CS managed to lose to the league’s tail-light, until then at least, on Saturday, squandering a promising half-time position in the process. Anyone who knows Tring’s Cow Lane ground well will appreciate that there is a corner of the ground that can make Redruth’s famous Hellfire Corner look like a very modest declivity indeed.

So, if one has been playing away from that corner in the first half yet still has a modest lead, then the prospects would normally be looked upon as encouraging. And so they seemed for the Stags who had come back from 8-0 down to lead 8-13 at half-time courtesy of two Scott Hadden penalties and a try scored by James Houstoun who had been put into space by a coruscating Hadden break.

The Stags’ early wobbles, which had also been characterised by a couple of lost line-outs and a more often than not slightly retreating scrummage, now appeared to have been overcome and, with an increasing supply of decent ball, their backs were starting to look very threatening. That said Tring were unlucky not to go into the break on level terms as what looked like a perfectly good score down in what shall now be called Cow Lane corner was disallowed.

A number of things happened to stop the anticipated all-out second-half assault on the Tring line ever happening. Most critically, the home fly-half was injured and had to leave the pitch which was unfortunate for the young man concerned himself but not for Tring as the crowd’s darling and scourge of CS Rugby on more than one occasion in the past, near-veteran now Tommy Newton, stepped up from full-back to give a master-class in the play-maker position. CS compounded their faux-pas in getting the previous incumbent side-lined by not only proceeding to win a somewhat disappointing share of second –half possession but also by neglecting to use what they did have to play with to get themselves into the aforementioned uncomfortable part of the ground for their opponents.

Whilst Newton was conducting, playing lead violin, beating the drum and writing and obeying the laws of physics all seemingly at the same time, CS’s lack of any second kicking-from-hand option to Hadden was looking like a chronic malaise and it has to be said that the CS ten appeared to be having difficulty applying boot to leather in any really constructive way himself either as the Tring back three dealt very comfortably with what came their way and counter-attacked profitably.

Slowly but surely Tring wrested the initiative from the Stags. A penalty cut the deficit to 11-13 and then, after a lamentable failure not for the first time by CS, to clear their lines when they had had every opportunity to do so, a coughed-up ball resulted in the converted try which took the home side into the lead 18-13. For every action, Newton of course knew better than anyone, there has to be an equal and opposite reaction.

A further penalty gave Tring breathing space and although CS came back strongly in the last five minutes of the game it was in a lost cause now and it was very much to the relief of their supporters that they at the death even deigned to take a penalty gimme – an earlier one had in this scribe’s view been stupidly spurned in search of the try when two scores were still needed any way.That at least brought with it the consolation of a losing bonus point. It was though in truth very scant consolation at all and your reporter could really only take any pleasure from the fact that he had had a most convivial lunch with his Tring friends : steak and kidney pud, it must be said, par excellence.

CS Rugby 1863 scorers:

Try : Houstoun
Con : Hadden
Pens: Hadden (3)