Tonbridge Angels 2 Dartford 3

Match 89/21/1953 - Saturday, 29th January 2022 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 2 Wood 53 Olutade 90+4
Dartford (2) 3 Leonard 13,20 Jebb 86
Attendance: 1,205

Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/4,883

Give yourself a mountain to climb and sometimes even the most experienced of climbers fail to reach the summit.

A poor first half display left Tonbridge with the proverbial mountain and despite a much improved second period that it could be argued deserved some reward, they just fell short.

Steve McKimm welcomed back Luke Jenkins to the starting eleven with Sonny Miles unavailable on what would have been his 377th start for the club, this eclipsing the total of Danny Tingley. Up front, Adam Coombes formed a two man strike force with loanee James Taylor dropping to the bench.

Three minutes after the start, Dartford’s Danny Leonard went down to receive treatment, nothing much significant in this except it set the tone for the afternoon as the female physio from the visitors spent as much time on the pitch as some of the players.

Dartford dominated, or should I say were allowed to dominate the first half as it seemed the Angels paid them too much respect and missed Miles’ authority and voice at the back.

Dartford took the lead after 13 minutes when a straightforward channel ball down the right from Keiran Murtagh found Leonard who cut in and fired home a shot into the far corner.

On 20 minutes, Dartford doubled their lead and it looked like a very long afternoon was on the cards for Tonbridge and, once again, it was all too easy. The goalkeeper’s punt downfield was won by Ade Azeez, a pass this time found Leonard clear in the left channel to round Jonny Henly and finish to the delight of the big Dartford following in the large crowd of 1,205.

Whilst the Angels front two fed off scraps, Dartford could have added to their total with a couple more chances but the game deteriorated as play was continually stopped by a whistle happy referee and the regular appearance of the female physio.

McKimm needed to change something at the break and injected some pace into his side with the introduction of Aaron Smith-Joseph and James Taylor and, in truth, it worked. The big, but slow Dartford back line became a little more stretched and less comfortable.

It took just one minute of the second period for the Dartford physio to make a further appearance, if she was on TV she would be challenging Alex Scott for screen time!

The Angels were right back in the game on 53 minutes when Tommy Wood scored. Pace down the left stretched the Darts and when Joe Turner fed the ball to Wood, he was the man over on the right and finished well into the bottom corner.

The Angels gained the ascendancy and Dartford were really holding on but attempts from Turner and Taylor were just comfortable saves for Dan Wilks and it took a brilliant save at the other end from Henly to deny Azeez.

Ibrahim Olutade came on for Adam Coombes with 20 minutes to go and within a couple he had a clear chance but his shot didn’t carry any venom and Wilks saved easily.

The game was put to bed in the space of 10 minutes, six of which were spent, yet again, with the Dartford physio going about her duties as ward sister. But, whilst in defeat, there is no hiding place behind the referee, but Paul Johnson was integral in those moments. He might well have got the decision right but it was the handling of those situations that didn’t feel right.

On 76 minutes, Wood was brought down in the Dartford penalty area but appeals for a penalty were waved away. Then, on the 80th minute, at the other Dartford were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box following a coming together of Craig Braham-Barrett, who was absurdly booked, and Leonard. The long stoppage got even more confusing as Dartford took the opportunity of making substitutions. The referee then gave Jack Jebb a very generous 10 yards to ball and the Dartford midfielder has the ability to take full advantage and he did with a beautifully placed shot into the top corner.

Tonbridge’s second half fighting spirit saw Olutade bring the score back to 3-2 with a glancing header from a Tom Beere free kick and another chance that was cleared from the line and, lo and behold, there was still time for another appearance from the Dartford physio, what a shift that young lady had put in!

Spirited, but ultimately you cannot give top six teams a two goal start and expect a result, in fact you cannot do that with any National League South side.

Havant & Waterlooville 1 Tonbridge Angels 1

Match 88/21/1952 - Wednesday, 26th January 2022 - National League South

Havant and Waterlooville (0) 1 Oastler 57
Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Coombes 90+2
Attendance: 1,037

Admission: £10 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 202/4,845

A lane closure on the A3 at the Hindhead Tunnel; further lane closures on the M25 and finally, notwithstanding several minor roadworks with traffic lights, a road closure on the A21 slowed the ride home but nothing was going to dampen the mood that had been created by a 92nd minute equaliser at Havant & Waterlooville.

When the manager of the home side admits that the visitors deserved their point, however late it may have came, there is no sense of bias in saying to lose would have been a great injustice.

The weather continued with the cold snap but it wasn’t quite as extremity biting as the last few evening games.

Luke Jenkins picked up a hamstring strain on Saturday as was replaced by the returning Tommy Parkinson.

Since my last visit to Westleigh Stadium 10 years ago, Havant have installed a FIFA approved surface (just don’t call it 3G) but strangely did nothing about the slope on which they laid it. But, as it was in 2012, it is a nicely appointed ground with cover on all four sides. Once strange anomaly in these times was that the stadium was virtually cash only, which actually caught me on the hop, arriving with very little cash!

Havant & Waterlooville, under the managership of Paul Doswell, has built a full-time squad based on experience with many hundreds of Football League appearances between them including Nicky Bailey, who once left Charlton for Middlesbrough for £1.4 million.

But, on the field, this squad have not reached the expectations of their supporters, and I would guess their board, and suffered a highly embarrassing 8-0 defeat at Dorking over Christmas with the return at Westleigh also ending in defeat.

Joe Turner was the first to test the home defence after a couple of minutes, with a run through on goal but ex-Sutton goalkeeper, Ross Worner was out quickly to smother the ball.

The first half-hour of the game wasn’t exactly a thriller but it was certainly the Angels that were having the best of the exchanges with Tommy Wood firing a shot narrowly wide and also having a header that wasn’t too far wide.

On 35 minutes a surging run from Craig Braham-Barrett ended with him brought down for a credible penalty appeal but the referee was having none of it.

Tom Beere put another shot marginally wide of the post before the referee called a halt to a half that Tonbridge had enjoyed the better of proceedings.

Probably with the words of Doswell ringing in their ears, the home side quickly seized the second half momentum and when they went ahead after 57 minutes it was a goal that appeared to be coming. A left wing corner was met with a towering header from John Oastler, but it left Tonbridge aggrieved that goalkeeper Jonny Henly had been impeded in his attempt to cut out the cross.

This sparked a period, their only in the game, when Havant were the dominant side and it took a wonder save from Henly to deny Andrews, it felt like a major moment in the game.

Another of those moments came at the other end on 78 minutes when Worner made an equally brilliant save to deny Turner after an initial shot had been blocked.

Steve McKimm had thrown caution to the wind replacing Harry Hudson and James Taylor with attackers Adam Coombes and Aaron Smith-Joseph. For their part, Havant decided to rest on their lead and shut up shop and as the clock ticked into time added it looked like they would see it out.

But this Tonbridge side has a spirit that never gives up and two minutes into the four added minutes they got the break that their efforts thoroughly deserved. A cross from the right from Jamie Fielding saw the ball only half scrambled to safety but to the feet of Coombes whose unerring finish into the far corner brought delight to the Tonbridge faithful, who had travelled in their numbers, positioned behind the goal.

There was one last scare for the Angels as with the last foray of the match a shot across the face of the goal was helped on its way to safety whilst the home supporters desperately called for a penalty.

Home at just about midnight, a journey well worth it.

Additional photos: Kathryn Bell and Dave Couldridge

Tonbridge Angels 1 Hemel Hempstead Town 1

Match 87/21/1951 - Saturday, 22nd January 2022 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Turner 8
Hemel Hempstead Town (1) 1 Hughes 25
Attendance: 853

Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/4,643

When is a draw at home a good draw; when is it a point gained rather than two points lost? Unless your team is stuck in the middle of the table at a point of the season when the result is virtually meaningless it is a debate that is widely debated, up and down the country, every Saturday. It was a debate following the sharing of the points with Hemel Hempstead Town, personally I thought Tonbridge just about deserved their point, whilst my friends both thought that it would be Hemel that were going home feeling that it was two points lost and the Angels’ goalkeeper, Jonny Henly, being made Man of the Match, adds weight to their argument.

Tonbridge fielded an unchanged team from their midweek victory at Chippenham with the unexpected, but very welcome, news that Adam Lovatt was extending his term at Longmead until the end of the season.

Hemel Hempstead have recovered from a poor start to the season when they could not buy a point that culminated with a change of manager. Since Mark Jones has taken over that have pulled themselves clear of danger with an accumulation of points away from home but very few back at Vauxhall Road where last Saturday they won for the very first time this season.

A surprisingly large crowd of 853 didn’t witness a classic, one of those games when searching for a kind word you would come up with absorbing.

Hemel showed the confidence gained on their travels, starting the better, but it was the home side that took the lead after eight minutes. An innocuous looking cross into the box from Craig Braham-Barrett brought a horrible miskick from Jack Westbrook that gave Joe Turner a tap in a the far post.

The goal did nothing to knock the visitors out of their stride and Henly was brought into action with a parrying save from Charlee Hughes with the follow-up effort from Alfie Cerulli being blazed over.

Hemel’s equaliser on 25 minutes subsequently came as no surprise. A through ball from Alfie Williams found Hughes whose shot took a wicked deflection that wrong-footed Henly.

The visitors went on to dominate the half but without causing major concern to the Tonbridge goal.

An earlier foul on Luke Jenkins that brought a caution for Hemel’s Hughes brought a half-time substitution of the youngster with Tommy Parkinson returning to the action after missing a couple of games through injury.

The Angels came out of the break and took the game to their hosts. Harry Hudson had an effort that was deflected away for a corner and Braham-Barrett made a similar foray on the hour mark but his shot cleared the bar.

Henly was exercised when a shot from Gus Scott-Morriss brought a fine save and as the game entered into the last quarter hour it became stretched and Henly saved well again from Hughes.

Henly confirmed his man of the match status with another fine save this time from substitute Chris Paul to secure a valuable point for Tonbridge.

It was a point with added value as defeat for Welling meant that Tonbridge climbed a place in the table.

East Grinstead Town U18 3 Tonbridge Angels U18 0

Match 86/21/1950 - Thursday, 20th January 2022 - Isthmian Youth

East Grinstead Town U18 (1) 3 Burgess 30,72 McKenna 72
Tonbridge Angels U18 (0) 0
Attendance: 39

Admission: £4
Programme: None
Mileage: 62/4,605

The Under-18’s slipped to a disappointing defeat in their Isthmian Youth League game at East Grinstead. It was a strange game in which the Angels dominated the first half but went into the break a goal down and conceded two goals in a couple of minutes midway through a second half in which they literally failed to get going.

On another cold evening and on a hard, frost-bound pitch, the players studs sounded a bit like the hoofs horses charging past.

For the best part of the first half-hour, Tonbridge played some attractive football and created some good chances. Haydn Velvick saw a shot deflected to safety after eight minutes and on 21 minutes, East Grinstead managed to survive as firstly the goalkeeper saved well from Velvick; the follow-up from Fin Wolvey was blocked with the returned shot from Harry London narrowly going wide.

Four minutes later Wolvey attempted an audacious lob from the right but was thwarted as the goalkeeper touched the ball onto the crossbar and over.

But, it’s goals that win games, and with their first attack and a route one pass over the top that sent East Grinstead's Burgess clear to finish well past the advancing Matt Larkin.

Tonbridge continued to dominate the half but apart from a free kick from Wolvey, the goalkeeper was not really stretched.

If they Angels went into the break scratching their heads as to how they found themselves a goal down, they would be completely nonplussed as to why they “disappeared” in the second period.

Certainly the loss of skipper Harry London had a significant bearing on the second half performance in which the fluency of the first half hour was lost.

Chances were still created with the home goalkeeper, who had a very good game, saving well from George Theis after 53 minutes and brilliantly from Velvick, readjusting after a deflection on 67 minutes.

But, once more, a route one pass saw Tommy McKenna lob the ball over Larkin to double the home side’s lead after 67 minutes and two minutes later it was game over as Burgess cut in from the left to bury a shot into the far corner for 3-0.

It summed up the Angels frustrating evening when Velvick’s shot came back off the underside of the bar straight into the goalkeeper’s arms.

The Angels youngsters struggled in the last 20 minutes to gain any momentum and East Grinstead finished the game by far the stronger and might well have added to the score from several reasonable chances.

A disappointed Dom Welsh commented after the game, “it was a strange game and a very indifferent performance from us.”

Cleeve Park 4 Hugh Christie 0

Match 85/21/1949 - Wednesday, 19th January 2022 - Academies League Premiership

Cleeve Park (1) 4
Hugh Christie (0) 0
Attendance: 1

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 76/4,543

Tonbridge Angels U18 3 Maidstone United U18 4

Match 84/21/1948 - Monday, 17th January 2022 - Isthmian Youth

Tonbridge Angels Under-18 (1) 3 Saunders 5 London 48 Wolvey (pen) 85
Maidstone United Under-18 (3) 4 Jeche 1,73 Terry 29 Vine 40
Attendance: 49

Admission: £4
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/4,467

On a freezing evening and a pitch that was getting visibly whiter as the game progressed, both sides worked hard to produce an entertaining match that might just have warmed the extremities of the hardy spectators. Might, but not quite, as nobody could feel their toes by full time!

League leaders Maidstone United got off to a blistering start taking the lead after just 40 seconds when a powerful shot from Nathan Jeche, a one-time Angels Under-16 player, beat the Tonbridge keeper Matt Larkin.

Jeche was proving a real handful, following his goal, he put a chance into the side netting and forced Larkin into a save in the opening four minutes.

But Tonbridge recovered from that torrid opening to fashion a terrific equaliser after five minutes. A great through ball from Shea Brennan put Rockie Burke in the clear; his shot was parried by the Maidstone goalkeeper but only into the path of Will Saunders who scored with a composed finish.

After such a hectic start the game settled down with Maidstone dominating, fashioning a couple of good chances before they restored their lead after 29 minutes when Joseph Terry scored from 18 yards with a shot into the bottom corner.

A terrible defensive mix-up between goalkeeper and defender after 41 minutes gifted Maidstone a third goal when Jeche capitalised on the miscommunication to set up Jack Vine for an easy finish into an unguarded goal.

The Angels youngsters showed a great deal of resilience to stretch Maidstone all the way in the second half and if they had been clinical in front of goal they might well have come away with a point.

They were right back in the game within three minutes of the restart when Saunders combined with Harry London, who finished well into the bottom corner.

The Angels searched hard for an equaliser and saw an effort from Fin Wolvey cleared from the line on the hour and London failing to find the target from a good opportunity.

Jeche made the Angels pay for their wastefulness when he cut in from the left to fire home from around 12 yards.

Tonbridge were not going to go down without a fight and when substitute George Theis was bundled over inside the box, Fin Wolvey converted from the spot to set up a last five minutes effort to rescue a point. One opportunity fell the way of London but the goalkeeper was equal to it and Maidstone survived to take home the points.

Dom Welsh was pleased with his side’s efforts commenting: “Excellent game tonight against a very good Maidstone side, too many errors made to win the game but possibly good value for a point! Huge progress being made.”

Meanwhile, many a car heater was on full blast on the way home!

Pictures: Dave Couldridge

Tonbridge Angels 1 King's Lynn Town 1

Match 83/21/1947 - Saturday, 15th January 2022 - FA Trophy 4R

Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Wood 83
King's Lynn Town (0) 1 Barratt 75
Tonbridge Angels win on penalties 4-3
Attendance: 835

Admission: £12 Senior
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/4,429

History was made when Tonbridge Angels reached the last 16 of the FA Trophy for the first time when 19-year-old Luke Jenkins slotted home his spot kick to win the shoot out 4-3.

The game was taken to the dreaded spot kicks after Tommy Wood had equalised in the 83rd minute after the visitors, King’s Lynn Town had taken a 75th minute lead with a curling free kick from the edge of the box from Joshua Barrett.

Steve McKimm brought Wood into the starting line-up for the cup-tied Adam Coombes and Tom Beere replaced the suspended Doug Loft. New signing from Crystal Palace, James Taylor, came in for the injured Tommy Parkinson.

The first half brought very few chances with the visitors perhaps having the greater share of the possession but the Angels, finished the half the stronger, having the clearer of what were very much half-chances.

Tonbridge were on the front foot from the outset of the first half and almost went in front on 51 minutes when Wood’s cross from met by Joe Turner who shot hit the post before the ball was scrambled to safety.

The National League side took an undeserved lead after 75 minutes when a foul on the edge of the box allowed Barrett to curl a shot from 20 yards beyond the reach of Jonny Henly and into the net.

The lead was to last eight minutes as substitute Aaron Smith-Joseph managed to get in a cross from the left under pressure that was met at the far post with a header from Wood that goalkeeper Paul Jones could only help into the net.

Both sides had half chances to win the game before the spot kicks but to penalties it went. King’s Lynn’s first penalty from Michael Clunnan was saved by Henly and Ibrahim Olutade scored to give the Angels the lead. Successful penalties (Angels from Turner) took the score to 2-2 before Adam Lovatt missed his spot kick. King’s Lynn missed their fourth penalty and Craig Braham-Barrett restored the lead. King’s Lynn’s final penalty was scored, heaping the pressure on the young shoulders of Jenkins, but with nerves of steel he sent the visiting goalkeeper the wrong way and the Angels had made it to the FA Trophy last 16!

A naturally delighted Steve McKimm said after the game: “The players, to a man, were an absolute credit to themselves, their families and the club. We are in the draw on Monday and that’s a fantastic advert for Tonbridge Angels. For the season we’ve had so far, it’s brilliant.

Hero Jonny Henly, who saved two spot kicks, remarked: “Big respect to all the players that took penalties, they are the ones under the most pressure. As a goalie, you are not expected to save them, but I did and it’s great for the club.

It was an excited attendance of 835 that left Longmead looking forward to Monday’s draw which is live on TalkSport at 3:15 pm.

Pictures: Dave Couldridge