Sunday 29 October 2017

Tonbridge Angels 3 Heybridge Swifts 3

Match 50/17/1500 - Saturday, 28th October 2017 - FA Trophy 1R

Tonbridge Angels (3) 3 Thompson 11 Turner 18 Vidal 20
Heybridge Swifts (2) 3 Luque 9 Bantick 15 Callender 81
Attendance: 405

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/3,303

Seventeen days ago, at the unlikely surrounds of Rochester United, I witnessed five goals in 13 minutes and found myself in a position to use the Football is stupid quote. I jumped the gun as Tonbridge Angels and Heybridge Swifts indulged in their own version of the Wacky Races and surpassed that feat by two minutes. Football is, indeed, stupid.

Just as they had against Leiston on Tuesday, Tonbridge fell foul of a corner driven to the near post from where Juan Luque perfectly executed a glancing header to give the Essex-based visitors a ninth minute lead.

Tonbridge bounced straight back and were level in three minutes when Dan Thompson turned a struck a low shot across the face of the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

The madness continued unabated with the referee finding time in between goals to book Craig Stone for a cynical tug-back as the dangerous Luque threatened to go clear once more.

It was Luque that opened up the home back line again when he set up an unmarked Sam Bantick for a tap-in. Whether the Angels back line were absent making ready for Halloween, it was certainly a horror show!

Once more though, Heybridge showed that poor defending was not just a one team show as a Xavier Vidal cross found Joe Turner on the edge of the box and his shot found the bottom corner to level up the scores.

Two more minutes and the home side were in front for the first time with the fifth goal in 11 minutes. After a fine run from Andre McCollin that was partially stopped the ball fell to Turner, whose first time shot struck the foot of a post with the rebound falling to Xavier Vidal who made no mistake.

After such a flurry of goals and nightmare defending it seemed unthinkable that the game would eventually go 70 minutes before it saw another one.

Tonbridge continued to live on their nerves at the back, particularly when facing the long throws of Kreshnic Krasniqi into the box.

Into the second period and Chris Kinnear saw a drive from 25 yards tipped over by Danny Sambridge after some good set-up work from Jack Parter.

There were serious nerves mid-way through the half when the Angels’ ‘keeper, Jonny Henley went on an extended walkabout, but somehow the ball was scrambled to safety.

Despite the fact that Heybridge Swifts was a good tick to get in the ground hopping book, nobody really wanted a Tuesday night ride of a couple of hours, give or take with the Dartford Tunnel eccentricities, but with nine minutes remaining a goal from Luke Callander, profiting from a slip by Callum Adonis-Taylor, consigned us to the trip.

We might just have been spared that fate when, in time added, Parter set-up McCollin with a heading opportunity that he steered wide of the post.

Message to Dartford Tunnel: behave yourself on Tuesday!



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