WELSH’S BOYS EYE QUARTERS
BURY AFC continued their trailblazing FA Vase run at the expense of Tring Athletic.
With a boisterous crowd firmly in the hundreds, the Hertfordshire club’s Grassroots Stadium played host to an exhilarating encounter with Tring’s Godlove Oppong cancelling out Ben Wharton’s opener before super sub Niall Cummins came up with the goods late on to pull the Shakers through.
This breath-taking fixture started as it meant to go on. Just minutes in, Connor Comber drove a low free=kick off the left post. The rebounding ball struck a Bury body, but a flailing Tring were just able to clear.
In these opening exchanges, Tring keeper Oscar Frost was forced into action several times. First, he stopped a Lewis Gilboy effort from the right by-line on 16 before flapping a deep free-kick toward a leaping Harry Brazel. Fortunately for Frost, the midfielder could only rattle the crossbar.
Frost’s luck ran out as Bury broke the deadlock on 21 minutes. Consistent nuiup sance Lewis Gilboy drove down the right once more and powered a shot at Frost. The keeper parried, but the ball spilled out to Ben Wharton who tapped into an empty net to the delight of the travelling faithful.
Tring’s Godlove Oppong provided the first real chance of the first half. He got in behind on the half hour mark and aptly dinked the onrushing Jack Atkinson. The lob trickled painstakingly wide but was a glimmer of hope as hosts trailed going into half time.
Following the break, Tring again looked for a reply. Giuseppe Delgaudio came close from a towering header. Although his effort floated wide of the left post, spells of pressure like this were precursors for better things to come. After more battling, Tring found their response. Oppong latched on to a Harrison Mead through ball and took it round a scrambling Atkinson coolly to level things up on 75 minutes.
Rising decibels from both sides sparked a wild back and forth. Just two minutes after conceding, the Shakers had Frost saving well at his left post. Then, the other end, Atkinson stopped an excellent move with a save down to his left. In the final ten, Bury coach Andy Welsh opted for one last role of the dice as he sent on Niall Cummins. The substitution worked a treat and Cummins connected perfectly with a Connor Comber corner – nodding home to send the away fits into raptures. Fittingly, Cummins kept the ball in the corner to see it out the win as Bury AFC continued on their road to Wembley.