ON a brisk night in Hemel Hempstead, Jersey Bulls’ youngsters were comprehensively beaten by an outstanding Tring side, ending the Islanders’ record-breaking run in the FA Youth Cup and denying them a spot in the first-round proper.
From the moment Noah Butler put the home side in front, it became apparent the Bulls were up against an opponent markedly better than any they had faced to date.
Tring captain Harrison Mead was imperious, marauding around Hemel’s pristine artificial surface as if it were his own.
He added a fine second just before the break, calmly slotting past Tiago Duarte in the Bulls goal having muscled his way past three white-shirted defenders, and when Butler secured his brace 50 seconds into the second half, it was game over.
Paul Renton’s charges gave everything physically, but they couldn’t find the rhythm or consistency which had served them so well in the 7-0 demolition of Westfield in the previous round.
Jonah Howgego saw his effort trickle over the line in the final quarter as Tring – who’ve swept all before them in league and cup football this term – underlined their dominance, but the Bulls never stopped trying to dig their heels in.
Renton, normally a man to focus intently on the minutiae when it comes to improvement, was full of praise for the victors, inviting his team to learn and come back stronger.
He said: “They were good, weren’t they?”
“Even when we tried to do the right things and play, they just didn’t let us. It was a pretty suffocating night and all you can do is applaud Tring because they were incredibly sharp.
“Probably the only thing from my perspective, which we’ll talk through when we get together with the boys next week, is controlling parts of the game which were in our power to do.
“We turned over so much ball in the middle of the pitch, for example, and we didn’t figure out quickly enough that that was exactly where they wanted to play.
“There’s more than one way to create space but we just fell into their trap. We’ll learn from it.”
While Tring set their sights on Berkhamsted next month, there are no planned regular fixtures for Renton’s group, with the majority of the squad returning to club football in the Island in the coming weeks.
However, Renton was quick to suggest that in the aftermath of a bruising night in Hertfordshire, there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
“If you’d said to me in the summer we’d play four games in this competition this year, I’d have taken it there and then,” he added.
“We’ve overachieved in some respects.
“This team have no regular, organised, fixtures. And they are playing teams who are competing week in, week out.
“We’ve loved the experience and the opportunities we’ve been given and a lot of this group are still eligible to play U18s football for another year or two.
“Once the disappointment settles, we’ll look back on how much we’ve achieved and if we’re presented with a similar scenario this time in 12 months, you can bet your bottom dollar it’ll be a different outcome.”
