Tonbridge Angels (0) 2 Wood 86,90+8
Hungerford Town (1) 1 Evans 45
Attendance: 541
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/4,363
They dominated the game; managed to keep 19 goal striker Ryan Seager quiet for a second time this season; created chances that fell by the wayside and even saw a penalty saved by the excellent, if incredibly irritating, Hungerford goalkeeper Luke Cairney.
The morning, through into lunchtime and beyond, had brought heavy rain and it is a testament to the groundstaff that these days the pitch is durable and able to withstand such a deluge.
In these days of drought in terms of goals, on publication of the team sheet, eyes are immediately drawn to the front two and on this occasion, Tommy Wood and Aaron Smith-Joseph were returned to the bench from the starting eleven in favour of Adam Coombes and a pushed forward Joe Turner.
Turner had the opening couple of chances for the Angels that did not test Cairney but after a quarter of an hour it was his cross that Luke Watkins headed narrowly wide.
Almost immediately play switched to the opposite end and Seager showed his potency with a strike that came back from the crossbar with the follow-up effort blocked by the hosts.
Jenkins, an 18-year-old loanee from AFC Wimbledon is proving himself not only a capable defender but a threat in the air from set pieces and from a corner on 28 minutes he challenged Cairney, but as is too often the case, the referee saw in favour of the goalkeeper.
In the closing minutes of the half, Tonbridge were firmly on top with several half-chances but it was the visitors that opened the scoring in the final minute after a clearance only found Jake Evans whose low drive beat Jonny Henly at his near post.
Cairney was collected every high cross into the box with ease and Tonbridge had a hand on heart moment on the hour when Henly raced from his goal to dive at the feet of Sol Wanja-Smith. The Hungerford striker went down, but referee Jack Paxman saw that it was a clear dive and showed the yellow card.
On 64 minutes, a major turning point in the game arrived, when following a corner, that saw various sets of legs trying to hack the ball either forwards or towards goal, Jenkins was brought down and the referee pointed to the spot and sent the offending Louis McGrory receive a second yellow and subsequent walk to the dressing room.
Turner’s spot kick was reasonably well struck, certainly well directed towards the bottom corner but Cairney was equal to it and saved brilliantly.
The lack of goals; chances having gone begging and the talisman missing a spot kick weighed heavily on the mind concluding that once again this was not going to be our day and these thoughts were not improved when substitute Ibrahim Olutade steered a very presentable headed opportunity well wide.
Steve McKimm was positive with his substitutions, Olutade having arrived for midfielder Doug Loft and Tom Beere on for defender Harry Hudson and with a final throw of the dice Tommy Wood replaced Coombes.
Wood made an instant impact forcing Cairney into another save as the ten men visitors managed to get their bodies in front of the ball time after time and also embarked on a time wasting mission that brought a caution for the goalkeeper.
Tonbridge finally got their reward with four minutes remaining when Wood pounced on a rebound following Craig Braham-Barrett’s shot to score from close range.
Cairney produced an unbelievable save with his feet from a Tom Beere drive and when the board showed added time of five minutes it seemed less than generous. A melee of players on the half-way line brought a lengthy stoppage as the referee restored order and the clocked ticked on to the 98th minute when the excellent Braham-Barrett crossed in from the left and, once again, Wood was on the end of it to steer the ball into the net. For Tommy Wood, it was just like buses!
In the stands, demented older people danced with delight not befitting their age, oh, that was me!
The game actually reached its 101st minute before those same people were able to dance again to the tune of the final whistle.
The moment had a Brightlingsea feel about it, and it struck the same chord with the manager who made a mention of that now famous day. History won’t repeat itself with promotion but National South safety will do nicely.
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