Staines Town 1 Tonbridge 1

Match 47/15/1252 - Tuesday, 1st December 2015 - Ryman Premier

Staines Town (0) 1 Abdullah 53
Tonbridge (0) 1 Elder 62
Attendance: 198

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 140/3,440

Match Report

Successive away games have brought the same result with two vastly different performances that were influenced heavily by the state of the surfaces. The Staines pitch resembled a bowling green in comparison to the cabbage patch at Billericay and Tonbridge were able to express themselves accordingly.

There is always something irritating about visiting Staines. Late postponements were the signature of my first two visits and now it is being turned away from the car park if you are not a member of the gym. Never trusting the M25 during evening rush-hour, extra time was allowed and, of course, it was plain sailing round the motorway leaving enough time to find a parking space elsewhere once turned away.

The home side started well enough with a shot wide and a header comfortably saved by Anthony Di Bernardo before Tonbridge took control of the game. After 12 minutes, David Fitzpatrick sent Luke Blewden through, but a moment's hesitation was enough for Tommy Brewer to make a saving tackle.

Staines' goalkeeper, Jack Turner, made the first of several good saves when he clawed away a Tommy Parkinson header from a Blewden long throw and a couple of minutes later saved with his feet at the near post a Blewden shot.

After 38 minutes, Parkinson should have put the visitors in front when he steered a close range header wide after a perfect cross from Nicky Wheeler.

Parkinson was substituted during the half-time break with Anthony Riviere taking his place. The visitors continued to take the game to their hosts and it was something of a surprise when, from 20 yards, a low shot from Ahmed Abdullah found the bottom corner.

A second substitution was necessary as Blewden limped off to be replaced by Tommy Whitnell. After 55 minutes, Turner produced another good save to turn over the bar a Nathan Elder before Tonbridge found an equalier a couple of minutes later. A fine run and cross from Fitzpatrick offered up a simple chance for Elder who buried his header from close range.

Fifteen minutes remained when another very good save from Turner denied Elder after some good work from Jack Parter, who also had to be substituted before the end.

If Tonbridge were slightly fortunate to leave Billericay with a point, here they were deserving of the full compliment. As I overheard a Staines supporter telling another, "you can see why they are at the top".

Staines Town 1 Tonbridge 1

Match 54/11/941 - Tuesday, 13 March 2012 - Conference South

Staines Town (1) 1 Wheeler 22
Tonbridge (1) 1 Schultz 27
Att. 228

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £3.00 (2 progs, one for the postponed fixture)
Mileage: 136/4,160

Match Report

Tonbridge supporters got a bit of a result from tonight’s game at Staines . . . the game was actually played. Two previous postponements of this particular fixture, two wasted journeys previously made, so my success rate of games watched at Staines rises to 50%.

Victories in the last two games at Basingstoke and at home to Maidenhead have ensured mid-table safety for Tonbridge in their first Blue Square South season, so the first objective has been achieved. The focus is already swung towards next season with manager Tommy Warrilow signing a new contract and six of this term’s squad are contracted to the club for 2012-13. For Staines the game carried a whole lot more significance, they are desperately fighting relegation and the 1-1 final score line will have to be seen as two points lost rather than one gained.

It wasn’t the best of games, but it was one where the attacking impetus ebbed from one side to the other. Tonbridge began brightly and in the first 20 minutes efforts from Nathan Korantheng, Chris Piper and Miguel Suarez occupied Staines’ keeper Danny Potter, a recent arrival from Newport County. It was, therefore, slightly against the run of the play when Staines took a lead on 22 minutes. David Wheeler picked up a loose ball in midifield and from 25 yards unleashed a shot that flew into the top corner. It was a superb strike, but in truth, I have to imagine it as I was distracted by the mobile phone, lifting my head to see it whistle past Lee Worgan.

The lead lasted five minutes as Ollie Schultz converted a near post corner from Korantheng from the edge of the six yard box for a second goal in successive games. Tonbridge had a bit of a purple patch from that point before the home side finished the half strongly and created a good chance just before the break when Mark Nwokeji combined with Ali Chaaban, whose shot was cleared from the line by Lee Browning.

The second half was once again ebb and flow. Tonbridge had a lot of the early part of the half with Schultz seemingly able to desert his defensive duties and have a couple of decent efforts on goal. Into the last minutes and the impetus switched to the home side, Nwokeji forced Worgan to save with his legs and five minutes from time Chaaban saw a fierce effort blocked by Schultz.

In the final minute of time added on, Tonbridge held onto their point with some desperate defending. Chaaban and Nwokeji, a constant threat all evening, combined to create a chance for the latter that was cleared to the relative safety of a corner, from which Jake Goodman was able to get a shot on goal but to which Worgan was equal.

Tonbridge will be far happier with the point than the home side who remain in the bottom four. Staines would also have been very disappointed with the poor attendance of just 228, of which it was estimated around 70 would have travelled from Tonbridge.

Staines Town P Tonbridge P

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 - Conference South

Staines Town P
Tonbridge P

Wasted Mileage: 136/3,315

Lightning might not strike twice but Jack Frost certainly can. Three years ago, the same journey was made on a day when Kent was snow covered and, despite assurances from the home club that the pitch had been deemed fit for the game to go ahead, I was met at the gate with the news that there had been a postponement after all.

All the same checks had been made before departing for this particular fixture, once again a pitch inspection had been made at 16:00 and passed by a local referee only for the match official to declare that a strip in front of a stand was too dangerous and decided that match could not go ahead.

A pint in the local pub was a small compensation and in there we met a Staines director who told us that the pitch was perfectly playable, in his opinion, and that the offending strip would be quickly cut up by the player's studs.

I jokingly asked the director if he could ensure that this fixture next season was given a August date as two out of three visits here to see no football is a percentage record that I would like to lower in the future.

Staines Town P Tonbridge P

Saturday, 10th January 2009 - Ryman Premier

Staines Town P
Tonbridge P

Programme: £1
Mileage: 136/4,092

A Friday afternoon postponement of Gillingham’s home game against Aldershot left me with a Saturday hole to fill with the knowledge that the big freeze that had engulfed Kent for a week would make it a difficult task.

So on Saturday morning I was feeling pretty chuffed that Staines v Tonbridge, Ryman’s second versus third had survived an 11 a.m. pitch inspection but took note that there would be a further inspection by the match referee at 1 p.m. So with Staines Town Football Club telephone number punched into the mobile I set out with my car temperature gauge showing -4.5degC sitting on my drive.

At 1.30 p.m. and before I entered the M25 I took the precaution of phoning Staines, upon which I was told that the game had survived the latest inspection and the game was on. All the way round the M25 until my exit at Junction 13 the temperature never rose beyond
-2degC and I was left wondering if Staines had some sort of micro-climate.

As I entered Staines it was the picture of winter beauty, everything was a glistening white and the temperature had dropped a further degree. I started to despair and realised that the worse was about to happen when I spotted a couple of Tonbridge supporters walking in the opposite direction to the one I was heading.

Three hours driving time, 136 mile round trip wasted. Take a look at the pictures below how could anybody pass this pitch fit to play at any time? But to pass it twice is beyond a joke.

Staines Town 1 Tonbridge 1

Match 40/07/657 - Saturday, 22nd December 2007 - Ryman Premier

Staines Town (1) 1 Nwokeji 5
Tonbridge (0) 1 Westcott 86
Att. 270

Entrance: £9
Programme: Sold Out
Mileage: 136/3,559
New Ground: 221

Match Report

Tonbridge looked to be suffering a hangover from their famous victory on Tuesday as Staines sliced through their defence with a beautifully crafted opening goal within five minutes of the start. For 15 minutes from the beginning Staines looked every bit a side amongst the pacesetters of the division. Their passing and movement was good to watch, albeit it is your side that is being given the runaround. But following this first quarter hour Tonbridge gained a foothold on the game and whilst their style might not have been so pleasing on the eye, slowly but surely the effectiveness of Staines was being eroded. By half time Staines deserved their lead, but the feeling was that Tonbridge were far from out of it.

The referee decided to take centre stage in the second half. I’ve refrained from using these postings to criticise referees, but this one was a real shocker, and a “homer” to boot. Tonbridge were generally on the wrong side of some very poor decisions, no more so than when Richard Harris scored with a powerful header but was penalised for shirt pulling or pushing, neither of which was apparent from my viewpoint, which was unobstructed. From that same viewpoint a second disallowed goal for offside from Carl Rook looked a more justifiable decision, but you got the distinct impression that is was not to be the Angels’ day. These fears proved unfounded with four minutes to go when Staines failed to deal with a long throw-in that eventually fell to John Westcott to slot home a deserved equaliser. A one-on-one opportunity for new signing Luke Fontana went begging as Tonbridge could so easily have come away with all the points.

My first time to Staines’ Wheatsheaf Park and a nice set-up it is once you have negotiated the town centre one way system and complex roundabouts. The main stand is the rear of a leisure centre which houses a very nice bar with just about the biggest television I’ve seen. Opposite is full length covered terracing and behind one of the goals there are some strange shaped houses whose windows seem very vulnerable to the mishit shot.