New Year, new resolve

The New Year has started well for Tring. Strong and determined performances against league leaders Canterbury and another local derby against Luton have reinvigorated the team's confidence as we head into the second half of the season.


7 January was meant to be a day of firsts. The first league outing of the New Year. The first real exhibition of the fancy new electronic scoreboard. The first trip to Fortress Cow Lane for Canterbury. And the first loss of the season for the visitors...pity it didn't all go according to plan.


The two losses before Christmas had dented our Top Four ambitions. But we knew we had the talent and ability to cause Canterbury problems. We were missing some key figures through injury and illness but so were the visitors.


There was another first for us on the day - an Italian referee. A few eyebrows raised when he came in to check our studs - his jeans so tight you could tell his religion.


A bumper crowd packed The Step End and we did not disappoint. We started well, showing no fear or ounce of respect to the visitors. We matched they powerful pack with aggressive and relentless defence. Canterbury had to settle for an early penalty after wave-on-wave of fruitless attacks. 


In a bizarre turn straight from a Year 6 school match, the visitors gathered under their posts as we lined up a penalty. But Capt'n Morgan hadn't signalled for the posts, giving new recruit Scotty 'Too Hotty' Browne a free run to the line and the lead. 


Canterbury were not at their best, playing a tight, pick-and-go style rather than their usual free-flowing game. However, our discipline let us down. We gifted them points and field position and were punished accordingly. The score at half time was 23-7.

William Mateai makes a break against Canterbury

The second half was a different game once we understood more about the ref's style. Another impressive solo try and a penalty from Scotty Too Hotty put us within touching distance at 17-23 and we were firmly in the driving seat. 


We pushed hard in their 22 and were pressing for the score to take the lead. But unfortunately our well of good fortune had dried up. A hair's breadth from glory and ever-present Canterbury Number 8 Baars took a gamble and went for the interception. As he touched down to score at the other end, we could start to feel the game slip away.


Despite a late try by Marlen Walker, a further Baars try had put the game out of reach. It had been an excellent performance but we felt we deserved at least something from the game. No losing bonus point meant it was a lot of effort for no reward. 


The game against Luton was a very different beast. We approached the match with cautious optimism. Yes we had lost three on the bounce but the Canterbury game had restoked our fire. The only danger was letting the previous games' good work go to waste. It would need to be another big performance - nothing taken for granted.


And it appears nerves got the better of us initially. A mix up from the restart gifted them the possession. With our heads still spinning, the home side crashed over in the corner from a driven lineout. 


This was the wake up call we needed and our defensive wall rebuilt itself. Sure enough, once we rediscovered our basic phase play, Tommy Newton pulled the scores level. But our scrums were still an issue.


With a make-shift Second Row of Slates and Hixy, we lacked weight and struggled all day at scrum time. Our lighter pack proved more mobile and we were able to keep hold of possession but something wasn't quite clicking. Our execution was not of its usual standard and it wasn't until the end of the half when the pressure finally told. 


A scrum against the head was quickly spun wide and the Mateai Express crashed over in the corner. Our defensive strength also forced a score, Scotty Too Hotty scored from his own charge down to extend the lead to 18-5 at half time. 


Predictably, Luton stepped up their work rate in the second half. They held onto the ball for long periods of time but our defence held true - Papa Bear Lamden and JP in the Centres proved particularly miserly. The home side did pull one score back but their ill discipline cost them. 


Two yellow cards meant we were always in control. We left it late to secure the bonus point. I picked blind from a scrum in their 22 and just as the Scrum Half was about to bundle me into touch, a deft backhand flick gave Rob Baldwin a clear line...it definitely wasn't a flukey, desperate,last ditch effort!


The win has set up an interesting few weeks. This is shaping up to be an exciting season which will hopefully come down to the wire. We are still very much in the hunt for that Top Four finish and Civil Service will be the first major test of our new resolve.

Super September rolls on

Forgive me for it has been 5 weeks since my last blog – the pitfalls of a temperamental laptop and no Internet connection! 10 Hail Marys? How about four wins from our opening 5 games instead?

Yes, September has been a bumper month of records for us…and it shows no sign of slowing down. Highest ever score, best ever start to the season, highest league position at this level, best looking team in the league, the records keep tumbling.

There is no doubt the key to this successful start has been our gruelling and merciless preseason schedule. A new focused game plan, punishing fitness sessions with Steve Bumstead, hill sprints on Saturday mornings, Pilates, the Bleep Test – all playing their part in fine-tuning the Ranger machine.

The games against the West Country monsters Exmouth and bitter local rivals Chinnor were enormous physical battles. Both teams have sizable packs and really smashed any Summer lethargy out of us. We may have been bruised and battered but we gained a huge amount of confidence as we approached the season, knowing we could mix it with bigger boys. 

We have traditionally been a slow starting team, waiting until at least late October/November to start notching up some league points. However, this year, we rode our wave of confidence to Havant for our first game – and the poor blighters were like lambs to the slaughter!

We’ve come a long way in a few short years, thanks to the expert coaching set up and strong team bond. But few would have been so bold as to predict a powerful 64-10 away win to kick start the 2011/12 campaign. Even fewer would have dared believe Chris Rose would score a first-half from text book driven lineouts! Tring dominating an opposition pack….no that isn’t a flying pig!

It was a spectacular performance but we knew tougher tests would come…such as Ampthill at Cow Lane the following week. Last year’s fixture had proved to be something of a bad-tempered affair, with the Bedfordshire side snatching the victory in the dieing moments. The bitter sting of a bloodied mouth made worse by such a maddening loss.

But this year, Lady Luck favoured the Rangers. With minutes left of the clock and the referee wetting his lips for the final whistle, Tring sneaked a late score to win 22-21…the sweet and satisfying taste of revenge victory.

This year we seem to be more at home in this challenging league. We are no longer ‘plucky underdogs’, but experienced campaigners able to impose our will on a game rather than hanging on for dear life. There is a real belief that we are a top table team, so we were not phased by an away trip to Canterbury.

As we suspected, they were big and strong, but we were still riding on a wave of confidence. Against the odds, we dominated long periods of the game and even took a 10-5 lead into the half time break.

Canterbury came alive in the 2^nd half and took advantage of the conditions more effectively. The final score was a creditable 38-10 – certainly no disgrace and there were plenty of positives to be taken out of the game.

Every week we seem to be growing in stature, confidence and self-belief. The arrival of Flying Samoan William Mateai merely added fuel to the flames. A scrappy but clinical performance against Luton gave us a 41-20 home win. A debut hat-trick for the Super South Sea Islander lifted us to an astonishing 3^rd in the league.

The Mateai Express on his debut against Luton

The final game I need to update you on is last Saturday’s sweltering 37-26 win at Civil Service…or CS Rugby 1863 as they are called now. A lack of Civil Servants in the team perhaps prompting the name change?!

CS had enjoyed a successful start to the season and had recruited new faces over the Summer. However, our momentum was too strong. We took an early lead through some typically sparkling play by the backs. Papa Bear Lambden, Points Machine Chennells, and the Mateai Express gave us a healthy 22-12 lead at half time.

In the bizarrely Mediterranean conditions, CS fought back through the forwards and even briefly took the lead. But late scores from the mercurial Tommy Newton and a second from Chennels secured a well earned win against a strong side.

We hold on to 3^rd place in the league and our confidence train steams on. This weekend’s game will be a real test – Bishop Stortford at Fortress Cow Lane. It will be perhaps the sternest test of our resolve so far this year.

No one expected us to get anything from Canterbury away. But after our stunning and epic win at Stortford last year and our current impressive run, the boys are going into games expecting to win rather than just ‘put up a good fight’.

Stortford will be gunning for revenge, no doubt about it. But can they derail the Ranger Train?!