Chatham Town U21 2 Tunbridge Wells U21 1

Match 24/17/1474 - Wednesday, 30th August 2017 - Suburban South

Chatham Town U21 (2) 2 Palmer 33, Bearman-Dyce 43
Tunbridge Wells U21 (0) 1 Carey 50 (pen)
Headcount: 36

Entrance: £2 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 32/1,490

Bank Holiday Monday, sweltering heat and drinks breaks, Wednesday night digging out the heavy coat. Global warming anyone?

A very wet day had turned into a damp evening with a definite autumn chill but these respective under-21s played out a very competitive game in which Tunbridge Wells arguably would have gone home slightly aggrieved that they took nothing out of the game.

As usual at this level, no team sheet to give the Chatham players credit (a later edit following their team sheet appearing on Full Time at least allows the naming of their scorers) and Billy Palmer deserved at least that for an excellent solo goal after 33 minutes when he jinked his way past three Wells defender to finish clinically into the bottom corner.

Until that point, the game had been evenly contested with Matt Colman and Bayley Colbran stretching the Chats' goalkeeper in the first ten minutes.

After 14 minutes, from a free kick into the box the Chatham number six headed onto the top of the crossbar.

Following the opening goal the home side had a good period in which Caleb Bearman-Dyce was allowed to run with the ball from his own half before shooting over the bar.

A minute before the break, a long punt forward was poorly dealt with by the Tunbridge Wells defence with Bearman-Dyce capitalising and slotting the ball past Cameron Hall in the Wells goal.

Tunbridge Wells dominated the second period and when Tommy Lawrence was brought down on the right side of the box, Alex Carey reduced the deficit from the spot.

Wasted chances came aplenty from the visitors whilst the Chats did whack one against the bar after 65 minutes.

Chatham's George Acland saw red for a second bookable offence in the final minute of regular time and when substitute Joe Pickett was brought down when going through a second Chatham player, Joe Halford, might have suffered a similar fate but only saw yellow with the resultant free kick fired against the wall.

Tonbridge Angels 2 Folkestone Invicta 3

Match 23/17/1473 - Monday, 28th August 2017 - Bostik Premier

Tonbridge Angels (2) 2 Turner 15, Elder 24
Folkestone Invicta (1) 3 Yussuf 21 (pen), Heard 53, Vincent 56
Attendance: 534

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/1,458

Folkestone struggled to avoid the drop last season but still managed to collect four points from their games with Tonbridge and on a sweltering Bank Holiday Monday they inflicted further pain on the Angels with a hard earned victory at Longmead. Are Folkestone fast becoming a bogey side or is there another factor? My wife, for family reasons, can only come to Bank Holiday games and in the last couple of seasons has only seen Folkestone, could she be the jinx! Word of warning, her next game will be Boxing Day at ... Folkestone!

After suffering their first defeat of the season at Harrow, Tonbridge needed to start on the front foot and after hitting the bar with a lob from the edge of the box by Joe Turner, the midfielder stroked the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards to put the Angels in front after 14 minutes.

Rather than set back the visitors, who had enjoyed an equal share of the possession in the opening stages, they fought back to earn a penalty after 20 minutes when the impressive Ade Yussuf tangled with George Beaven as they went down the left hand side of the box. Yusuff went down under pressure and the referee immediately pointed to the spot, for my money if not universal agreement, it was a penalty. Yusuff sent Jonny Henly the wrong way in converting.

The game continued to be all-action and the attendance of 534 didn’t have to wait long before the Angels were back in front, this time courtesy of a corner from Turner being met by Nathan Elder’s head, that from close range gave Folkestone’s Tim Roberts little chance.

After 30 minutes with the mercury not too far short of 30degC the referee called a drinks break for the players whilst the tea bar did a roaring trade in ice creams!

Folkestone continued to press hard with Yusuff denied by Chris Kinnear; Kieron McCann, who looks to have made the step-up from SCEFL side Sevenoaks Town with ease, brought a good save from Henly at his near post.

Immediately prior to the break, Turner hit the right hand post after being set up by Andre McCollin and reversed the compliment for the latter to bring a save from Roberts.

The early part of the second period was all Folkestone and they fully deserved to be level when Yusuff broke through to set up Scott Heard with a tap-in after 53 minutes.

Three minutes later and the east Kent club were in front when Josh Vincent met a left-sided corner to head home.

Tonbridge replaced Elder with Dan Thompson immediately after, but the striker who so desperately needs a goal, missed a golden opportunity when McCollin literally laid it on a plate for him at the far post but he steered it wide of the post.

With 10 minutes remaining, Turner nearly capitalised on a bad back pass but his lob over the advancing Roberts was also over the bar.

The wait to give the Press Officer a lift home was a drawn out affair as Steve McKimm kept his side in the dressing room for almost 45 minutes. He needn’t have bothered, he could have just blamed my missus!

Gillingham 3 Southend United 3

Match 22/17/1472 - Saturday, 26th August 2017 - League One

Gillingham (0) 3 Eaves 56,63,80
Southend United (1) 3 Leonard 20, Kightly 65, Cox 73
Attendance: 5,339

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 58/1,420

Match Report

When one door closes another opens is a phrase generally used in terms of positivity. After a less than inspiring start to the season that had collected a single point but failed to register a goal, the saving grace was that Gillingham were looking reasonably secure at the back with only two conceded in three league games. So did Adrian Pennock consciously go looking for a goal, if he did he succeeded but at the cost of leaving the back door open.

After an opening ten minutes in which Gillingham looked bright, the next 35 were amongst the worst I've witnessed in many a year. Southend were downright average but a defence, that looked like a rubber dinghy in a force eight gale and a midfield that was overrun, made them look like Real Madrid.

The farcical situation with Stuart Nelson was put into perspective when Tomas Holy dropped a cross, allowing Ryan Leonard to hook the ball over his head and into the unguarded goal. People who lept to their feet in indignation that the keeper had been fouled were deluding themselves, Holy had the ball, dropped the ball, it was rubbish goalkeeping which makes the exiling of Nelson to training with the kids bewildering.

Pennock last season cited the poison in the dressing room but it seems he is still attempting to purge the remains with Nelson and, for this game, Josh Wright left out of the squad and seemingly on his way out of the club. Have Gillingham got the quality to sacrifice these players, Pennock thinks so, not many of the fans I know care to agree.

Roundly booed at half-time, credit where its due, the Gills showed a spirit in the second period that wouldn’t have been apparent six months ago.

With Tom Eaves in the side play is inevitably going to be one-dimensional, but if the service is right then the lofty striker will cause defences a problem.

After 54 minutes, Mark Byrne delivered a cross to the far post and the head of Eaves, whose looping header found its way into the bottom corner. How shit must you be, we’ve scored a goal, rang out from the Rainham End.

Glory be, nine minutes later they had two to celebrate. This time a cross from Connor Ogilvie was met with a stooping header from Eaves to nestle the ball into the same corner.

Unfortunately the back line had learnt no lessons from the first half and, almost immediately, Southend were back on terms, Michael Kightly managing to muscle his way into a shooting position to place a shot out of the reach of Holy.

Southend retook the lead after 73 minutes when a shot from the edge of the box hit the crossbar for Simon Cox to convert the rebound at the second attempt.

Once again, credit to Gillingham, heads could have gone down but they persevered and got their reward with 11 minutes remaining when they were handed a penalty when Byrne was brought down.

Eaves did his best to squander his hat-trick opportunity but the poorly struck kick was only parried by Southend goalkeeper Mark Oxley with the spin taking the ball towards the post, Eaves followed up to score.

A point, yes; but I come to the conclusion that cracks are only being papered over.

Tonbridge Angels 1 Maidstone United 2

Match 21/17/1471 - Tuesday, 22nd August 2017 - Kent Senior Cup 2R

Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Elder 57
Maidstone United (2) 2 Hines 25,39 (pen)
Attendance: 706

Entrance: £5 Senior
Programme: £0.50
Mileage: 38/1,362

Match Report

This was a Tale of the Unexpected. The first surprise was the need to search for a parking space in Tonbridge's spacious car park and then a queue at the turnstiles. Hold on, this is a Kent Senior Cup match, a competition that struggles to command attendances of 200. Gone, of course, are the days when Maidstone United were groundsharers at outposts such as Sittingbourne and Ashford, gone are the struggles of 300 diehards watching their Kent League days. Now they are National League, 2,000 per game at the shiny Gallagher and you might imagine that the Kent Senior Cup becomes very small beer, but credit to their support who turned up in large numbers boosting the attendance to the unforeseen 706.

The next surprise was the match itself. Dull, dull, dull usually describes a county cup game, this was nothing of the sort. A game of intensity, especially in the second half when Tonbridge did away with respecting their obviously superior neighbours. It was also a game of quality with Maidstone bringing the best out of the hosts.

Both sides rested players but this ultimately did not detract of the game. One of those fringe players, Tommy Taylor in the Maidstone goal did well to turn away an effort from Joe Turner after nine minutes. Five minutes later, at the other end, Jonny Henly made the first of many good saves, turning away a shot from Harvey Willard destined for the top corner.

Maidstone were the better side of the opening 25 minutes and, as such, deserved to go ahead when Zavon Hines shooting across the face of the goal to nestle in the net at the far post. A desperate effort to clear led to the belief that Callum Adonis-Taylor had deflected the ball into his own net, but the young defender was adamant after the game that he had not touched the ball.

The Stones continued to dominate and Henly continued to deny them saving well from Hines and Delano Sam-Yorke.

Maidstone doubled their advantage after 39 minutes when they were awarded a penalty after Joe Turner was adjudged to have brought down Sam-Yorke. My first instinct was penalty, but players and managers cast doubt on the decision afterwards. Hines successfully converted from the spot.

Tonbridge's best chance of the half came when a cross from the right found the head of Nathan Elder, but his effort cleared the bar.

The home started the second half on the front foot with Andre McCollin shooting over the bar and a well executed move between Jey Siva and Turner set up a header for Elder but it was straight at Taylor.

After 57 minutes, a cross from McCollin once more found the head of Elder but this time the big striker made no mistake as he powered a header past Taylor.

The game took on an end-to-end contest with both sides creating chances aplenty. After 64 minutes, a thunderous free kick from Chris Kinnear crashed against the bar. Kinnear took the kick quickly, catching everybody by surprise, even the referee who appeared not to have whistled for it to be taken, he allowed play to continue but one wonders what his decision might have been had the shot been inches lower.

Taylor plucked a Turner shot out of the top corner before Henly impressed with a double save to deny Willard.

Four minutes later Hines struck the bar with Henly reacting well to save the rebound from Stuart Lewis.

And so it went to the final minutes with the Angels desperately seeking an equaliser. Taylor saved from Akrofi; Stone had a header deflected for a corner; Dom Welsh and Turner both shot over but it was not to come.

It is never nice to go out of a cup competition at the first time of asking, albeit the second round with a bye. But 706 people through the gate equates to going three rounds in previous seasons and we have the satisfaction that we stretched a National League side regardless of the strength of the team it fielded.

Tonbridge Angels 2 Brightlingsea Regent 0

Match 20/17/1470 - Saturday, 19th August 2017 - Bostik Premier

Tonbridge Angels (0) 2 Turner 84, McCollin 90
Brightlingsea Regent (0) 0
Attendance: 484

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/1,324

Two home wins and a draw at one of the title favourites with no goals conceded constitutes an impressive start to the season for Tonbridge Angels and with players returning from injury the suggestion is that there is more to come.

One strange anomaly to each of the games played is that a below par first half has been followed by a better second period. Perhaps this is a testament to levels of fitness that is outlasting their opponents, but the fear is that sometime soon these slow starts might leave a half-time deficit that cannot be recovered.

This was a first-ever meeting between the clubs. Brightlingsea Regent, a club formed out of a merger between Brightlingsea United and Regent Park Rangers in 2005, were promoted from Ryman North last season after amassing 103 points, 114 goals, winning the league by a clear 12 points.

Regent opened the game on the front foot and their small but vocal following thought they had something to celebrate after 14 minutes when they had the ball in the net but this was disallowed for a foul on Jonny Henly.

Tonbridge simply failed to get going in the first half with a Sonny Miles header being only effort forcing the visiting goalkeeper, Sam Cowler, in a meaningful save.

Tonbridge were forced into a half-time substitution with Luke Blewden feeling unwell, Tom Beere his replacement. The Hampton loanee added a dynamism in midfield that had been lacking in the first half. An early chance fell to Beere but his effort was blocked on the line.

A fine cross from Jey Siva found the head of Nathan Elder whose steered his header wide and Henly saved low to his right to deny Phil Kelly as chances for both sides continued to be short in supply.

The game was to open up after 70 minutes when the visitor’s Josh Gould was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Dan Thompson blasted narrowly over the bar after being set up by substitute Andre McCollin whilst, at the other end, Aaron Condon put a free header over the crossbar.

As Regent began to tire more chances fell, but to their credit, they were willing to put their bodies on line as goal-saving blocks were made to deny Thompson, Chris Kinnear and McCollin. When a corner was met by George Beaven who headed the ball into the ground and over the crossbar from close range, it seemed that the breakthrough was not to come.

But, with six minutes remaining, it did come. Good work led to Craig Stone producing a pinpoint cross to the far post for Turner to bury a header.

On the cusp of the game entering time added, McCollin produced a fine finish from 15 yards into the bottom corner to make the game safe for the Angels.

There remained time for Siva to see an effort cleared from the line before the referee’s final whistle confirmed the Angel’s unbeaten start to the season.

Picture: Wes Filtness

Cray Valley PM Reserves 4 Tonbridge Angels U21 0

Match 19/17/1469 - Thursday, 17th August 2017 - Suburban League Premier

Cray Valley PM Reserves (3) 4 Tumkaya 12, Mulkerinns 14, Adonis-Taylor (o.g.) 40, Skinner 54
Tonbridge Angels U21 (0) 0
Headcount: 24

Entrance: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 75/1,286

Tonbridge Angels Under-21s had a chastening opening period from which they were unable to recover in their first Suburban League game of the season at Cray Valley.

The team that took to the field at the start of the game has evolved over pre-season with many changes in personnel and is still very much in the process of gelling.

They played a diamond formation in the first half, mirroring that of the first team, but found themselves overrun in midfield and being continually exposed down the flanks by a Cray Valley side that was able to pass the ball freely through the Angels midfield.

A change in formation in the second half, stringing five across the middle, brought greater stability and an improved performance.

Two early goals set the Angels onto the back foot. After 12 minutes a corner from the left was met by a header from Cem Tumkaya who rose almost unchallenged to plant his header past Ibrahim Attiah in the Tonbridge goal.

Two minutes later it was 2-0 when Chandler Kasai fed Kieran Mulkerinns to fire across the face of goal and into the bottom corner.

Attiah saved well from Mulkerinns to save the situation from quickly getting worse.

Tonbridge created their only chance of the first half when Samuel Oyeriran drove a shot to the near post but the Cray goalkeeper, Chris Cowden, got down well to save.

Hopes were dashed of getting to half-time with just a two goal deficit when a free kick from Connor Dobson was launched into the box and with Attiah dithering, the ball skimmed off the head of Callum Adonis-Taylor into his own net.

With the change of shape, the Angels at least became competitive and had the first opportunity of the second half with Stevie Panayi firing over the bar.

But, after 54 minutes, the hosts went 4-0 up when a 20 yard free kick from Dylan Skinner was accurately placed past the despairing dive of Attiah.

A through ball from Oyeriran found Karlan Henry but a heavy touched denied him and Cowden needed to be alert to save at the feet of David Solomon as Tonbridge searched for a consolation.

Tonbridge need to take heart from their second half performance as they take on Metropolitan Police Reserves at Longmead next Saturday, 26th August.

Margate 0 Tonbridge Angels 0

Match 18/17/1468 - Tuesday, 15th August 2017 - Bostik Premier

Margate (0) 0
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 632

Entrance: £8 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 106/1,211

Match Report

A visit to Margate Football Club is always taken when they are in the midst of one of two cycles, Boom or Bust. There is no centre ground with the Thanet club, their pot is either overflowing in riches or there isn't one to piss in.

We are now in Boom. A bright, new 3G pitch looks resplendent surrounded as it is by decaying infrastructure and temporary portacabins that have long since taken root by virtue of previous unfulfilled promises of hotels, casinos and a stadium to grace their aspirations of the Football League.

It remains to be see whether this era has any more substance than the previous booms, we only have history to draw our own conclusions.

The money is here now, and as usual, is being spent on the pitch, that being the playing staff, not the 3G that obviously cost a pretty penny.

The welcome is warm at Hartsdown Park and there is none of the garish boastfulness of their partners on the Bostik Rich List at Billericay. In fact, their supporters were downright nice, wishing us a good season at the final whistle and us to them.

Steve Watt has obviously decided the route to National League South is not only copying the model at Maidstone, but by employing about three-quarters of his team-mates from the Gallagher. Add in Sonny Miles, Craig Stone and Tommy Parkinson and the bar afterwards must have been like a school reunion.

Such is the reported investment, arrival on the east coast was much in hope rather than expectation. Still shorn of five recognised first team choices, admittedly Margate were short of a couple themselves, Steve McKimm’s selection virtually picked itself, with no changes made from Saturday’s opening day victory against Hendon.

Tonbridge had the ball in the net after seven minutes but this was ruled out, contentiously, with the referee deciding that Dan Thompson was interfering with play as Stone put the ball into the net.

It was the one moment of respite in a first half that was largely dominated by the hosts. Dave Martin, a championship player with Millwall and Derby County in a previous lifetime, was a constant threat and Liam Smith, at 17-years-old, was given a testing time but stood up to the examination.

The principle scare of the first half for the visitors came after 14 minutes when following a corner, Tom Wynter crashed a header against the crossbar. Angels’ goalkeeper, Jonny Henly was called into action soon after, palming away to relative safety a shot from Martin.

A lot of the pressure that was brought on Tonbridge was almost self-inflicted as their ball retention was considerably less than satisfactory.

The second half was a different story altogether. Tonbridge kept possession better and gained momentum although in the opening 20 minutes of the half very few chances were created by either side with Martin pulling a shot wide the only threat to the goal.

After 73 minutes of absorbing, but goal-less action, Sidney Sollis (as the stadium announcer formally introduced him) was introduced into the fray and that horrible feeling of fate was upon us.

But it was the Angels that upped the tempo and the chances fell to them with Nathan Elder having a shot blocked and Chris Kinnear blasting over.

Three minutes from time the ball fell nicely for Sollis to inflict the worst possible pain but he tamely shot over the bar.

As we entered time-added, the possible disappointment of losing a well-deserved but unexpected point made the heart race faster and when Matt Bodkin drove a shot marginally wide the old ticker nearly stopped completely.

Money is not everything, let’s hope for the sake of the Isthmian League in general, that those words apply also to Billericay, and perhaps a good old fashioned team spirit might just be enough to gatecrash the party.