Tonbridge Angels 1 Bath City 2

Match 42/22/2049 - Saturday, 5th November 2022 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Collins 38
Bath City (0) 2 Hayfield 64 Fletcher 72
Attendance: 988

Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/3,168

Sometimes my obsession with football in general, but Tonbridge Angels in particular, goes beyond the boundaries of common sense. Stricken with an obvious case of food poisoning, and against the wishes of those close to me (and obviously a lot more sensible), I dragged a very tired body to Longmead. At half-time, I felt that I should give up and go home, but somehow soldiered on to the finish. I got home, went to bed and that is where I stayed for 12 hours!

The Angels, who have been in good form at home recently saw a half-time lead disappear against Bath City, whose away form is as good as any.

On a wet afternoon and with much of the surrounding areas under water following a couple of days of heavy rain, the 3G surface showed its true worth as just under a 1,000 people were able to travel, safe in the knowledge that the game would go ahead.

A late change to the starting XI, saw Jamie Fielding, not quite ready to return following his injury, so Tariq Hinds took the right back slot. Ben Swift returned in place of Joe Tyrie and there was a rare absence for Joe Turner, also injured. New signing Dajon Golding took a place on the bench.

Bath opened the game on the front foot and it took good blocks from Swift to deny Kieran Parselle after five minutes and almost immediately, Parselle sent in a cross that begged a touch in front of goal.

Tonbridge grew into the game and Lewis Gard saw an effort blocked and the Bath keeper, Ryan Clarke, saved from TQ Addy.

Tonbridge had their goalkeeper, Jonny Henly, to thank, saving brilliantly from Dan Hayfield and Luke Spokes, before they went ahead on 38 minutes when a 20 yard effort from Jeremy Santos was only parried by Clarke into the path of Louis Collins, who gratefully took the opportunity.

Santos was injured just prior to the break and needed to be substituted by Nathan Wood for the second half.

The second period saw the visitors take control of the game and from a chance at one end when Craig Braham-Barrett saw his shot saved at the near post, the ball was swept upfield for Hayfield to smash a shot past Henly on 64 minutes.

On 71 minutes, Bath were in front when a corner travelled to the far post and in the midst of a scramble Alex Fletcher poked the ball home.

Tonbridge made a spirited effort too retrieve a point but Bath’s back line stood firm without offering up to much in the way of chances.

And so to bed!

Tonbridge Angels Academy 4 Welling United Academy 0

Match 41/22/2048 - Wednesday, 1st November 2022 - National League Under-19 Alliance

Tonbridge Angels Academy (3) 4 Hermitage 14 Vowles 19 Velvick 36 Tobin 90+2
Welling United Academy (0) 0
Headcount: 11

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/3,130

Tonbridge Angels Academy maintained a 100% start to their league season with well-earned win at a blustery Longmead Stadium against Welling United.

The Angels had, by far, the better of the first period, but Welling were much improved after the break and goalkeeper, Nat Gibb and his defenders had to work hard for their clean sheet.

An early chance fell to Josh McArthur who was denied by the visiting goalkeeper, Sonny Findlay but, after 14 minutes, the Angels were in front when a defence-splitting through ball from Hayden Velvick sent Ben Hermitage clear to slot past the advancing Findlay.

The score was quickly doubled when, following a free kick conceded centrally on the edge of the box, Leo Vowles curled his shot into the corner.

Welling offered a response with Gibb twice denying Oghosa Williams but it was the home side that were in the ascendancy with Hermitage pulling a shot wide before Velvick made it 3-0, crashing in a shot from a narrow angle following a short corner routine.

An audacious dummy from Velvick sent Vowles clear just before the break but Findlay saved well at his feet.

The second half was far more even with both goalkeepers gainfully employed. Gibb saved from Williams and Chris Newall whilst Findlay did similarly from Hermitage with Tom Green and Kian Austin shooting over the bar.

With 10 minutes remaining, Welling's Newall smashed a shot against the crossbar but, in time added, the final say went to Josh Tobin, who finished a move involving Velvick and Will Saunders, before firing into the corner from 12 yards.

Ashford United U18 1 Tonbridge Angels U18 2

Match 40/22/2047 - Monday, 31st October 2022 - Isthmian Youth League

Ashford United U18 (0) 1 Stanley (pen) 61
Tonbridge Angels U18 (2) 2 Puffette 37 Firman 44
Attendance: 54

Admission: £3s
Programme: None
Mileage: 40/3,082

Tonbridge Angels Under-18’s dug deep in the second half to preserve the points at a wild, rainswept Homelands.

Dom Welsh has needed to utilise his squad to the full with games on successive days. Four players were also in the starting XI against Phoenix Sports in the Kent Cup on Sunday, whilst all five substitutes on that day were starters on Monday evening.

The game was a hard fought contest throughout with the Angels moving into a 2-0 half-time lead before Ashford United fought back strongly in the second period.

The Ashford goalkeeper was gainfully employed in the early stages turning over a header from Max Lambert from a Johnny Walker cross after three minutes and then saving from Cameron Honavar.

Ashford fought back and this time it was Matt Larkin’s time to excel with a save but also had fortune on his side as a header rattled his crossbar.

After 23 minutes, a surging run from midfield by Felix Waring set up Lambert, but once again the Ashford goalkeeper saved brilliantly.

The game was end to end before the Angels took the lead on 37 minutes when the ball fell to central defender Will Puffette on the edge of the box to drive in an unstoppable shot that any striker would have been proud of.

A minute later, the Angels might have gone two up but Waring saw his shot saved but a minute before the break a well struck shot after winning possession by Sam Firman doubled the visitors advantage.

Half-time brought a huge deterioration in the weather with monsoon-type conditions, driven by a howling gale, sweeping across Homelands. If the weather changed, so did the home side and they took the game to their visitors from the outset.

An early corner was headed over and a shot from 20 years cleared the bar before, just past the hour, following a corner, the referee pointed to the spot for holding. Whilst it looked a soft decision from a distance, the 16-year-old official had had an outstanding game and there was no reason for dispute.

Stanley Oldfield sent Larkin the wrong way and the home side were back in the game.

A rare mishandle from Ashford’s goalkeeper, who was superb throughout, nearly saw the ball creep in at the near post, but for the last 20 minutes it was all Ashford as they sought an equaliser but Larkin and basically his whole outfield team defended bravely, limiting their opponents to a couple of half chances.

Dom Welsh proudly said of his team after the game: “Not pretty but very much job done, played the pitch and the conditions well, dealt with every bomb thrown at us! A really important three points against an Ashford side that were much better than when we played them in the FA Youth Cup with a lot of different players. They were very direct and I thought we dealt with it well. We had an excellent 15 minutes before half time which ultimately won us the game.”

Taunton Town 4 Tonbridge Angels 1

Match 39/22/2046 - Saturday, 29th October 2022 - National League South

Taunton Town (2) 4 Braham-Barrett (o.g.) 2, Jarvis 45, Smith 75, Chamberlain 88
Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Gavin 28

Attendance: 872
New Ground: 352
Admission: Pass
Programme: None purchased
Mileage: 382/3,042

If on Tuesday, I was scrapping myself off the ceiling; four days later I’m picking myself off the floor, such is football.

The longest trip of the season had begun with a 6 o’clock alarm call and a notification that my booked rail journey from Paddington to Taunton had been cancelled. Perhaps the story of the day was already being written.

The cancellation had little effect, an earlier train out of Staplehurst allowed me to catch the 10:04 from Paddington that thankfully had spare seats.

With plenty of time to spare, the 1.5 miles from station to the Cygnet Stadium was walked through a town that, it has to be said, had very few redeeming features.

The Cygnet Stadium is a pleasant ground that in places shows its age, opened in 1953, but has all the necessary attributes and I will admit to a little terrace envy.

Behind both goals there is full width terracing with covered accommodation directly behind the goals. There is a main covered seating stand which holds the best part of 300 seats housing also an area of terracing whilst opposite there is a smaller seating stand. Brand new terracing, installed for their FA Cup tie against Yeovil (which Taunton won) is alongside, this the reason for my terrace envy! The grass pitch was in great shape, well cut and no need for Binfield moans!

News had filtered through on the train down that neither Jonny Henly (illness) or Lewis Gard (injury) had travelled, so the team showed two changes, Kevin Manuel in goal and TQ Addy for the influential Gard.

Tonbridge fell behind in the second minute when a cross from the left by Zak Smith travelled a long way to the far post from where Craig Braham-Barrett in attempting to head the ball away for a corner inexplicably turned it into his own net.

During the opening 15 minutes the Angels defence were asked a lot of questions and were struggling to contain their hosts but having survived this period they started to take control of the game and after 19 minutes a tempting cross from TQ Addy was deflected over his own bar by Dan Ball. The subsequent corner was met by a towering header from Joe Tyrie that only narrowly cleared the bar.

Set piece deliveries into the box were continuing to cause problems and one such in the 26th minute required Addy to clear from his line.

But, two minutes later, the Angels were on level terms as Dylan Gavin, who lost his footing while taking his shot from 25 yards, found the net with goalkeeper Jack Bycroft surely disappointed to be beaten from that range and a shot that didn’t particularly carry too much venom.

Bycroft had another scare just past the half-hour when a low cross from Ruben Soares-Junior went straight under his body before being hoofed to safety.

Certainly at this point, Tonbridge were enjoying the better of the game forcing several corners but, as the half entered its added time, a right sided corner was met with a powerful header from Nat Jarvis to give the hosts the lead at the break.

Into the second half, which frankly was a disarrrster as Craig on Strictly would say!

An early shot from Soares-Junior was spilt by Bycroft and hacked to safety and that was about as good as it got.

On 75 minutes, Taunton as good as put the game to bed when a cross from Ollie Chamberlain from the right found Smith unmarked around the penalty spot with time and space to bury a shot past Manuel.

The icing was most certainly put on Taunton’s cake with two minutes remaining when from the right side of the box, Chamberlain drove an angled shot into the roof of the net past Manuel positioned at his near post.

The good people of Taunton were certainly hospitable and none more so than the group that stood and applauded the Tonbridge players from the pitch. It was such an act of sportsmanship that I felt the need to ask one of them if they were just being sarcastic. He assured me they were not!

As with all these long journeys that end in defeat, it was a long ride home even if the train was taking the strain and running to time. But, if you want evenings like Tuesday, you have to take Saturdays like this one.

K Sports Academy 3 Tonbridge Angels 1

Match 38/22/2045 - Wednesday, 26th October 2022 - National Youth Alliance League Cup Second Round

K Sports (1) 3 18, 75, 79
Tonbridge Angels Academy (1) 1 Velvick 31

Headcount: 20
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 26/2,660

The Academy produced a disappointing performance at K Sports and paid the price with a second round exit from the National Youth Alliance League Cup.

Shorn of several key players, Tonbridge struggled to find any real momentum on a difficult pitch outside of the stadium at Cobdown, where the 3G was unavailable.

Hayden Velvick, with 12 goals to his name already this season, had the Angels’ first chance of the game after seven minutes with the K Sports goalkeeper saving at his feet and his strike partner, Ben Hermitage pulled a shot wide before the home side took the lead after 18 minutes.

A K Sports free kick from wide on the right was allowed to travel all the way to the far post from where the K’s number 11 was positioned to score from close range.

Stung into action by the goal, the Angels summoned a bit more energy with a Hermitage free kick palmed away by the keeper, who then saved well from Josh Tobin.

But, in the 31st minute, Hermitage managed to wriggle his way to the right byeline before pulling the ball back to Velvick who scored from the edge of the six yard box.

Both sides had a chance to go into the break in front with Hermitage testing the goalkeeper late on, but the pitch certainly wasn’t helping the game in terms of quality.

Into the second half and with the Angels coming out on the front foot, firstly a shot from Kian Austin cleared the bar before Ben Hermitage was denied a goal having been victim of a very poor offside decision from the linesman.

But K Sports, now kicking down the slope, built momentum and, following a free kick into the box that had proved a frailty for the Angels back line, a scramble in the box ended with the right hand post being struck.

So it was no great surprise when K Sports took the lead with 15 minutes remaining when a cross from the right was not dealt with properly leaving a close range strike to put them 2-1 up.

Sadly, no lessons were learned and four minutes later another cross into the box once again led to a scramble and a shot stabbed home.

Tonbridge put together a spirited last 10 minutes but created very little in terms of real opportunities as the home side managed the game well to book their place in the third round.

Tonbridge Angels 1 Chelmsford City 0

Match 37/22/2044 - Tuesday, 25th October 2022 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Santos 14
Chelmsford City (0) 0

Attendance: 930
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 38/2,634

No need for drugs when football can give you such a high.

A thrilling game in which Tonbridge had a first half of attractive football and a second in which they had to dig deep and defend as if their lives depended on it. Both aspects of the game were loudly appreciated by a fully engaged attendance of 930, which we think is a record League attendance for a Tuesday night at Longmead.

Chelmsford arrived sitting fourth in the table, 10 games unbeaten including five wins on the spin which includes progress to the First Round of the FA Cup.

Jaydon Crowhurst’s loan spell from Southend has ended and into his position came Tariq Hinds, a new signing whose last club was Billericay, having spent time as a youngster at Tottenham. Up front Dylan Gavin was preferred to Louis Collins, who dropped to the bench.

The first half was very open with chances for both sides before Jeremy Santos opened the scoring after 14 minutes which left me to muse that there was no way this game was ending 1-0 (wrong!).

A cross from the right from Ruben Soares-Junior found Joe Turner at the far post, diving in low to connect with a header that struck the post and, at the other end, Simeon Jackson was denied when one-on-one with Jonny Henly.

The Angels took the lead after Santos won the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and surged beyond the centre circle before releasing Soares-Junior down the right who made it to the byline before pulling the ball back to the penalty area to where Santos had continued his run to crash the ball home.

Santos was at this point revelling in the atmosphere and his shot on 23 minutes was only marginally wide.

Chelmsford came right back into the game and had a credible penalty shout turned away on 34 minutes followed, five minutes later, by a header from Charlie Ruff that cleared the bar.

Into the second half and Tonbridge’s rearguard action was underway almost from the outset. A cross from the left just eluded Jackson right in front of goal, whilst Joe Tyrie and Sonny Miles won countless headers.

But the moment of the match, what might have been for the season, for the Angels fans came on 78 minutes when, from inside the centre circle, Santos spotting the keeper off his line tried his luck and executed a near perfect lob over Ejeheri, but sadly the ball drifted inches wide.

Chelmsford threw everything forward to rescue their unbeaten record but the Angels back line stood firm and, in time added, it took a fine, low save from Ejeheri to deny Joe Turner adding a second.

One final chance from the edge of the box fell to Barnum-Bobb who shanked his shot about 20 yards wide and about 20 feet high to bring down the curtains with a rousing cheer that was mainly borne of relief.

I could still have been scrapped off the ceiling by the time I got home, what a buzz!

Tonbridge Angels U18 7 Glebe 0

Match 36/22/2043 - Monday, 24th October 2022 - Isthmiaan Youth

Tonbridge Angels U18 (2) 7 Cormack 14 Puffette 25,64 Honavar 52,57,75 Lambert 60
Glebe (0) 0

Attendance: 43
Admission: £4
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/2,596

Against a background of Diwali fireworks, the Angels Under-18’s produced a firecracker performance of their own to demolish Glebe by seven clear goals with Cameron Honavar, who returned to the starting XI, scoring a hat-trick in a Man of the Match winning display.

From very early in the game, Tonbridge’s height advantage from set pieces caused problems for the Glebe defence with Will Puffette heading over from a corner.

The visitors stretched the Angels goalkeeper, Matt Larkin, after seven minutes before Max Cormack opened the scoring with a well struck shot past the Glebe keeper, Lorenzo Di-Cesare after 14 minutes.

The goal didn’t actually signal the deluge that was to follow as Glebe responded well with corners and an effort from Taheim Walters-Salmon that kept Larkin busy.

But with Zach Garcia’s set piece deliveries continually causing problems, a second goal was not long in coming as Puffette powered in a header following a free kick.

Puffette produced the tackle of the match after 37 minutes to deny Walters-Salmon and Glebe remained in the game at the break at two behind.

But the second half was to prove a different story as the Angels Under-18’s overpowered their visitors. Seven minutes into the half, Max Lambert set up Honavar to drive the ball into the bottom corner.

A stunning shot from Felix Waring from 25 yards crashed back of the crossbar, but two minutes later, Glebe’s frailty in the air was exposed again as Honavar headed the Angels four up.

On the hour, a really good team goal saw Waring and Honavar setting up Lambert for number five.

Puffette was allowed time to turn in the box and score as the Angels extracted the maximum chaos from every corner.

After 75 minutes, Honavar completed his hat-trick touching in from close range, the fifth goal of seven as a result of a set piece.

In fairness to Glebe they answered their manager’s calls to keep going to the final whistle and Larkin was forced to make a couple of saves late on.

Dom Welsh was rightly delighted with his team’s performance, commenting: “Exceptional team performance tonight, consistently outstanding from minute 1 to 90; controlled in possession, clinical in the final third and prevented everything going forward. A very good all-round performance from the lads.”