Tonbridge Angels 1 Dulwich Hamlet 1

Match 72/17/1522 - Saturday, 16th December 2017 - Bostik Premier

Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Turner 65
Dulwich Hamlet (0) 1 Clunis 48
|Attendance: 539

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/4,711

The visit of Dulwich Hamlet is one to look forward to. Despite the light-hearted piss-take about hipster fans, craft beers and high-end burgers, they are almost always good value. They usually arrive in numbers, although the proximity of Christmas probably reduced their support this year and, with the exception a forum rant that was unnecessary and shouted down from fellow users, they are a friendly bunch. On the field, they are pleasing on the eye and play with a style that can bring out the best in the opposition and that was the certainly the case with Tonbridge.

Tonbridge paraded their new signings, Dan Bennett from Merstham and, on the bench, Sam Bantick from Heybridge Swifts. There was a reorganisation at the back with George Beaven missing through illness.

Steve McKimm deployed a system that allowed Dulwich a lot of space for their back four to play the ball out but found it a lot more restricted as they moved into the next two-thirds of the pitch. This gave the impression that the visitors were enjoying a lot of possession, which they were, but not in a manner that was hurtful to the hosts.

That said, they made a couple of chances and Tonbridge were indebted to Jonny Henly to retain parity at the end of the first period.

Henly was first pressed into action after seven minutes when Sanchez Ming sent Nana Boakye-Yiadom clear but the Tonbridge goalkeeper was alert and off his line to plunge at the feet of the Hamlet striker.

A dreadful clearance from Preston Edwards in the Dulwich goal fell at the feet of Joe Turner and it took a stupendous block from Ricky Hayles to deny the Angels the opener.

After 18 minutes, the visitors had an appeal for a penalty turned down as the ball struck the arm of Craig Stone and it took a fine save, low to his left, from Henly to thwart Boakye-Yiadom a second time.

Henly once more earned his corn with another fine save, this time to deny Nyren Clunis after 33 minutes.

After an entertaining, but goalless, first half, the second period was only three minutes old when the visitors went ahead. Clunis received a ball over the top, but still some way from goal, cut in from the left and fired a shot into the top corner that gave Henly no chance.

Dulwich had a period when they looked as if they had their hosts measure with the impressive Kenny Beaney at the heart of everything.

But Tonbridge were far from a spent force and, after 68 minutes, a 40-yard crossfield pass from Stone, right to left, saw Edwards racing from his goal but beaten to the ball at the angle of the 18 yard box from where a deft touch from Turner lifted the ball over his head and into the unguarded goal.

The game was an end-to-end affair in the last 20 minutes as both sides searched for a winner. Turner crossed for Alex Akrofi to head over whilst Boakye-Yiadom stretched Henly; substitute Bantick asked questions of Edwards before, into the final breathless minute, Henly brilliantly saved from Yiadom and Dulwich substitute Omar Korona steered a header wide when it seemed easier to score.

A hugely entertaining game with a result that probably satisfied neither manager, but was a fair reflection of the action.

Glebe 0 Tunbridge Wells 0

Match 71/17/1521 - Saturday, 9th December 2017 - SCEFL

Glebe (0) 0
Tunbridge Wells (0) 0
Attendance: 63

Entrance: £5 Senior
Programme: Included
Mileage: 62/4,673

Tunbridge Wells came away from Glebe’s Foxbury Avenue with a hard-earned point following a spirited rearguard action against a team featuring ex-Football League players in the shape of Jason Goodchild and Peter Sweeney. Indeed the visitors might have grabbed all three points when a shot from John Shea crashed against a post with the goalkeeper well beaten.

But it was in defence where the Wells earned their reward. Perry Spackman was commanding and, when he was called upon, goalkeeper Jack Bradshaw produced several good saves to preserve his clean sheet.

Jason Bourne made two changes from the side that lost on Tuesday evening to Beckenham. Keiron Tarbie returned to the side and Drew Crush was promoted from the bench with Tommy Lawrence named among the substitutes as was new signing from Herne Bay (a Carlos Valderama lookalike!) Jarrod Trespaderne.

On a bitterly cold afternoon, it took a while for the game to warm up with Bradshaw saving comfortably and Spackman putting in the first of several well-timed blocks.

The first moment of real note came after 32 minutes when Bradshaw saved well, low to his left, from Laurent Hamici.

Tunbridge Wells responded with a shot from Tom Davey that was deflected wide for a corner and another from Steven Ita that was narrowly wide.

Bradshaw was brought into action again making a fine save from Hamici five minutes before the break.

Into the second half and, after nine minutes, the Wells defence got themselves into a mighty tangle but, once more, Bradshaw came to their rescue pushing away another effort from Hamici.

The Wells’ best chance of the afternoon came after 64 minutes when a free kick was only half-cleared to the feet of John Shea whose first time shot crashed against the post with the follow-up from Ita being blocked and finally cleared.

Glebe put in a final effort and a header from a corner was narrowly wide but the Wells defended strongly to thoroughly deserve their point. New signing Trespaderne had an energetic 10 minutes from the bench and Alex Kendall, pushed further forward, also impressed.

Tunbridge Wells now go into a difficult run of games starting with an away fixture at Bearsted next Saturday.

Picture: Alan Coomes

Tonbridge Angels U21 2 Cray Valley PM Res 1

Match 70/17/1520 - Wednesday, 6th December 2017 - Suburban League Premier

Tonbridge Angels U21 (1) 2 Oladejo 40, Fenton 90+1
Cray Valley Reserves (0) 1 Tumkaya 61
Headcount: 15

Entrance: £3 Senior
Team Sheet: Free
Mileage: 38/4,611

Jack Fenton’s curled shot into the top corner in the first minute of added time extended Tonbridge’s Under-21 Development side’s run to three successive wins, duly lifting them into 10th place in the Suburban League.

The match was unfortunately dominated by a referee that took exception to any dissent, not necessarily a bad thing, but done without using any common sense. He limited physical contact leaving the game stopping and starting every other minute which irritated players and their benches even more which ultimately led to a scrappy match.

The man in the middle made his first decision after just 25 seconds when he decided that Andrew Sesay had been brought down on the right side of the box thus awarding Tonbridge a penalty. Luciano Osbourne’s spot kick was well saved, low to his left, by Cray Valley’s goalkeeper, Chris Cowdrey.

A mix-up between Angels’ goalkeeper coach Stewart Copeland and central defender Emenuele Offin-Ankemah presented a lob towards an open goal for Jordan Sandiford but his effort came back off the crossbar.

Cray Valley had the ball in the net after 23 minutes but this was disallowed, after much confusion, for offside.

Tonbridge opened the scoring, five minutes before the break, when a free kick from 20 yards was beautifully bent around the wall and past Cowdrey by Temi Oladejo.

In first half time added, Oladejo attempted to repeat the trick but his free kick struck with venom was too high.

Just past the hour mark an electric run from Sesay ended with a pulled back pass from the bye-line but Osbourne was just short of contact.

Cray Valley equalised after 69 minutes when a speculative shot from Deren Tumkaya crept in at the left hand post with Copeland motionless.

Tonbridge pressed hard for a winner with substitute Karlan Henry’s header going wide but a draw looked the outcome until Osbourne played the ball inside to Fenton who produced a snap shot that curled exquisitely into the far corner before defenders could close him down for the winner.

On Saturday the Under-21s travel to Corinthian at Gay Dawn Farm for a 15:00 kick off.

Dorking Wanderers 2 Tonbridge Angels 3

Match 69/17/1519 - Tuesday, 5th December 2017 - Bostik Premier

Dorking Wanderers (2) 2 Taylor 5 Sole 9
Tonbridge Angels (2) 3 Elder 23 Akrofi 43,62
Attendance: 205

Entrance: £7 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 122/4,573

Match Report

At 2-0 down after less than ten minutes it looked like the game of chicken we had played to cross a high speed, busy dual carriageway was the only one we were going to win.

But the evening was to have a happy ending, Dorking Wanderers pushed the self-destruct button giving Tonbridge the opportunity to recover from that disastrous opening.

At the beginning of the season it was unlikely that Tonbridge would ever have had the joy of an Isthmian League match at Westhumble. They are due to relocate to the town centre site of the now defunct Dorking Football Club, but the due dates of August and November have not been met and from the mouths of locals there was not much optimism that the move will made anytime soon.

Westhumble is a different place to visit in the evening than on a nice, sunny afternoon in August when we visited for a pre-season friendly in 2015. I then described the place as: Everything about Westhumble was kind of "pretty". Nestling in the foothills of the North Downs, with its cabin style clubhouse and wooden perimeter fencing at a perfect height and width for leaning on; looking out on the most beautiful, lush pitch that you could wish for in non-league, it was a scene that could have emanated from the Sound of Music!

Sadly, it doesn’t look quite the same on a midweek evening in December. The parking was a nightmare. Arriving just after 19:00, the car park was already full and pulling up onto the verge to discuss where to relocate with the steward with the arse of your car poking out as car sped by with their hooting blasting abuse was not ideal. Down to the next roundabout, back up the carriageway on the other side of the road to find a lay-by that parked the car but left us with the task of crossing the carriageway on foot in pitch black light that meant it was even difficult to see the sanctuary of the central reservation, but we live to tell the tale!

Tonbridge started the game on the front foot with Joe Turner crossing for Nathan Elder to bring a good save out of the home goalkeeper, Slavomir Huk, with the rebound being blasted over by Xavier Vidal.

It was though the home side that opened the scoring after five minutes when James McShane played in ex-Angel Lewis Taylor to drive a low shot from 20 yards past Jonny Henly.

Things went from bad to worse for Tonbridge four minutes later when Taylor turned provider finding Giuseppe Sole who drilled his shot past Henly from the edge of the box.

Tonbridge had to work hard to find a way back into the game as Dorking exercised a fine passing game whilst dominating the middle of the pitch.

But they gained a lifeline in the 23rd minute when a poor clearance fell out the feet of Elder whose, not so clean, contact was enough to find its way into the bottom corner.

Now the momentum had changed with the Dorking back line struggling to contain Elder’s physical presence and Alex Akrofi’s pace and movement.

The major turning point and the most controversial decision of the evening came in the 27th minute when Elder got marginally clear of Isaac Philpott who brought him down. The referee made the decision that he had been the last man and sent him off. It seemed harsh to me, but others thought it was the correct decision.

The Dorking manager made a strange decision making a double substitution following the sending-off that did nothing to shore up his defence.

With the man advantage, Tonbridge turned the screw and Dorking owed a great deal to their goalkeeper for keeping them in front until a minute before the break. He made good saves to deny a Turner free kick; saved low to left from Jack Parter and similarly a Turner shot from 20 yards.

Huk was finally beaten when a pin-point cross from Taylor found the head of Akrofi, whose downward header bounced into the roof of the net.

Into the second period saw Bradley Stevenson replace Vidal just before the hour to stretch the game the full width of the pitch. Stevenson almost immediately had a shooting chance but blasted well over.

Three minutes later the Angels were in front following a cross from Turner that Huk failed to gather but saved well on two occasions from Stevenson before the third rebound fell to the assured feet of Akrofi to score.

At this point it was expected that Tonbridge would make hay and chances came and went but as the game entered its final minutes Dorking threw caution to wind to find an equaliser. Long throws into the box started causing problems and with three minutes remaining Henly made a save that was as match-winning as Akrofi’s goal with a close range stop from Tom Tolfrey.

On the sidelines we lived on our nerves and Elder failed to calm these when a free kick from Ryan Worrall saw his header directed at Huk.

Avery 0 Concord Rangers 5

Match 68/17/1518 - Monday, 4th December 2017 - Essex Senior Cup 4R

Aveley (0) 0
Concord Rangers (0) 5 Cawley 58 Akinwande 63,78 (pen) Da Costa 70 Roast 75
Attendance: 174

Entrance: £4 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 70/4,451

Aveley’s spanking new Parkside has become the home of Monday night football for those that like their daily fix of the game. It is a shame that geographically it is positioned at the mouth of the Dartford Tunnel with all the traffic congestion problems that it engenders.

Last week was a completely aborted journey as the time to make your way through the bore reached almost an hour and a half. This time, I relatively sailed through the Tunnel only to get snarled in the queue to circumvent the Lakeside roundabout. If one doesn’t get you, the other will. As it was, I made it into Parkside with a couple of minutes to spare, plus the game being played on Isthmian Mean Time which meant a five minute delay to kick-off anyway.

After a closely contested first 45, the National League’s Concord Rangers flexed their muscles in the second period to run away with the game.

Ex-Angel Alex Teniola was leading the line for the hosts and for the opening half I felt he was an improved player from his time at Longmead but, such was the one-way traffic of the second half, he didn’t really get a kick.

Aveley started well but it was the visitors that had the opening opportunity after being awarded a penalty. Steve Cawley’s shot was well struck but too close to goalkeeper Rhys Madden who parried it to safety.

Teniola had a rasping shot that skipped past the far post whilst Louis Wells’ in the Aveley goal, did well to save from Jordan Watson.

Concord went ahead on the hour when Khale Da Costa pulled the ball back from the left for Cawley to amend for his penalty miss.

From that moment to the final whistle Aveley chased shadows as the Canvey Island side shredded their defence.

Five minutes later brought a repeat with different characters, this time Kyron Farrell supplying a cross for Femi Akinwande to bury into the far corner.

Rhys Madden’s goal was leading a charmed life but this was no more than he deserved as he single-handedly was keeping the scoreline respectable.

Da Costa helped himself to a goal that his performance deserved, cutting in from the right, evading some nondescript challenges before shooting between Madden and his near post.

The fourth after 75 minutes was a straightforward header from a Farrell corner by Billy Roast and the game was rounded off with a penalty by Akinwande after the man himself had been felled.

I think, for the rest of this season, I’ll only return to Parkside for a bracketed tick with Grays Athletic. I like the ground but the journey there for a 19:45 kick-off (or probably any other time) is too much of a ball-ache.

Gillingham 1 Carlisle United 1

Match 67/17/1517 - Saturday, 2nd December 2017 - FA Cup Round 2

Gillingham (1) 1 O'Neill 5
Carlisle United (1) 1 Grainger 18 (pen)
Attendance: 3,178

Entrance: £10.75 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 58/4,381

What can you say that is fresh about Gillingham Football Club? I’m at that point that I really don’t like writing up this blog when Gillingham are involved; it is just that same old words slightly recycled that are boring to write and, undoubtedly, boring to read.

I have no doubt that the 300 hardy Carlisle supporters who made the monstrously long journey down to Kent wound their way back to Cumbria more than happy with their afternoon. They will feel that the ball is now in their court and a Third Round tie is there for the taking.

Gillingham could not have asked for much more from the draw; a home tie against League Two opposition ticked all the boxes. But with home form as it is, this was not so much a banana skin rather a three carriageway oil slick.

The trouble is with (and here we go with the same old, same old) a lack of quality is, that no matter how big the carrot, quality that is not there cannot be manufactured like an extra bit of effort, of which nobody denies Gillingham do not lack.

My early fear was that Carlisle would score first and park the box and we would certainly not have the keys to unlock the said vehicle. That fear was put to bed within five minutes when a quality (where did that come from?) free kick from Luke O’Neill found a space between the goalkeeper and his right hand post from 20 yards out to open the scoring.

The lead lasted a quarter-of-an-hour before Mark Byrne brought down Tom Parkes for the awarding of a penalty that was converted by Danny Grainger which in turn allowed the Cumbrians the opportunity to start reversing their bus into position.

The lack of quality (here we go again) meant that Tom Eaves and Connor Wilkinson were starved of any meaningful service as cross after cross was either overhit or failed to beat the first defender.

Carlisle used just about every time-wasting tactic in the book, but in truth they didn’t have to, Gillingham could have been there for another week and they would not have added to the score.

The away form is so much better at present, so all is not lost and hopefully for the doughty 150 or so that will make the trip the Magic of the Cup will still be alive and kicking.

Woking Under-21 2 Tonbridge Angels Under-21 3

Match 66/17/1516 - Thursday, 30th November 2017 - Suburban League Premier

Woking U-21 (1) 2
Tonbridge Angels U-21 (2) 3
Headcount: 21
Played at Knaphill

Entrance: £2 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 140/4,323

Knaphill holds one of my best memories of last season when an outstanding performance from Tonbridge Under-18s took them through to the final of the Lucas Fettes Cup after taking apart a Woking side to the tune of 5-1. That under-18 side were well established over a number of years and were, almost certainly, the best youth side seen at Tonbridge for a generation. Chris Wye has had no such luxury and it has been an arduous task to assemble a team that is competitive.

Back at Knaphill, a ground of which I’m fond but not the torturous journey, 10 months later it was a pleasure to witness the progress that this development team has made, if even it was brass monkeys.

Woking started the game brightly and it didn’t need the eye of a top scout to recognise that their left winger, Reggie Young, was going to be a source of problems for the right side of the Angels’ backline. He set up a chance for Decan Appuh, a mountain of a lad, after eight minutes that goalkeeper, Ibrahim Attiah, did well to tip over and shot wide after skipping past Ciaran Naddison-Singh.

It was somewhat against the run of play when the visitors took the lead from the penalty spot after 16 minutes. Andrew Sesay is a rough diamond that Wye has unearthed and it was his pace that took him into the box to be brought down. Skipper Ryan McFarlane drove the ball to the left of the goalkeeper to open the scoring.

The lead was not to last long, just three minutes. Appuh was proffered too much time and space to pick his spot into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

The game went into a period of Woking dominance with Young and Appuh at the heart of everything.

On the break, good work from Steve Panayi opened up an opportunity for Sesay that was deflected wide and Sesay set up a chance for Luciano Osbourne to fire over the bar.

In the closing stages of the half, Tonbridge gained some real momentum. Woking goalkeeper, Dimi Kyriateis saved low to his left from Sesay; he tipped over an effort from Jordan James and parried one from Osbourne away. From the resultant corner, a knock-on found Kobie Ambrose at the far post to steer the ball home giving the Angels a half-time lead.

Into the second half, the pace of Sesay was troubling the Woking defence and in the 52nd minute he took a pass from Osbourne to rifle a shot into the centre of the goal.

Unfortunately, once again, the breathing space of a two goal lead was not to last and five minutes later, Young’s direct running set up a chance for Ross Murdoch which he buried from the edge of the six yard box.

Woking, with half-an-hour left on the clock, set about repairing the damage but resolute defending and some good goalkeeping kept them at bay whilst the Angels’ always looked dangerous on the counter.

Sesay had run himself into the ground by the time he was substituted with nine minutes remaining to be replaced by Charlie Dumas. Tonbridge game-managed the remaining time with added minutes being added to the added minutes to record consecutive wins that takes them above Woking in the league.