Tunbridge Wells (2) 6 Bryant 13, Benner 29, Cass 81,
Beecroft 83, Goldsmith 88, O'Connell 90
Hildenborough (2) 2 Lock 10, Crompton 41
Att. 156
Entrance: £1 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 36/424
For 81 minutes of this curious friendly, Hildenborough of the Kent County League were the equals of their senior hosts but in those last ten minutes, with their players dropping like flies with cramp, they conceded four goals to give Tunbridge Wells a comfortable, but somewhat flattering 6-2 victory.
This was a game arranged at a week’s notice and one wondered what purpose it was supposed to serve given the discrepancy of the levels of the two sides. Perhaps it was a nod of thanks towards Hildenborough for the services of newly-acquired striker Danny Powell, we will probably never know.
Apart from a serious injury from an unnecessary fixture, Tunbridge Wells would have looking to avoid an embarrassing scoreline and their defenders would have been looking at each other when the ball fell in the penalty area to Lock in the 10th minute who, with his back to goal was allowed the time to turn and score from close range. Fortunately the red faces didn’t last too long as Tom Bryant equalised three minutes later to follow up his two goals at Lydd Town.
When George Benner rose highest to plant a firm header from a corner into the net it would have been expected that the Wells would go on to score a hat full but further poor defending allowed Crompton to level the score and when Hildenborough appeared to have regained the lead a couple of minutes before the break the Wells’ defence was in disarray, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Tunbridge Wells’ comparative strength in depth when the substitutions started to roll led to a second half of one-way traffic but Hildenborough managed to hold on until the 81st minutes when Brendon Cass got one-on-one with the keeper to put the Wells ahead and open the floodgates.
Further goals came from the [always] impressive Jake Beecroft, Jack Goldsmith and a trialist with an unknown Christian name, O’Connell.
Tunbridge Wells open their League campaign on Saturday at Cray Valley. There has been a defensive vulnerability viewed in pre-season that comes with an entirely new back line, although Jason Bourne, in particular, is to come back into the side. This area will certainly need to be a lot tighter against a Cray Valley side that last year were very physical and carried a significant threat. Cray’s pre-season has produced some unpredictable results, losing to lower level sides, Eltham Palace and Orpington but also producing a good win against Romford.
Pre-season 2014 is over. Good luck to the clubs followed by That’ll Be The Day, so much has changed at each of them that Saturday is virtually a step into the unknown for all those attending, whether that is it at Milton Keynes, Tonbridge or Cray Valley.
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