Taunton Town 4 Tonbridge Angels 1

Match 39/22/2046 - Saturday, 29th October 2022 - National League South

Taunton Town (2) 4 Braham-Barrett (o.g.) 2, Jarvis 45, Smith 75, Chamberlain 88
Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Gavin 28

Attendance: 872
New Ground: 352
Admission: Pass
Programme: None purchased
Mileage: 382/3,042

If on Tuesday, I was scrapping myself off the ceiling; four days later I’m picking myself off the floor, such is football.

The longest trip of the season had begun with a 6 o’clock alarm call and a notification that my booked rail journey from Paddington to Taunton had been cancelled. Perhaps the story of the day was already being written.

The cancellation had little effect, an earlier train out of Staplehurst allowed me to catch the 10:04 from Paddington that thankfully had spare seats.

With plenty of time to spare, the 1.5 miles from station to the Cygnet Stadium was walked through a town that, it has to be said, had very few redeeming features.

The Cygnet Stadium is a pleasant ground that in places shows its age, opened in 1953, but has all the necessary attributes and I will admit to a little terrace envy.

Behind both goals there is full width terracing with covered accommodation directly behind the goals. There is a main covered seating stand which holds the best part of 300 seats housing also an area of terracing whilst opposite there is a smaller seating stand. Brand new terracing, installed for their FA Cup tie against Yeovil (which Taunton won) is alongside, this the reason for my terrace envy! The grass pitch was in great shape, well cut and no need for Binfield moans!

News had filtered through on the train down that neither Jonny Henly (illness) or Lewis Gard (injury) had travelled, so the team showed two changes, Kevin Manuel in goal and TQ Addy for the influential Gard.

Tonbridge fell behind in the second minute when a cross from the left by Zak Smith travelled a long way to the far post from where Craig Braham-Barrett in attempting to head the ball away for a corner inexplicably turned it into his own net.

During the opening 15 minutes the Angels defence were asked a lot of questions and were struggling to contain their hosts but having survived this period they started to take control of the game and after 19 minutes a tempting cross from TQ Addy was deflected over his own bar by Dan Ball. The subsequent corner was met by a towering header from Joe Tyrie that only narrowly cleared the bar.

Set piece deliveries into the box were continuing to cause problems and one such in the 26th minute required Addy to clear from his line.

But, two minutes later, the Angels were on level terms as Dylan Gavin, who lost his footing while taking his shot from 25 yards, found the net with goalkeeper Jack Bycroft surely disappointed to be beaten from that range and a shot that didn’t particularly carry too much venom.

Bycroft had another scare just past the half-hour when a low cross from Ruben Soares-Junior went straight under his body before being hoofed to safety.

Certainly at this point, Tonbridge were enjoying the better of the game forcing several corners but, as the half entered its added time, a right sided corner was met with a powerful header from Nat Jarvis to give the hosts the lead at the break.

Into the second half, which frankly was a disarrrster as Craig on Strictly would say!

An early shot from Soares-Junior was spilt by Bycroft and hacked to safety and that was about as good as it got.

On 75 minutes, Taunton as good as put the game to bed when a cross from Ollie Chamberlain from the right found Smith unmarked around the penalty spot with time and space to bury a shot past Manuel.

The icing was most certainly put on Taunton’s cake with two minutes remaining when from the right side of the box, Chamberlain drove an angled shot into the roof of the net past Manuel positioned at his near post.

The good people of Taunton were certainly hospitable and none more so than the group that stood and applauded the Tonbridge players from the pitch. It was such an act of sportsmanship that I felt the need to ask one of them if they were just being sarcastic. He assured me they were not!

As with all these long journeys that end in defeat, it was a long ride home even if the train was taking the strain and running to time. But, if you want evenings like Tuesday, you have to take Saturdays like this one.

K Sports Academy 3 Tonbridge Angels 1

Match 38/22/2045 - Wednesday, 26th October 2022 - National Youth Alliance League Cup Second Round

K Sports (1) 3 18, 75, 79
Tonbridge Angels Academy (1) 1 Velvick 31

Headcount: 20
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 26/2,660

The Academy produced a disappointing performance at K Sports and paid the price with a second round exit from the National Youth Alliance League Cup.

Shorn of several key players, Tonbridge struggled to find any real momentum on a difficult pitch outside of the stadium at Cobdown, where the 3G was unavailable.

Hayden Velvick, with 12 goals to his name already this season, had the Angels’ first chance of the game after seven minutes with the K Sports goalkeeper saving at his feet and his strike partner, Ben Hermitage pulled a shot wide before the home side took the lead after 18 minutes.

A K Sports free kick from wide on the right was allowed to travel all the way to the far post from where the K’s number 11 was positioned to score from close range.

Stung into action by the goal, the Angels summoned a bit more energy with a Hermitage free kick palmed away by the keeper, who then saved well from Josh Tobin.

But, in the 31st minute, Hermitage managed to wriggle his way to the right byeline before pulling the ball back to Velvick who scored from the edge of the six yard box.

Both sides had a chance to go into the break in front with Hermitage testing the goalkeeper late on, but the pitch certainly wasn’t helping the game in terms of quality.

Into the second half and with the Angels coming out on the front foot, firstly a shot from Kian Austin cleared the bar before Ben Hermitage was denied a goal having been victim of a very poor offside decision from the linesman.

But K Sports, now kicking down the slope, built momentum and, following a free kick into the box that had proved a frailty for the Angels back line, a scramble in the box ended with the right hand post being struck.

So it was no great surprise when K Sports took the lead with 15 minutes remaining when a cross from the right was not dealt with properly leaving a close range strike to put them 2-1 up.

Sadly, no lessons were learned and four minutes later another cross into the box once again led to a scramble and a shot stabbed home.

Tonbridge put together a spirited last 10 minutes but created very little in terms of real opportunities as the home side managed the game well to book their place in the third round.

Tonbridge Angels 1 Chelmsford City 0

Match 37/22/2044 - Tuesday, 25th October 2022 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Santos 14
Chelmsford City (0) 0

Attendance: 930
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/2,634

No need for drugs when football can give you such a high.

A thrilling game in which Tonbridge had a first half of attractive football and a second in which they had to dig deep and defend as if their lives depended on it. Both aspects of the game were loudly appreciated by a fully engaged attendance of 930, which we think is a record League attendance for a Tuesday night at Longmead.

Chelmsford arrived sitting fourth in the table, 10 games unbeaten including five wins on the spin which includes progress to the First Round of the FA Cup.

Jaydon Crowhurst’s loan spell from Southend has ended and into his position came Tariq Hinds, a new signing whose last club was Billericay, having spent time as a youngster at Tottenham. Up front Dylan Gavin was preferred to Louis Collins, who dropped to the bench.

The first half was very open with chances for both sides before Jeremy Santos opened the scoring after 14 minutes which left me to muse that there was no way this game was ending 1-0 (wrong!).

A cross from the right from Ruben Soares-Junior found Joe Turner at the far post, diving in low to connect with a header that struck the post and, at the other end, Simeon Jackson was denied when one-on-one with Jonny Henly.

The Angels took the lead after Santos won the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and surged beyond the centre circle before releasing Soares-Junior down the right who made it to the byline before pulling the ball back to the penalty area to where Santos had continued his run to crash the ball home.

Santos was at this point revelling in the atmosphere and his shot on 23 minutes was only marginally wide.

Chelmsford came right back into the game and had a credible penalty shout turned away on 34 minutes followed, five minutes later, by a header from Charlie Ruff that cleared the bar.

Into the second half and Tonbridge’s rearguard action was underway almost from the outset. A cross from the left just eluded Jackson right in front of goal, whilst Joe Tyrie and Sonny Miles won countless headers.

But the moment of the match, what might have been for the season, for the Angels fans came on 78 minutes when, from inside the centre circle, Santos spotting the keeper off his line tried his luck and executed a near perfect lob over Ejeheri, but sadly the ball drifted inches wide.

Chelmsford threw everything forward to rescue their unbeaten record but the Angels back line stood firm and, in time added, it took a fine, low save from Ejeheri to deny Joe Turner adding a second.

One final chance from the edge of the box fell to Barnum-Bobb who shanked his shot about 20 yards wide and about 20 feet high to bring down the curtains with a rousing cheer that was mainly borne of relief.

I could still have been scrapped off the ceiling by the time I got home, what a buzz!

Tonbridge Angels U18 7 Glebe 0

Match 36/22/2043 - Monday, 24th October 2022 - Isthmiaan Youth

Tonbridge Angels U18 (2) 7 Cormack 14 Puffette 25,64 Honavar 52,57,75 Lambert 60
Glebe (0) 0

Attendance: 43
Admission: £4
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/2,596

Against a background of Diwali fireworks, the Angels Under-18’s produced a firecracker performance of their own to demolish Glebe by seven clear goals with Cameron Honavar, who returned to the starting XI, scoring a hat-trick in a Man of the Match winning display.

From very early in the game, Tonbridge’s height advantage from set pieces caused problems for the Glebe defence with Will Puffette heading over from a corner.

The visitors stretched the Angels goalkeeper, Matt Larkin, after seven minutes before Max Cormack opened the scoring with a well struck shot past the Glebe keeper, Lorenzo Di-Cesare after 14 minutes.

The goal didn’t actually signal the deluge that was to follow as Glebe responded well with corners and an effort from Taheim Walters-Salmon that kept Larkin busy.

But with Zach Garcia’s set piece deliveries continually causing problems, a second goal was not long in coming as Puffette powered in a header following a free kick.

Puffette produced the tackle of the match after 37 minutes to deny Walters-Salmon and Glebe remained in the game at the break at two behind.

But the second half was to prove a different story as the Angels Under-18’s overpowered their visitors. Seven minutes into the half, Max Lambert set up Honavar to drive the ball into the bottom corner.

A stunning shot from Felix Waring from 25 yards crashed back of the crossbar, but two minutes later, Glebe’s frailty in the air was exposed again as Honavar headed the Angels four up.

On the hour, a really good team goal saw Waring and Honavar setting up Lambert for number five.

Puffette was allowed time to turn in the box and score as the Angels extracted the maximum chaos from every corner.

After 75 minutes, Honavar completed his hat-trick touching in from close range, the fifth goal of seven as a result of a set piece.

In fairness to Glebe they answered their manager’s calls to keep going to the final whistle and Larkin was forced to make a couple of saves late on.

Dom Welsh was rightly delighted with his team’s performance, commenting: “Exceptional team performance tonight, consistently outstanding from minute 1 to 90; controlled in possession, clinical in the final third and prevented everything going forward. A very good all-round performance from the lads.”

Tonbridge Angels 2 Chippenham Town 0

Match 35/22/2042 - Saturday, 22nd October 2022 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Soares-Junior 15 Gard 60
Chippenham Town (0) 0

Attendance: 966
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme:£3
Mileage: 38/2,558

A really solid performance; a clean sheet and three points earned almost without concern. A good day at the office for Tonbridge Angels and even more pleasing that Chippenham were a very useful opposition.

A ridiculously warm late October afternoon saw another attendance that neared 1,000 and the entertainment that was put before them should hopefully ensure that many will return on a regular basis.

Joe Tyrie, 18-year-old skipper of the Academy, signed a first team contract during the week and he took his place alongside Sonny Miles in the centre of defence in an unchanged starting XI from last week’s defeat at Dartford.

The home side made the better start before taking a 15th minute lead through Ruben Soares-Junior following a superb passage of play that began with Miles winning a tackle on the edge of his own box before moving the ball into midfield to Jeremy Santos who in turn sent Joe Turner to surge forward and his pass inside the full back found Craig Braham-Barrett. A pass inside to Louis Collins, a further pass outside to Soares-Junior who finished with aplomb into the far corner. Back-to-front, 80 yards without a Chippenham player touching the ball, it was football to savour.

The half sped by, such was the pleasing nature of the football on show, and the only criticism that anybody could have of the home side was that they were only a goal to the good.

Chippenham came out for the second half with a renewed sense of purpose and really should have been level after 55 minutes when a cross from Eddie Jones found the head of Harvey Greenslade at the far post but it was directed narrowly wide.

Tonbridge doubled their lead on the hour with another flowing move that involved a long ball forward from Santos that sent Jayden Crowhurst scampering down the right before delivering a inch perfect cross to the far post for Lewis Gard to steer a volley home.

Although the Angels held the dominance of the game, Chippenham were far from lying down and Henly had to be at the top of his game to deny Greenslade and a superb save to thwart Luke Russe.

Substitute Tommie Fagg hit a shot from distance that dipped later onto the roof of the net and TQ Addy also brought a save from Will Henry.

A very satisfying afternoon and after several weeks of less than satisfactory refereeing, a word should go to George Laflin who allowed the game to flow at all times. Great to see, especially with Tonbridge at full flow!

Staplehurst Monarchs U23 2 Hollands & Blair U23 3

Match 34/22/2041 - Thursday, 20th October 2022 - SCEFL Development League

Staplehurst Monarchs Under-23 (2) 2 Sargeant 16 Morrell 18
Hollands & Blair Under-23 (2) 3 Davies 20 Prudger 35 Hall 62

Headcount: 45
Admission: £2 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 1/2,520

My first foray into SCEFL Development League football took me to my local club, to watch Staplehurst Monarchs Under-23’s take on Hollands & Blair. They provided a watchable game, but one which lacked the quality of Isthmian Under-18’s of which I was interested to make compare.

On a chilly evening, where the wrong choice of coat was made, Blair started the brighter with chances falling to the heads of Richard Davies and Oliver Everett and followed, in the ninth minute, with a superb block from Staplehurst's Keaton Courtman to deny Davies, but it was the home side that found themselves two goals ahead by the 18th minute.

After 16 minutes, a cross from the left, found Toby Sargeant with time and space to drive a shot into the bottom corner and two minutes later, the score was doubled when Hollands goalkeeper, Jason Hayward, saved an initial shot but Harry Morrell was on hand to bundle home the rebound.

But the Gillingham-based side quickly hit back and the endeavour of Davies was rewarded when he finished via a post following a surging run from the middle of the pitch.

Blair continued to have the better of the game with Staplehurst goalkeeper, Tom Klegwegt saving from Fred Searle before they got on level terms, after 35 minutes, when a shot from 30 yards by Dallas Prudger could only be helped into the net by Klegwegt.

Staplehurst enjoyed their best period of the half in the closing 10 minutes with James Found narrowly going wide and Hayward saving from Ruben Sammut and Sargeant but half-time parity was a fair reflection.

After four minutes of the second half, a 30 yard shot from Searle cleared the bar but two good chances followed for Staplehurst with a header following a corner being cleared from the line and then another header from Found after a good cross from Morrell also went over the bar.

But, after 62 minutes, some dreadfully naive defending from the home side allowed Hollands & Blair to take the lead. A quick throw-in to George Hall, stood in an offside position, but, of course, you cannot be offside from a throw-in and the Blair winger cut in to bury his chance into the far corner.

A succession of chances should have seen the visitors through to a comfortable last 15 minutes but Hall put a chance wide and Prudger headed into the goalkeeper’s hands.

Staplehurst rallied to try to extract something from the game but Hollands comfortably managed the game to its conclusion.

Tonbridge Angels U18 3 Hastings United U-18 2

Match 33/22/2040 - Monday, 17th October 2022 - Isthmian Youth League Cup 2R

Tonbridge Angels Under-18 (1) 3 McLeod 38 Garcia 59 Lambert 75
Hastings United (1) 2 Corbin 9 Chapman 78

Attendance: 60
Admission: £4
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/2,519

Tonbridge Angels Under-18’s progressed in the Third Round of the Isthmian Youth League Cup with a hard fought win against an equally impressive Hastings United side. It was a compelling contest with no quarter asked, none given with a couple of stunning free kick goals to further illuminate the game.

The game started as it intended to go on with a first minute chance for the Angels that Max Lambert put wide before Hastings grasped the early dominance that led to a ninth minute lead through Dominic Corbin after a corner from the right had been headed on at the near post for the Hastings man to head home at the far.

Hastings drew confidence from the goal and, with a great work ethic, that for 20 minutes the Angels struggled to match, the chances fell to the East Sussex side.

But slowly the Angels, now matching their visitors with every stride, began to wrest control with Finlay McLeod bringing a fine save from goalkeeper Ben Spicer.

Matt Larkin, in the Angels goal, was pressed into action saving well from Finley Chapman with the follow-up effort going wide.

Tonbridge got themselves level after 38 minutes when a superb through ball from Felix Waring sent McLeod clear to slip the ball under the advancing Spicer.

The half-time whistle brought down the curtain on a very good half but the second half proved to be real a cracker!

Lambert drew a good, low save from Spicer and a couple of minutes later Larkin did similarly from a Hastings free kick and so the tempo was set.

On the hour, the Angels got their noses in front when Zach Garcia, dubbed the “Ginger Pele” by this team mates, curled a 20 yard free kick over the wall and into the top corner.

At this point in the match, Tonbridge held the ascendancy and, after 65 minutes they thought they had doubled their advantage but a very tight offside decision denied Lambert’s strike. But the energetic Lambert was not to be denied on 75 minutes when he chased down a back pass and while the goalkeeper dithered with the ball at his feet the impact of Lambert’s tackle took the ball into the net for his sixth goal of the season.

If the Angels youngsters thought that was game over their visiting counterparts were having none of it and three minutes later, from a 25 yard free kick, Chapman drove the ball into the top corner to set up a frantic, enthralling finish.

Both sides had their half-chances but deep into injury time when a header from a free kick was collected by Larkin there was a collective sigh of relief as the referee called a halt on a highly entertaining evening.

Dominic Welsh was obviously delighted with his team’s effort commenting after the game: “Excellent win tonight. Disciplined and determined are the word! We had a game plan that the lads 100% adhered too and that brought an outstanding result against a strong Hastings United side.”

Dartford 2 Tonbridge Angels 0

Match 32/22/2039 - Saturday, 15th October 2022 - National League South

Dartford (1) 2 Carruthers 30 Fonkeu 70
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0

Attendance: 1,278
Admission: Pass
Programme: Not Purchased
Mileage: 62/2,481

After a tumultuous week at Westminster in which the old cliche “the only certainties in life are death and taxes” was severely brought into question, Tonbridge Angels supporters endured their annual certainty: defeat at Dartford.

The best part of 200 Angels fans awoke on Saturday morning, donned their colours; journeyed the short distance and arrived at Princes Park, a nice ground, where they receive a friendly welcome from hosts that barely raise a shred of hostility but in their hearts they knew the outcome is never any different. No matter how well we play, there will be a freak goal; a shocking refereeing decision or an in-form Dartford side.

For the pedantic among us, Tonbridge have once enjoyed the taste of victory at Princes, a pre-season friendly against ground-sharing Thamesmead in 2017.

Jay Saunders was unable to welcome back any of his walking wounded but made one change, resting a not fully fit Tommie Fagg for 18-year-old central defender Joe Tyrie.

Joe Turner fired in an opening shot that was only just over the bar after just 10 seconds in a bright start which also saw Dartford’s Samir Carruthers become the first of eight players to receive cautions in an afternoon that referee Ross Martin would hopefully not look back on with any great pride.

After the initial quarter-hour, the home side started to exert themselves on the game, forcing a series of corners, each of which caused concern for the Tonbridge defence.

A 24th minute effort from ex-Angel Luke Allen that almost cleared the stadium roof brought some amusement to the visiting support but as the corner count mounted, Turner was needed to clear from the line and, just a minute later, Craig Braham-Barrett spectacularly did similarly.

But the reprieve was short-lived and, on the half-hour, Carruthers swung in a corner from the left that sailed over the heads of everyone to nestle into the far corner. One could hardly call it a freak goal, as his previous efforts had posted fair warning. Jonny Henly received a yellow card for his protest that the awarding of the corner had been an incorrect decision.

Every corner won by Dartford, and there were several, brought a collective holding of breath from the Tonbridge faithful who were grateful to hear the half-time whistle.

The introduction of Dylan Gavin and Tommie Fagg on the hour brought a change in the momentum of the game with the Darts needing to stand firm as successive efforts from Gavin and Gard brought desperate blocks and it was against the run of play when the home side doubled their advantage on 70 minutes through substitute Pierre Fonkeu who drove home from close range after Henly had parried a shot from Charlie Sheringham.

Tonbridge rallied impressively with Turner seeing a shot blocked and another that cleared the bar before a route back into the game was offered when Carruthers clumsily felled Jeremy Santos in the box. Sadly, Turner’s spot kick cleared the bar by some distance and despite making a spirited effort in the final minutes the game was lost, leaving us thankful that, barring an FA Trophy draw, our visit to Princes Park is done for another year.

Tonbridge Angels Academy 11 Maidstone United Academy 0

Match 31/22/2038 - Wednesday, 12th October 2022 - National League Under-19 Alliance

Tonbridge Angels Academy (5) 11 McArthur 10 Saunders 12 Velvick 34,44,86,90 Hermitage 38,80 Tyrie 51 Vowles 60,63
Maidstone United (0) 0

Headcount: 12
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/2,419

Tonbridge Angels Academy’s early season goal rush continued with an eleven goal demolition of their local rivals Maidstone United. Sixteen-year-old Hayden Velvick scored his second successive quadruple following his four goal haul last week against Welling United.

The opening minutes at Longmead didn’t suggest the ultimate outcome with Maidstone applying some early pressure, but once Velvick had struck the right hand post after being released by Fyn Rutherford, it was not long before the floodgates opened as the visitors struggled with the Angels pace and movement from that moment.

Tonbridge went ahead after 10 minutes with a Josh McArthur lob from 12 yards that the goalkeeper, Kieran Pongoue, could only fingertip into his own net. Only 60 seconds elapsed before the lead was doubled. A fine ball from Tom Scott-Smith found Velvick whose cross from the byline was bundled home at the far post by Will Saunders.

The traffic was purely one way and the biggest surprise was that it took until the 34th minute to add the third goal. Prior to the goal, Pongoue saved well from Ben Hermitage and Velvick, who opened his account reacting to the goalkeeper’s parry after a McArthur shot.

After 39 minutes, a quick free kick from Scott-Thomas allowed McArthur to set up Hermitage who smashed a shot into the roof of the net and, on the cusp of the break, McArthur’s cross was intercepted by a defender but only deflected into the path of Velvick who scored with ease.

Maidstone’s defensive frailties were quickly exposed in the second period when a Leo Vowles cross found Joe Tyrie, with time and space, to steer a header home.

The visitors stirred and attacks saw Nat Gibb save from Robin Earle and a shot from Jaden Green sailed over before a slick move involving Velvick and Hermitage set up Vowles for the seventh on the hour. Three minutes later Vowles doubled his account with a rasping drive from the acutest of angles.

Pongoue was keeping the scoreline respectable until Hermitage on 80 minutes and two late goals from Velvick rounded off the afternoon.

Tommy Parkinson hailed the ruthless performance of his squad whilst commiserating with his opponents who deserved credit for working hard until the final whistle.

Tonbridge Angels 2 Oxford City 2

Match 30/22/2037 - Saturday, 8th October 2022 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 2 Soares-Junior 53 Santos 67
Oxford City (2) 2 Ashby 26 Parker 45

Attendance: 1,073
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/2,381

A friend of mine, from another club, contacted me to ask how I thought the opening couple of months of Jay Saunders tenure had gone. “What’s not to like, we are ninth; the football is mostly pleasing on the eye, but I just wish he was a bit luckier”, was my assessment.

There is a criticism banded about, supposedly drawn from a season at Maidstone in which Saunders used 50 players that he operates a revolving door policy and with 29 players used by early October the argument might have merit, but I think most people could name correctly at least nine of his starting XI, if he had a full squad to choose from.

Injuries turned this game into farcically chaotic at times. The signing of Scott Wagstaff after last week’s friendly had left me excitedly anticipating a midfield spine of James Taylor, Wagstaff and Lewis Gard but these hopes were dashed in front of our eyes as Taylor went down during a warm-up routine to limp away from the session and out of the game. Out of adversity, step up Jeremy Santos, promoted from the bench to start and my, oh my, what a way to grasp the opportunity.

The opening 10 minutes saw Louis Collins shoot wide, but after seven minutes came the first talking point as Ruben Soares-Junior was clearly body checked in the area for what looked a stonewall penalty but referee Aaron Farmer set his template for the afternoon inexplicably waving away the claims.

Tonbridge had almost total domination, so it was very much against the run of play when Oxford City went ahead after 26 minutes. An initial through ball from Josh Parker sent Klaidi Lolas clear but he was well marshalled by Tommie Fagg before the ball was laid out to the right from where Jean-Baptiste Fischer laid the ball back to Josh Ashby who angled a drive into the far bottom corner.

The goal didn’t change the momentum of the half with a Soares-Junior header saved low by Ben Dudzinski, although Sonny Miles produced a goal-saving tackle before Parker struck, right on the cusp of the break, with a header at the far post following a beautifully flighted cross from substitute Lewis Coyle.

The Angels didn’t deserve to be behind at the break, let alone two behind, and it was going to take a monumental effort to salvage something in the second period.

Something special was needed and it came, firstly from Soares-Junior after 53 minutes. The Portuguese man collected a crossfield pass from Gard to the right hand side from where he cut in to the angle of the 18 yard box before letting rip a shot into the far corner with the keeper grasping at air.

Tonbridge drew level in equally stupendous fashion after 67 minutes. Santos picked up the ball deep in his own half and passed forward to Gard who laid the ball back into the path of Santos, who, first time from 30 yards fired past the bemused Dudzinski.

Unfortunately it was injuries that took most of the attention after the second half goals. Joe Tyrie, who had been a half-time replacement for Fagg, took a ball square in the face and was unable to continue, so another reshuffle saw Craig Braham-Barrett moving into the centre of the defence with Joe Turner, for about the third time this season, filling in at left back.

There were long breaks in play firstly for an Oxford player before Tyrie and even an medical incident behind the goal that saw the Tonbridge physio attend and whilst all that was going on, another Tonbridge player went down that necessitated Tommy Parkinson acting as stand-in physio!

There were 14 minutes of added time in which Jonny Henly was brought into the action with a couple of smart saves to preserve the hard-earned point.

Saunders luck must surely change soon and then we can make a sound judgement, but for now, ninth will do nicely.

Photos: Kathryn Bell

Staplehurst Monarchs 1 Rochester United 0

Match 29/22/2036 - Saturday, 8th October 2022 - SCEFL Division One

Staplehurst Monarchs (0) 1 Osagie 74
Rochester United (0) 0

Attendance: 331
Admission: £6
Programme: £2
Mileage: 1/2,343

Seven years ago I made my first visit to Jubilee Field, home of Staplehurst Monarchs, which considering at the time I had lived in the village for two years was pretty shameful. Admittedly it was for a Kent County League game, but the attendance amounted to 15 people. The ground was an open field with another match being played on an adjoining pitch. There were no stands, no floodlights and no toilets. Equally shameful on my part, it was another three years before I made a return visit despite continuing to live just half-a-mile away, this time for a pre-season friendly, nothing had changed and the attendance had shrunk to just 12.

Fast forward to 2022, the inaugural SCEFL Groundhop and the Monarchs are hosting Game 2 of 6 against Rochester United, in front of a record 331 attendance in an enclosed ground with stands and lights. On the field, they are steadily establishing themselves as a SCEFL club with ambitious plans for the future.

The Groundhop saw a coach load of hoppers, from I know not where, but along from me there were a group that was obviously down from Liverpool, some doing all six, last night at Punjab; this game then on to Bearsted and Larkfield before finishing off at Rusthall and Tunbridge Wells on Sunday. One bloke in the scouse group was disappointed that he had to get back to Merseyside on Sunday for the Everton v Manchester United game!

Groundhoppers need feeding and watering and the queue for Aldo’s was lengthy and continuous whilst the outside bar with a couple of barrels of real ale was also doing a roaring trade at 10.30 in the morning!

Since my earlier visits this season at the tail end of a long, hot summer the pitch has recovered remarkably from its straw appearance to a lovely, lush green surface that encouraged the ball players.

To say that an entertaining game was served up for the visitors from far and wide is a bit of a stretch but it was engaging and, with the hoppers worrying about their goal averages, it at least served up a winning goal that was worth the entrance fee and avoided the dreaded goalless draw.

Staplehurst are obviously being asked by their management team to play a possession-based game that starts with the goalkeeper, who utilises his full backs to play the ball into midfield areas but when this is not possible it tended to go back to Steve Lawrence, the home custodian, who began the process again, and again, and again with the visitors, Rochester United pressing high. It did become a little tedious and had one wishing for a good, old fashioned hoof upfield!

The first scare for either side came from one of these situations, after 11 minutes, when the pass back to Lawrence was a little heavy and the goalkeeper’s touch saw the ball heading towards the line before he scrambled it away with the Rochester forwards claiming the ball had crossed the line.

Rochester certainly made the early running and Lawrence did well to turn aside an effort after 25 minutes and it wasn’t until the later stages of the half that the home side carved out a couple of chances with Brad Large firing a shot across the face of goal and also shooting over.

The second period became a little bit attritional with some hefty tackling that found the referee with some awkward moments to deal with, and certainly not in a manner that brought approval from both benches.

The big moment of the match came in the 74th minute after Rochester had seen a good move end with a shot from Lucas Payne that was cleared from the goal line with a punt forward that eventually found its way to substitute John Osagie, who cut in from the right, found a bit of space open up in front of him before burying a shot into the far, bottom corner from 20 yards.

Rochester made a valiant effort to retrieve a point with efforts from Louis Dos Santos and a header from a corner from Tom Whittaker that cleared the bar before the referee brought the curtain down and the hoppers made their way back onto their coach and on to the equally delightful surrounds of Bearsted. Let us hope they fondly remember their visit to Jubilee Field.

Greenacre Academy 2 Hugh Christie 6

Match 28/22/2035 - Wednesday, 5th October 2022 - Academies League Championship

Greenacre (1) 2
Hugh Christie (4) 6 Southern 2, Grant, Boorman, Devlin, Thompson

Attendance: 1
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 32/2,342

Tunbridge Wells 2 Deal Town 2

Match 27/22/2034 - Saturday, 1st October 2022 - SCEFL Premier

Tunbridge Wells (1) 2 McCreadie 4 Abooa 76
Deal Town (1) 2 Chapman 7 Millbank 74

Attendance: 305
Admission: £5
Programme: Not purchased
Mileage: 6/2,310

This was the first time seeing Tunbridge Wells since the opening day of the season at Kennington when they were disappointing to put it mildly.

But, the visit of second placed Deal Town to Culverden showed that Luke Carpenter has made some good progress in the last couple of months.

My first visit to Culverden this season also brought a surprise in the new stand for the Sunshine Club, small but perfectly formed!

The game got off to a bright start with a goal apiece in the opening 10 minutes. Tunbridge Wells opened the scoring after six minutes after Matt Astle pulled the ball back from the byline to Trevor McCreadie, who received with his back to goal but with a nifty turn and shot into the bottom corner for his sixth goal of the season.

But the lead was to last barely two minutes when a cross from the right found Ben Chapman in far too much space allowing him to head past Jason Tibble.

The game was an entertaining end-to-end affair and after 25 minutes, McCreadie once again showed his sharpness in front of goal when an overhead kick struck the top of the bar.

On 36 minutes, Deal required some desperate defending to deny firstly an effort from James Nurden with goalkeeper, Henry Newcombe, saving the follow-up from Jon Shea.

Deal’s chances to go into the break in front came in the final five minutes with Tibble saving low from Connor Coyne and a header, following a corner, from Kane Smith.

The second half was not as fluent as the first and got more than a little scrappy at times with the game stopping and starting all too often. Frankie Griffin struck the bar from outside of the box for the Wells whilst Chapman pulled a shot wide for the visitors.

Deal got their noses in front after 72 minutes when Chapman was brought down in the box for Smith to convert from the spot into the bottom corner.

But, once again, a lead was to last just a few minutes when an inch perfect through ball from Robbie Bissett sent substitute Ezekial Abooa clear to plant a confident finish past Newcombe.

In time added, McCreadie shot wide, but overall the points shared was a fair result.