Dartford (1) 1 Rooney 31
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 1,122
Admission: £11 Senior
Mileage: 58/1,767
Weather: 19degC., pleasantly warm
Tonbridge Angels abject failure to extract a win on Dartford soil goes beyond being generational, it is the lifetime of the majority of senior citizens that support the club and the wait goes on.
Statistic number one is that no Angels supporter has ever witnessed an Angels victory at Princes Park since its opening in 2006, but as both sides came into the game on the back of disappointing FA Cup exits and with Dartford’s inauspicious start to the season, perhaps there was a sense that there might never be a better chance.
In years gone by, Angels supporters have left Princes, once more vanquished but almost always beaten by a decent side, that was not the case on this occasion, which makes it all the more frustrating.
Tonbridge’s malfunctioning front line, who have failed to find the net seven times in the opening ten games has long-standing supporters of at least 20 years (statistic number two coming up) longing for a Luke Piscina, Brendan Cass or Nick Barnes, architects of successive wins in the early 2000’s when the Darts were groundsharing at Stonebridge Road.
On a pleasantly warm afternoon, certainly not in need of the coat that I wore, Tonbridge were set back in the opening minute when Jeremy Santos went down injured and, after five minutes, he was substituted by Lewis Gard. That Santos returned to the bench after the half-time break on crutches was a disturbing sight.
Dartford had the better of the possession in the opening half-hour but frankly their attack looked as ineffectual as the visitors, the only real scare being a Jamie Fielding clearance following a corner on 18 minutes.
But that wait of 48 years for a win on Dartford soil (statistic number three) when Tonbridge won a semi-final en-route to their last Kent Senior Cup success, seemed destined to continue when Paul Rooney drove a shot through a forest of bodies into the bottom corner after an initial shot had been blocked.
The Angels ended the half with a positive response with efforts on goal from Joe Turner and Jordan Higgs but these were comfortably dealt with by Mitchell Beeney.
The early part of the second period saw the better of the chances fall the way of the Angels with Scott Wagstaff being felled on the edge of the box as he rounded the advancing Beeney.
Jonny Henly made his best stop of the game on the hour pushing away a low drive from Brandon Barzey and, five minutes later, turning over a free kick from Harvey Bradbury.
The last 20 minutes saw Tonbridge search manfully for an equaliser. Greenidge rounded the adventurous Beeney but was tackled as he was about to send a shot goalwards and a Turner volley failed to find the target.
But there was no way through, and so to the final statistic as Tonbridge fans made their way home, yet again fruitless as it has been since 1955 when two goals from Ronnie Bennett brought home the league points from Watling Street. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that someone in the crowd of 1,122 was in attendance 68 years ago, to you sir or madam we tip our hat!
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