FULLERIANS recovered from conceding an early try to defeat Tring 24-5 and book their place in the third round of the Intermediate Cup.

The game started at a frenetic pace, and Fullers were caught cold when a youthful Tring side demonstrated their fitness and speed to go over for the first try.

Fullers suffered a second blow when hooker Matt Knowles went off, which meant a further re-shuffle of the pack.

As the game progressed, the strength of Fullerians in the set pieces came through with three converted tries in the first half by Luke Raphael, Joe Rylett, and, on the stroke of half time, by Sam Khanna.

Fullerians dominated large portions of the second half, but only had a penalty to show for there endeavours.

"We spoilt many opportunities, due to pushing the last pass and our over eagerness," said Fullers' captain Kevin Brind.

"We were caught out by Tring in the first 20 minutes, plus we weren't up to the challenge. Again, injuries has hindered our season thus far, although winning seven games in a row shows our strength in depth."

October 18, 2001 16:49