Colliers Wood United 0 Tonbridge Angels 2

Match 01/21/1866 - Saturday, 26th June 2021 - Pre-Season Friendly

Colliers Wood United (0) 0
Tonbridge Angels (1) 2Beere 6 Turner 66 (pen)
Headcount: 120

Admission: £3 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 120/120

I doubt that a pre-season game has been so eagerly awaited. Non-League football is back, its supporters are back and though we are not out of the Covid woods, there are plenty of reasons to believe that this coming season can be played to its conclusion.

As a game this was like every other first pre-season game that I’ve watched since 1850! A clutch of trialists that we won’t ever see again; players that obviously have to get weeks (in some cases months) of inactivity out of their legs; the odd one or two that took the eye with their sharpness and a lovely story to end the match.

My only other visit to the Wibbandune Sports Ground brought a late arrival due to missing the entrance and difficulty parking so it was a massive relief to quickly find a space in the slip road opposite and close to the footbridge.

As with many pitches at this time of the year, the grass was a bit too long but it’s a nice little ground beside a busy stretch of the A3.

Colliers Wood United, from the Combined Counties League, provided good opposition for a Tonbridge team that played most of its trialists in the first half leaving us spectators playing the annual guessing game of who’s that?

Tonbridge went ahead after six minutes when a quick bit of thinking from Tom Beere left the home goalkeeper motionless from a free kick curled into the top corner.

A free kick to Tonbridge that ended up bouncing towards the oncoming traffic on the A3 and some unnecessary bookings from Santa Claus, filling in time between gigs as a referee, were the highlights of the rest of the first half.

New signing Ibrahim Olutade and Tommy Wood brought an extra edge to the visitor’s attack in the second period and a header from the former into the side netting from a tight angle was the best of the early exchanges.

In the 66th minute Tonbridge were awarded a penalty for a trip just inside the box and Joe Turner powered the ball into the top right corner.

Tonbridge brought on three 16-year-olds to play out the last 20 minutes. Toby McKimm, son of manager Steve, took over from Jonny Henly in goal; Bobby Moore, son of assistant manager Barry, slotted into midfield and Eoin Bolger, on the right of midfield. None of them looked out of place, they did things simply and in the case of Eoin produced a pin-point cross that Wood headed narrowly wide.

This was the fresh start that everybody wanted but on a day when 18,270 new cases of the virus were reported, we can but pray that this is not another false dawn.