Merstham 1 Tonbridge Angels 2

Match 05/21/1870 - Saturday, 17th July 2021 - Pre-Season Friendly

Merstham (0) 1 Dillon 58
Tonbridge Angels (2) 2Smith-Joseph 35 Beere 40
Attendance: TBA

Admission: £5
Programme: None
Mileage: 86/320

Today was more of what you expect from Pre-Season, scorching hot. Merstham is a lovely setting for a football ground with high hedges that provided second half respite in the shade, as the thud of leather on willow would have sounded more appropriate than the raucous voices of high energy footballers.

The day also represented the first day of my football supporting life post-Directorship as the Tonbridge Angels AGM brought to an end my time on the board. I now look forward to enjoying the game, back on the terraces with friends and fellow supporters.

Covid is still probably dictating that the M25 on a hot weekend is nowhere near as busy as you might expect and a trouble free ride into leafy Surrey was a blessing.

Tonbridge brought and retained their 100% preseason record but did concede their first goal of the period to the Isthmian Premier League side.

Joe Turner was first to test the home goalkeeper with a well struck shot that was parried to safety after three minutes.

A minute later, the first of several testing of the woodwork came when a cross from the left was met by wing back Jerry O’Sullivan whose shot came back off the right hand post.

Merstham slowly found their feet and on 17 minutes forced Jonny Henly into a decent stop and 10 minutes later Henly made a better stop with the follow-up striking a post.

Tonbridge finally went ahead after 33 minutes when a Tom Beere free kick came back off the crossbar for Aaron Smith-Joseph to fire home the rebound.

Five minutes before the break the visitors doubled their lead when Beere volleyed in from the left hand edge of the six yard box after being set up by Smith-Joseph.

Following the usual rash of half-time changes from both sides, Craig Braham-Bennett rattled a post three minutes in the half before Merstham exerted a bit more pressure and deserved their way back into the game when Ryan Dillon angled a drive into the bottom corner.

The game rather died on its feet in the second period probably due to the near 30deg heat with barely half chances falling to either side.

Tonbridge Angels 1 Lewes 0

Match 04/21/1869 - Tuesday, 13th July 2021 - Pre-Season Friendly

Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Turner 31
Lewes (0) 0
Attendance: 206

Admission: £4 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/234

So it wasn’t to be. Once again a penalty shoot-out proved to be the root of disappointment for England fans as Italy departed Wembley as European Champions.

Two days later, the Final was still the topic of conversation although most of that surrounded the disgraceful online abuse of the three black England players that had missed their spot kicks and ticketless thugs that had forced their way into the stadium.

But, for the real football supporters, it was time to get the disappointment out of the system with pre-season continuing at Longmead Stadium.

Tonbridge Angels maintained their 100% pre-season record in a feisty encounter with Lewes that, at times, defied the description of friendly. A single goal, a fine strike from Joe Turner on 31 minutes was ultimately the decider. The miserly Angels defence have yet to concede a goal in four pre-season games.

Steve McKimm was pleased with his side commenting after the match that “We played against a good footballing side, a more physical side. The boys stood up to it and we played some good stuff as well.”

Tonbridge made the running from the opening whistle forcing three corners that came to nothing before the first chance of the game saw ex-Angels stopper Lewis Carey make a good save from Turner who had been set up by Zak Guerfi.

Lewes forced Jonny Henly into his first save of the match before Guerfi picked up the first yellow card of the evening following a couple of clumsy challenges.

On 31 minutes, good work from Ricky Modeste found Turner on the left edge of the box from where he curled a sumptuous shot into the top corner.

A couple of further chances fell to the Angels before the break with Ibrahim Olutade unable to get the ball from under his feet to create a meaningful shot and Tom Parkinson heading wide.

On 56 minutes a poor challenge on Turner brought a reaction from the Tonbridge man and following a scuffle involving several players, Turner collected a yellow card and the Lewes player that committed the original foul was sent off.

The game continued with its state of irritation and Modeste picked up a yellow card.

Luca Woodhouse, a second half substitute, sent in a teasing cross that narrowly evaded everyone in the box and with 20 minutes to go, the Angels triumvirate of 16 year-olds joined the fray. One of those youngsters, Bobby Moore, created two fine openings in the closing minutes for Joe Turner, the first being well saved by the substitute Lewes goalkeeper and from the second he struck the left hand post.

Woodhouse had one final chance that he sliced wide as the Angels saw the game out for a deserved victory.

Tonbridge Angels 5 Grays Athletic 0

Match 03/21/1868 - Saturday, 10th July 2021 - Pre-Season Friendly

Tonbridge Angels (2) 5 Lee 28 Modeste 42 Parkinson 58 Wood 72 Beere 89
Grays Athletic (0) 0
Attendance: 179

Admission: £4 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/196

So the next game that I watch, albeit from the relative comfort of my armchair, will be the biggest in the nation’s football history for 55 years. The country will hold its breath on Sunday, 11th July 2021, no one with an ounce of football knowledge expects it to be easy, and winning a competition of the magnitude of the European Championship never should be.

Alongside the manager and players of 1966 that have received legendary status, Gareth Southgate can lead his squad into the hearts of the nation, not that they haven’t already done so.

And all they need to do is beat Italy. 33 games unbeaten, a couple of months shy of three years, so the task is huge but not insurmountable and the fact that the game is at Wembley with the majority of the support being England’s should not be underestimated.

All of which has no bearing on Tonbridge’s comfortable 5-0 win against a makeshift Grays Athletic team but in years to come it will put into context the moment of time when the nation was in waiting. Pre-season is progressing nicely, three wins out of three, 10 goals scored, none conceded, new players settling in well, new shape looking positive and supporters are back.

Tonbridge dominated from the first whistle although it took 28 minutes to break the deadlock when Arthur Lee headed in at the far post from a Tom Beere left wing corner.

Just before the break, Tommy Parkinson stood up a cross to the far post for Ricky Modeste to score with a diving header. Two preseason goals, both headers for the Grenadian international.

The second half introduced Craig Braham-Bennett, a Montserrat international, just one more needed and Tonbridge can postpone games during the international breaks!

A 58th minute corner saw a Grays defender turn the ball into his own net under pressure from Parkinson. It’s pre-season, if Tommy wants to claim it, he can have it!

The fourth goal after 72 minutes was a thing of beauty. A long crossfield pass from Joe Turner found Beere on the right and his low cross was turned home by Tommy Wood.

The afternoon was wrapped up in the last minute when Beere’s shot from outside the box left the goalkeeper stranded after taking a bit of a deflection.

Sadly we know England won’t have it this easy tomorrow but the country awaits, it shouldn’t expect but it lives in hope that finally, football’s (no, I’m not going to say it!)

Tonbridge Angels 3 Chipstead (Surrey) 0

Match 02/21/1867 - Saturday, 3rd July 2021 - Pre-Season Friendly

Tonbridge Angels (2) 3 Turner 21 (pen) Modeste 43 Hanfrey 69
Chipstead (Surrey) (0) 0
Attendance: 206

Admission: £4 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/158

Eighteen months on from the last time supporters entered Longmead Stadium for a first team fixture, many made an emotional return to a place that has sadly changed forever with the absence of dearly departed family and friends to whom proper farewells were denied by the pandemic.

In 18 months some players have come and gone and supporters who have previously held season tickets for many years were never able to make their own judgements on whether they were good, bad or indifferent.

Some of those players took the club to the First Round of the FA Cup for the first time in 46 years; won matches at Chelmsford and Billericay for the first time in a generation but the pandemic denied their joy.

The pandemic still has its hold. Life is not normal when you have to leave your telephone number to enter a football ground and the click now comes from your mouse rather than a turnstile. But Longmead was a happy place, as the song goes “friends shaking hands, saying how do you do”, just because they can.

The game itself was not so much an hor d’oeuvre for a little matter of a Euro Quarter Final, more the welcoming bowl of peanuts on the bar, but the football served up by the Angels was a tasty appetiser for the feast that was to come.

Tonbridge went ahead after 21 minutes when Ibrahim Olutade was brought down in the box for Turner to convert the penalty.

Tonbridge returned the compliment after 33 minutes but Jonny Henly made a fine save from the Chipstead spot kick.

A lofted cross from the right found the leap of Ricky Modeste to head home on his first appearance for the club, two minutes before the break.

A well driven shot from Tom Hanfrey into the bottom corner wound up the afternoon’s scoring after 69 minutes and allowed the triumvirate of 16 year olds another 20 minutes pitch time.

England spared the nation a nervous evening with a resounding victory and after the emotional return to Longmead, it really did feel that Football’s Coming Home.

Colliers Wood United 0 Tonbridge Angels 2

Match 01/21/1866 - Saturday, 26th June 2021 - Pre-Season Friendly

Colliers Wood United (0) 0
Tonbridge Angels (1) 2Beere 6 Turner 66 (pen)
Headcount: 120

Admission: £3 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 120/120

I doubt that a pre-season game has been so eagerly awaited. Non-League football is back, its supporters are back and though we are not out of the Covid woods, there are plenty of reasons to believe that this coming season can be played to its conclusion.

As a game this was like every other first pre-season game that I’ve watched since 1850! A clutch of trialists that we won’t ever see again; players that obviously have to get weeks (in some cases months) of inactivity out of their legs; the odd one or two that took the eye with their sharpness and a lovely story to end the match.

My only other visit to the Wibbandune Sports Ground brought a late arrival due to missing the entrance and difficulty parking so it was a massive relief to quickly find a space in the slip road opposite and close to the footbridge.

As with many pitches at this time of the year, the grass was a bit too long but it’s a nice little ground beside a busy stretch of the A3.

Colliers Wood United, from the Combined Counties League, provided good opposition for a Tonbridge team that played most of its trialists in the first half leaving us spectators playing the annual guessing game of who’s that?

Tonbridge went ahead after six minutes when a quick bit of thinking from Tom Beere left the home goalkeeper motionless from a free kick curled into the top corner.

A free kick to Tonbridge that ended up bouncing towards the oncoming traffic on the A3 and some unnecessary bookings from Santa Claus, filling in time between gigs as a referee, were the highlights of the rest of the first half.

New signing Ibrahim Olutade and Tommy Wood brought an extra edge to the visitor’s attack in the second period and a header from the former into the side netting from a tight angle was the best of the early exchanges.

In the 66th minute Tonbridge were awarded a penalty for a trip just inside the box and Joe Turner powered the ball into the top right corner.

Tonbridge brought on three 16-year-olds to play out the last 20 minutes. Toby McKimm, son of manager Steve, took over from Jonny Henly in goal; Bobby Moore, son of assistant manager Barry, slotted into midfield and Eoin Bolger, on the right of midfield. None of them looked out of place, they did things simply and in the case of Eoin produced a pin-point cross that Wood headed narrowly wide.

This was the fresh start that everybody wanted but on a day when 18,270 new cases of the virus were reported, we can but pray that this is not another false dawn.

Punjab United U18 2 Tonbridge Angels U18 7

Match 62/20/1865 - Wednesday, 23rd June 2021 - Friendly

Punjab United U18 (1) 2
Tonbridge Angels U18 (3) 7Jeche 2,90 Wright Burke Stead
Headcount: 24

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 48/3,392

Tonbridge Angels will return to the Isthmian Youth League next season after a four year hiatus and Dominic Welsh has been busy putting together his squad via a series of trials and the visit to Punjab United offered a first viewing of his progress.

Ultimately, Tonbridge cruised to a comfortable victory with a team missing a few who might well feature prominently when the League season gets underway on the 23rd August

On a lovely pitch at Gravesend, the Angels opened the scoring within the first minute when Nathan Jeche finished cooly after being sent clear by Harry Sargent.

Matt Larkin, in the Tonbridge goal, made a fine save after seven minutes before his side made several chances to increase their lead including a cracking shot from Harry London that came down from the underside of the bar.

Punjab’s best player, their captain scored from the edge of the box to bring the home side level after a 21 minutes but it lasted barely a minute before a Billy Wright shot looped over a stranded goalkeeper.

Jeche brought the best out of the home goalkeeper with two excellent saves but he was helpless when a cross from the right offered Rockie Burke a tap-in for a 3-1 lead at the break.

Tonbridge largely controlled the game in the second period with Max Lambert testing the goalkeeper early in the half. Eventually, after 57 minutes, Jeche and Zach Stead combined for the latter to finish with a shot into the bottom corner.

Larkin had to be at his best to thwart the lively Punjab captain on three occasions but when the home side were awarded a penalty the skipper fluffed his lines with a spot kick that went high over the bar.

After 74 minutes, Punjab did bring the score back to 4-2 with a close range header but two goals in four minutes from Burke, completing his hat trick extinguished any thoughts of a comeback. Burke tapped in a London cross and finished a fine move involving Sargent and Cameron Howard.

The last kick of the match gave Jeche his second goal and the Angels seventh. Tougher tasks are ahead but the signs for the Isthmian League season are encouraging.

Lifetime match total: 3,120 Number of grounds: 344

Maidstone United Academy 1 Tonbridge Angels Academy 6

Match 61/20/1864 - Wednesday, 9th June 2021 - Kent Academies Cup

Maidstone United Academy (0) 1 83'
Tonbridge Angels Academy (4) 6Lambert 30,89 Lewis 40,45+3 Kent 44 Wootton 63
Headcount: 20

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 19/3,344

Tonbridge Angels said a fond farewell to their third year scholars with a rousing victory at the home of our A26 neighbours, Maidstone United. Ned Lewis, who will be taking up a scholarship in the United States, and Jacob Lambert signed off with a brace of goals each whilst Harry Hudson and Sam Babayale, who depart for University, along with Harrison Mayhew can reflect on three outstanding years at the club with a solid defensive showing.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Angels fielded seven first year students and three Under-16’s in this performance of virtual domination.

Such was the control that the visitors had on the game, it was added time in the first half before goalkeeper Matt Larkin, drafted in from the Angels’ Under-16 Kent Youth League side, had any sort of save to make.

It was a very warm lunchtime kick-off at the Gallagher with the Angels, fast out of the blocks and producing chance after chance with Lambert ruling the roost in midfield. Lambert forced the first save of many from the Stones’ keeper within the first minute. Ben Hermitage wasted a very good chance after five minutes and the keeper pulled off a blinding save to thwart Billy Kent and so it continued, Tonbridge versus the Stones’ goalkeeper until the half-hour mark when finally the custodian was beaten.

A lofted through ball from Lewis sent Lambert clear to deftly lob the advancing goalkeeper to put the Angels into a deserved lead. This actually sparked the home side into life but a couple of attacks failed to employ Larkin.

Three quick goals in the last eight minutes put a scoreline on the board far more in keeping with the pattern of the game. After 40 minutes, Lambert supplied the pass for Lewis to score from 10 yards and, four minutes later, a well executed cross from Hermitage gave Kent an easy close range header to make it 3-0. Three minutes into time added, Lewis added his second when latching on to a cross from the right, his first shot was well saved but he was on hand to convert the rebound.

After what one would imagine a stern half-time talk, Maidstone made a better fist of the second period but continued to be dominated by the visitors with Lewis and Kent bringing saves and Ben Twist seeing his shot cannon down from the underside of the crossbar.

The fifth goal arrived on 63 minutes when Hermitage set up substitute Cameron Wootton who, once again, needed the benefit of a second attempt as the goalkeeper saved his initial shot.

Larkin showed his potential and desire to keep a clean sheet making two good saves in quick succession before a brilliant run from Keiarn Corner set up Wootton but his shot was smothered by a fine defensive block.

Sadly, Larkin’s debut was not to be celebrated with a clean sheet when, seven minutes from time, he was beaten when the ball was bundled home after saving the initial attempt.

Jacob Lambert said his final goodbye to Academy football with a characteristic finish in the final minute to round off an impressive display that obviously delighted Tommy Parkinson, who said after the game that it was an outstanding performance and on the departing scholars: “All have been a credit to themselves and their families, they have come on leaps and bounds as players over the three years and more importantly become top people who will all have bright futures.”