Deja vu or what! For the second time in three weeks a team from Hertfordshire came to Combe and carried off five points. Both had 20 points on the board in the first quarter, both had scythed through
the Combe defence for three tries and both threatened more, and then delivered.

In the first fixture Combe made a bit of a comeback and shaded it for a short while but this, sorry to say, was a drubbing that Combe had no chance of redeeming from quite early in the second half.

Probably less than five minutes on the clock and inside-centre Richie Roberts had crossed in the corner. A Combe penalty went amiss when the standing foot of Iain Gordan slipped at the point of contact and suddenly right-wing Zak Michalski had also crossed in the right corner and Tring were leading 10—nil in nine minutes.

Thanks to some swift ball and some positive running Combe got back in the match when at the end of the line Trent Nattrass took possession and, evading a couple of tackles, went down the right touch, shipped the ball inside to Ben Hough who went from the edge of the 22 to touch down.

At 10—5 it looked like we might have a game on our hands, it lasted four minutes.

The Tring flanker Nick Radley went over for the third try, Will Mitchell added the points and a penalty and we had just seen the end of the first-quarter.

Things settled down to a confrontational mid-field battle for the second quarter with neither side looking like they were going to go anywhere fast. When they did it was Combe who made a right meal of sustained forward pressure from right to left before a ruck gave the determined prop Reece Conlon a try and Iain Gordan converted with most of the players already on their way to the dressing-rooms.

With the score at 12—20 Combe were in a better position than they deserved and an early score in the second-half would certainly make it game on. The first twelve minutes gave that a faint glimmer of hope.

When a score did come it was prop Justin Brown for Tring that made light work of the bonus try. Will Mitchell duly added the points and Tring had opened up pure blue water between the sides.

Four minutes later there was a forlorn gesture towards the posts for a Combe penalty just outside the 22, Iain Gordan obliged to at least take Combe to within two scores of Tring's total of 27.

Tring's response a couple of minutes later was another try. Full-back Tom Newton coming from deep to cruise over easily between the posts. Will Mitchell's kick took them to a nineteen point lead.

It looked all up for Combe but with still twelve minutes to go Trent Nattrass characteristically took off down the right wing and went in near the corner and Iain Gordan's excellent conversion opened up the intriguing possibility of two bonus points for Combe.

Briefly that looked on the cards but Tring's strangle hold on the game which they had from the opening whistle took effect and Combe's resistance drained away.

Tring, who were flirting with the drop-zone before this game, were mightily relieved with their five points but Combe now face the possibility of swapping places because they face the top four sides in their next four games, face some daunting tasks in between, including Basingstoke, and finish the run-up to the promotion and demotion places with trips to Hertford and Tring, need I say more! Perhaps just; Concentrate on those bonus points lads!

Combe's Squad: Alex Smith; Trent Nattrass, Ben Hough, Iain Gordan, Bryan Young; Johnny O'Hehir, Ben Faurie; Matt Poole, Hamish Barton, Reece Conlon; Tom Clarke, Jon Wright; Ryan Hackett, Graham Purdy, Thibaud Calohard. James Snape, Luke Bellinger, Tom Gray.

Match Reporter: Mike Attewell.