Chatham Town 2 Punjab United 1

Match 30/19/1753 - Tuesday, 1st October 2019 - SCEFL Premier

Chatham Town (2) 2 Geddes 4 Evans 32 (pen)
Punjab United (1) 1 Johnson-Cole 26
Attendance: 189

Admission: £5 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 32/2,164

My first trip of the season to Chatham’s Bauvill Stadium and also my first look at the transformation made whilst going to a 4G pitch and, you have to say it is pretty impressive.

The old turnstiles, a welcome nod to a bygone age, remain but once through, your eyes are immediately drawn to the bar area which has been completely revamped merging two rooms into one with large picture windows facing out to the pitch. Inside the bar is bright with screens dotted around so that lunchtime football can be watched while helping the club’s coffers with a few beers.

The old stand remains, but with rumours that it will be no more come next summer. The 4G surface has been pushed as far across from the main stand as possible leaving a very wide, newly laid tarmac walkaway. This has left the stand sitting rather a long way back but, as I was informed, the pitch has been lowered significantly so the sightlines haven’t been greatly diminished.

To finish the job, new perimeter fencing has been added.

On the pitch the Southern Counties East favourites will be under new management following the shock resignation of manager James Collins and on this form they will need to improve to justify their championship credentials as lowly Punjab United pushed them all the way and deserved something out of the game come the final whistle.

There was nothing to suggest that Chatham were going to be stretched in the early stages as they took a 4th minute lead when Pat Geddes headed home a corner. The visiting goalkeeper, Lee Kidman made good saves to deny Reece Butler, Geddes and Matt Bodkin. Paul Vines rounded the keeper, but a Punjab defender got back to retrieve the situation and Kidman saved well again to thwart Jack Evans.

So it was some surprise when Punjab levelled the score after 24 minutes when a free taken by William Johnson-Cole rebounded from the wall to the taker who drove a shot home into the bottom corner.

Chatham retook the lead with a 32nd minute penalty from Evans that Kidman couldn’t prevent despite getting both hands to the shot.

In the second half I saw my first-ever sin bin as Chatham’s Leon Smith sat out 10 minutes for a second yellow but returned in injury time to bolster the defence as Punjab mounted a grandstand finish that didn’t quite produce the goal that their performance deserved.

So the times they are a’changing at Maidstone Road but can the same progress on the field as they have off it?

Hampton & Richmond Borough 1 Tonbridge Angels 0

Match 29/19/1752 - Saturday, 28th September 2019 - National South

Hampton & Richmond Borough (0) 1 Deadfield 90+4
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 708

Admission: Pass
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 120/2,132

When the dust has settled in late April, whatever the outcome of the season, thoughts will return to perceived pivotal moments that have affected that outcome.

If, and despite the six point billing of a match that is played in September, it remains an if, Tonbridge might look back on the 17th minute of this game as one of those pivotal moments.

Steve McKimm had made the bold choice of leaving Joe Turner on the bench and with James Folkes injured, Alex Bentley was restored to full back.

The opening quarter-hour had been nothing more than a gentle feeling out of the opposition on both sides when, out of an innocuous area in midfield, Tommy Brewer recklessly clattered a challenge into Hampton’s Jake Gray leaving the referee to flourish the red card in an instant. It later proved to be his last act for the club.

There was no panic reshuffling and the game largely followed the pattern of the first quarter-hour. Indeed, after 30 minutes, Jared Small had the ball in the net but this was ruled out for offside, a hairline decision if it was right.

The better chances had fallen to the visitors as half-time approached but with a couple of minutes left on the clock they survived as a shot from Danilo Orsi-Dadomo struck the right hand post.

Turner was introduced a the start of the second period for Small, which left a few scratching their heads but the onslaught from Hampton was about to begin and an inspirational half of goalkeeping from Jonny Henly was underway.

Within a minute, Sam Deadfield had struck a shot into the side-netting when he should have done better and in a 10 minute spell, Henly denied Hampton at least seven times. A free kick from Deadfield found the head of Dean Inman, but Henly diving backwards clung on to the ball and, two minutes later, Inman thought he scored as his header was clawed away from the line by the Tonbridge goalkeeper.

Orsi-Dadomo struck a post with the rebound blocked by Henly and the chances created and wasted by the home side mounted.

But, having miraculously emerging unscathed from those frantic minutes, Tonbridge started to find chances of their own on the counter. Khale Da Costa put in a right wing cross that just evaded the head of Tom Derry and after a powerful run from Turner, Derry struck a post.

Four minutes of time added firstly brought a free kick in a dangerous position and a sigh of relief was audible as it was wastefully floated into no man’s land but the cruelest of blows was still to be inflicted on the Angels as Derry, who could (should) have run the ball into the corner lost possession, the ball was switched to the right from where Louie Soares produced a match-winning cross that left Deadfield only needing to put his head on the ball to win the game.

Hampton supporters could rightly claim they deserved the points with the chances they had, but it was the cruellest of outcomes for a brave Tonbridge rearguard action. How pivotal that 17th minute was, only time will tell.

Hugh Christie 1 St George's 4

Match 28/19/1751 - Wednesday, 25th September 2019 - Academy Championship

Hugh Christie (1) 1 Kempton 14
St George's (1) 4 Anderson 44,80 Deslandes 73 Lovell 88
Headcount: 4

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 32/2,012

A strong second half performance culminating with three goals in the last 17 minutes gave St George’s (Broadstairs) the points at King’s Hill.

The first half had been hard fought with Hugh Christie taking the lead on 14 minutes but being pegged back on the stroke of half time.

Hugh Christie’s lead had been obtained when Harry Kempton cut in from the left wing to bury a shot into the far corner from the angle of the 18 yard box.

St George’s hit straight back with a shot straight at Joe Roberts and we’re indebted to Louis Mayer who produced an acrobatic clearance from the line to preserve the Angels Academy side’s lead.

Both goalkeeper’s were employed before on the stroke of the break, a move opened up the Hugh Christie defence which allowed Jordan Anderson to fire a shot past Roberts from 12 yards.

The second half was evenly matched until the home side appeared to run out of steam in the last 20 minutes.

A superb 25 yard effort from Hugh Christie’s Angus Fife crashes against the right hand post and Harry Bray’s shot clawed out of the top corner by the St George’s goalkeeper.

But that is not to say that the Broadstair’s side were without chances of their own with the Angels’ defence stretched on more than one occasion.

The home side’s resistance was finally broken on 73 minutes by a moment of pure class from Leon Deslandes who deftly curled a shot over the keeper and into the top corner.

St George’s totally dominated the final 10 minutes scoring on 80 minutes through Anderson and with two minutes remaining Brandon Lovell wrapped up proceedings.

It was a harsh lesson for the Hugh Christie boys that a game lasts 90 minutes and they need the fitness to be competitive for every one of them.

Tunbridge Wells 7 K Sports 0

Match 27/19/1750 - Tuesday, 24th September 2019 - SCEFL Premier

Tunbridge Wells (2) 7 Froggatt 1,75 Powell 11 Blewden 63 Blake 77,85 Fjord Rogers 85
K Sports (0) 0
Attendance: 157

Admission: £4 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 38/1,980

Tunbridge Wells turned in another impressive performance building on the feel-good factor that surrounds Culverden at the present time.

I didn’t have much feel-good factor, arriving at the ground five or so minutes after kick-off due to traffic problems and road closures (when does this not happen in Tunbridge Wells? By my arrival, the Wells were already a goal to the good, after two minutes, scored by Josh Froggatt.

No sooner I had settled into place, Danny Powell converted at the near post to put the Wells firmly in control.

After 14 minutes, Jason Thompson hit a post as the Wells movement was cutting through K Sports threadbare defence At will.

That Tunbridge Wells went through the first half without adding to the score line is something of a mystery. K’s goalkeeper, Jack Howard, made a decent save to deny Froggatt but the mystery is largely explained as wastefulness.

K Sports did have a brief period just prior to the break including an effort that bounced off the top of the bar.

The early period of the second half saw Regan Corke narrowly miss for the visitors and Thompson put a header wide.

The introduction of Luke Blewden brought an immediate dividend as he turned in a right wing cross at the near post.

The goal broke K Sports paper-thin resistance and as the heads dropped the Wells ran riot in the final 15 minute.

A long ball forward found George Blake with the freedom of Culverden and he duly converted to make it 4-0.

A cracking effort from 25 yards from Froggatt into the top corner gave Howard no chance a minute later.

Blewden set up Blake to make it six and the evening’s entertainment was ended with a run and finish from Fjord Rogers.

Complimentary remarks heard as leaving Culverden used words such as entertainment, something that had been in short supply over the past couple of seasons.

Tonbridge Angels 1 Eastbourne Borough 2

Match 26/19/1749 - Saturday, 21st September 2019 - FA Cup 2QR

Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Theobalds 8 (pen)
Eastbourne Borough (0) 2 Wheeler 60 Romain 81
Attendance: 538

Admission: Pass
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/1,942

This was supposed to have been a weekend of celebration, the visit of Eastbourne Borough in the FA Cup marking my 3,000th game. The fact that Tonbridge Angels made their traditional first hurdle exit from the competition was later in pale into insignificance when, in a matter of hours on Sunday, two Angels supporters lost their battles with cancer.

Rosemary Stubberfield, who had accompanied her husband George and sons Kevin and Glen to matches over the course of 50-plus years, was a cheery lady known to everyone that regularly attended games on Longmead Stadium. At the opening game of the season against Dulwich Hamlet, she was able to enact one of her final wishes to lead the team onto the pitch aided by skipper Jack Parter.

Simon Balsdon is the son of Tim, whom I have had the pleasure of watching the Angels alongside for 20 years. Simon was the Joint Manager of the Reserve Team with Julian Leigh from 2005 and in November 2007 when Tony Dolby left his post as Manager at the club, the duo were put in charge of the First Team while the club sought a permanent replacement. When Tommy Warrilow was given the job after Simon and Julian had been in charge for a couple of games, Simon was returned to the Reserve side but was later made a First Team Coach under Warrilow alongside Alex O’Brien. Simon was also a well-respected coach at the Kent FA and in 2009 took the County to the FA County Youth Cup Final where they were beaten by Birmingham at Gillingham but, a year later, they went one better by winning the trophy beating Sheffield and Hallamshire 1-0, once again at Priestfield Stadium. This remains the only time that Kent have won the national competition. Simon teamed up again with Tony Dolby at Hastings United as Assistant Manager in 2010.

The outpouring of tributes on social media paid testament to the high esteem with which both people were held. Simon’s picture appeared on this blog, striding out alongside Tommy and Alex before a game. He said to me, having been an avid follower, joyfully that he had made it onto the blog. You’ve made it again Simon, I so wish the circumstances could have been different.

On Saturday, the emotions were one of anger as Tonbridge, given the boost of an early lead via a penalty, produced a woeful second half performance to go down 2-1 to Eastbourne Borough, losing the club £10,000 plus in prize money in the process. But that anger subsided into sadness within the next 24 hours.

Tonbridge Angels 2 Sittingbourne 1

Match 25/19/1748 - Wednesday, 18th September 2019 - FA Youth Cup 1QR

Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Masungeyi 45 Copeland 90
Sittingbourne (1) 1 White 17
Attendance: 162

Admission: £3 Senior
Programme: With Entry
Mileage: 38/1,904

A last gasp winner from substitute Louis Copeland sent Tonbridge Angels through to a FA Youth Cup Second Qualifying Round tie at Dover on a date to be confirmed. The winner was joyously received by a passionate support that had created a great atmosphere throughout the evening.

Sittingbourne proved to be gutsy opponents and though they heavily conceded the majority of the possession in the second half they defended heroically and would have gone home bitterly disappointed to have lost the game so late.

In fact, in the opening 10 minutes it was the visitors who forced the Angels on to the back foot. A header employed Angels’ keeper Charlie Martin in the first minute and Tay White fired narrowly over after eight minutes as the home side took time to settle into the game.

Tonbridge appeared to have wrestled control of the game back in their favour when Sittingbourne went in front after 17 minutes. A huge throw into the box was mishandled by Martin, who was only able to help the ball into the net.

It was a wake-up call for the home side and they pressed forward to repair the damage done by their relatively slow start. Ned Lewis, who proved a constant threat to the Brickies, tested Reece Heaseman; Alex Thompson sent a header over and with their best chance a Ben Twist corner was headed over by Harry Hudson.

On the stroke of half-time the Angels finally found an equaliser that had been a long time coming. Sam Babayale lofted a free kick into the box and Saul Musengeyi was on hand to bundle home a header at the far post.

The second period was almost entirely dominated by the Angels but Sittingbourne were steadfast and the Angels wasteful.

Sittingbourne persistently gave away free kicks in dangerous areas around their box but a mixture of deliveries that were not quite right and finishes that missed by inches failed to punish the visitors misdemeanours.

Tonbridge went close to going in front when a through ball by Zak Wolvey sent Lewis clear but his shot past the advancing keeper struck the left hand post.

The chances continued to come and go whilst the opposition were restricted to a single second half effort from White that was comfortably saved by Martin.

As the clock ticked towards extra-time, Lewis produced a defence splitting pass for the pacy Copeland to draw the goalkeeper and clinically finish into the bottom corner for a desperately late, but so deserved winner.

Manager Tom Parkinson was naturally delighted with the result whilst being disappointed that given the chances created the game wasn’t settled earlier. But he was fulsome in his praise for the party atmosphere that was generated in support of his team.

Ravens Wood 2 Hugh Christie 1

Match 24/19/1748 - Wednesday, 18th September 2019 - Kent Academies League

Ravens Wood (1) 2 2,52
Hugh Christie (0) 1 Barden 57
Headcount: 5

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 78/1,866

Dominic Welsh, aided by Academy boss Tommy Parkinson, wrestled with a problem throughout Hugh Christie’s Kent Academies League game at Bromley’s Ravens Wood. Several times during the course of the game they changed formation in an effort to get one of their senior players, Jacob Lambert, on the ball thereby finding a cutting edge that was seriously lacking. But no matter what they tried, it was that failing that led to a defeat which, in terms of possession, should not have happened.

Hugh Christie fell behind within the opening two minutes when a cross from the left was helped on to a lanky forward who was able to tuck the ball home from close range.

The early setback stirred the Tonbridge side and three chances in the space of five minutes, all fired over, probably signalled the way this game was likely go. The best of these chances came after nine minutes when Riley Morris set up Lambert but the shot was narrowly over.

The first half was mainly one-way traffic but clear cut chances for the Angels’ side were hard come-by and the team entered the break with Ravens Wood continuing to lead with their early goal.

After three minutes of the second half, from a Dan Vitler corner, Lambert put a header against the bar but, after 52 minutes, it was the home side that doubled their lead when a pass opened up the Tonbridge defence for a shot to be buried.

With that deficit, another reshuffle in the Hugh Christie ranks saw Adam Barden thrown forward and this initiative brought a reward when following a free kick that was not cleared, Barden managed to stab the ball home.

The game then followed the same pathway as the first with Hugh Christie dominating possession but lacking any sort of potency in the final third that was going to salvage the goal. The Ravens Wood goalkeeper made a couple of decent saves and Barden managed to hit the bar but the equaliser just wasn’t going to come.

In fact, the last real act of the game was a Ravens Wood effort that hit the crossbar.