bar.

BLACK—£20 (£10 cons) Club membership and 10% discount at the bar.

Click on the Gold Card below to go to our membership page & application

TAFC Gold Membership Benefits Free entry to all home league games 20% off at the bar in the clubhouse One free day pass Free hot drink 10% of first meeting room booking

5% discount on fees

Free initial consultation 25% of first year’s fees Tax consultancy or accounts/ finance related services 15% off food

20% off food and beverages 10% off Spa treatments

Team Sponsors First Team

Reserves

U16 Yellow

U16 Brown

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