Match 87/24/2326 - Wednesday, 26th March 2025 - National League U19 Alliance
Tonbridge Angels Academy (2) 6
Worthing Academy (0) 1
Attendance: 15
Admission: Free
Mileage: 38/6,051
Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Maidstone United U18 3 Welling United U18
Match 86/24/2325 - Tuesday, 25th March 2025 - Isthmian Youth League
Maidstone United U18 (2) 3
Welling United U18 (0) 1 Craggs
Attendance: 54
Admission: £3
Mileage: 20/6,013
In years to come, I might wonder why I attended an Under-18's game at fierce rivals Maidstone United and even wanted them to win! So the explanation is that coming into this game, if Welling United won all of their remaining games they would be crowned the Isthmian Youth League East champions. One slip up and the door would be open for our, as in Tonbridge Angels, Under-18's to win their first title since 2017. Two excellent first half goals and a robust second half defensive performance gave the home side the points, which incidentally, keeps their own hopes of the title alive. It was a strange experience, celebrating in a reasonably restrained manner, Maidstone's goals. Thanks Maidstone, but I don't want to do it again!
Maidstone United U18 (2) 3
Welling United U18 (0) 1 Craggs
Attendance: 54
Admission: £3
Mileage: 20/6,013
In years to come, I might wonder why I attended an Under-18's game at fierce rivals Maidstone United and even wanted them to win! So the explanation is that coming into this game, if Welling United won all of their remaining games they would be crowned the Isthmian Youth League East champions. One slip up and the door would be open for our, as in Tonbridge Angels, Under-18's to win their first title since 2017. Two excellent first half goals and a robust second half defensive performance gave the home side the points, which incidentally, keeps their own hopes of the title alive. It was a strange experience, celebrating in a reasonably restrained manner, Maidstone's goals. Thanks Maidstone, but I don't want to do it again!
Sunday, 23 March 2025
Tonbridge Angels 2 Chelmsford City 1
Match 85/24/2324 - Saturday, 22nd March 2025 - National League South
Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Shields 11 Maloney 76
Chelmsford City (1) 1 Valentine 16
Attendance: 1,028
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/5,993
Tonbridge Angels gained maximum points from this mid-table encounter with a second half goal from Taylor Maloney to further their chances of a top half finish to the season.
Warm, spring sunshine attracted an attendance of 1,028 on Non League Day that saw Jay Saunders introduce new signing Luke Cook for the injured Gianluca Botti with Nazir Bakrin and Sean Shields coming in for the suspended Ethan Sutcliffe and Mo Dabre. Harry Ottaway and Mikey Berry returned to the bench after injury.
For, what might have been considered an end of season affair, a competitive, entertaining game ensued that produced chances from the outset with the visiting goalkeeper, Ted Collins, acrobatically turning over a close range header from Ronny Nelson in the fourth minute.
The home side made much of the early running and deservedly went ahead on 11 minutes when Brody Peart set up Sean Shields to bury his shot into the bottom corner.
The lead was only to last five minutes with Chelmsford’s livewire Nico Valentine capitalising on a defensive error to equalise with a good finish.
Buoyed by their equaliser, the visitors ended the half on the front foot with the Angels goalkeeper, Matt Rowley saving from Saleem Akanbi and Ryan Blackman.
The second half saw Tonbridge regain the momentum and might have regained their lead just past the hour when a well worked move between Cook and Jamie Fielding set up a close range header from Ottaway that was brilliantly denied by Collins.
Shields hit the bar on 73 minutes with Nelson having his shot on the rebound blocked following a scramble in the Chelmsford six yard box before the Angels scored what was ultimately to be the winner through Maloney who drove home a rebound off the chest of Collins following a fierce shot from Berry.
Chelmsford attempted to retrieve a point from the game with a big chance at the death but Taylor Legg’s header cleared the bar.
Jay Saunders said after the game: “It was a very open game, we started excellently and for the first 15 minutes we were brilliant, causing them a lot of problems but not taking our chances and then they change shape and it was disappointing to concede from what was their first attack. Overall, it was two teams that were going for it, we looked a bit fatigued from Tuesday night, but I’m pleased with the win and cannot fault the boys for their efforts.”
Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Shields 11 Maloney 76
Chelmsford City (1) 1 Valentine 16
Attendance: 1,028
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/5,993
Tonbridge Angels gained maximum points from this mid-table encounter with a second half goal from Taylor Maloney to further their chances of a top half finish to the season.
Warm, spring sunshine attracted an attendance of 1,028 on Non League Day that saw Jay Saunders introduce new signing Luke Cook for the injured Gianluca Botti with Nazir Bakrin and Sean Shields coming in for the suspended Ethan Sutcliffe and Mo Dabre. Harry Ottaway and Mikey Berry returned to the bench after injury.
For, what might have been considered an end of season affair, a competitive, entertaining game ensued that produced chances from the outset with the visiting goalkeeper, Ted Collins, acrobatically turning over a close range header from Ronny Nelson in the fourth minute.
The home side made much of the early running and deservedly went ahead on 11 minutes when Brody Peart set up Sean Shields to bury his shot into the bottom corner.
The lead was only to last five minutes with Chelmsford’s livewire Nico Valentine capitalising on a defensive error to equalise with a good finish.
Buoyed by their equaliser, the visitors ended the half on the front foot with the Angels goalkeeper, Matt Rowley saving from Saleem Akanbi and Ryan Blackman.
The second half saw Tonbridge regain the momentum and might have regained their lead just past the hour when a well worked move between Cook and Jamie Fielding set up a close range header from Ottaway that was brilliantly denied by Collins.
Shields hit the bar on 73 minutes with Nelson having his shot on the rebound blocked following a scramble in the Chelmsford six yard box before the Angels scored what was ultimately to be the winner through Maloney who drove home a rebound off the chest of Collins following a fierce shot from Berry.
Chelmsford attempted to retrieve a point from the game with a big chance at the death but Taylor Legg’s header cleared the bar.
Jay Saunders said after the game: “It was a very open game, we started excellently and for the first 15 minutes we were brilliant, causing them a lot of problems but not taking our chances and then they change shape and it was disappointing to concede from what was their first attack. Overall, it was two teams that were going for it, we looked a bit fatigued from Tuesday night, but I’m pleased with the win and cannot fault the boys for their efforts.”
Ebbsfleet United 1 Tonbridge Angels 0
Match 84/24/2323 - Tuesday, 18th March 2025 - Kent Senior Cup SF
Ebbsfleet United (0) 1 Anthony 90+2
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 505
Admission: £5
Mileage: 54/5,955
It was a cruel exit for the Angels from the Kent Senior Cup as Ebbsfleet United scored a wonder goal in the 90th minute after the visitors had dominated proceedings for much of the game.
With the lottery of penalties imminent, Elijah Anthony collected a clearance and from 25 yards found the top corner with a superb effort to see the National League side into the final where they will meet Welling United.
Replying to Matt Davison’s assertion after the match that we deserved more, Jay Saunders said: “I think so. I was really pleased with the performance and the reaction from Saturday. I’ve said to the boys, we have been the nearly men this season when it comes to the league and in games with the chances we had tonight, we nearly took them and, unfortunately, it’s taken a hell of a strike to beat us when it looked like it would go to penalties.”
On another chilly evening of this seemingly endless winter, Jay was deprived of the services of Sean Shields through injury. Bailey Akehurst and Mikey Berry were cup-tied which brought Mo Dabre, Brody Peart and Taylor Maloney into the starting line-up from Saturday’s defeat at Bath City.
Backed by a noisy contingent that made up over a third of the attendance, Tonbridge started on the front foot and never relinquished that control until the final 10 minutes or so when the home side’s strength from the bench made an impact.
An chance fell to Peart within the first couple of minutes but his shot was directed at the Ebbsfleet goalkeeper, Felix Goddard, who was further tested on six minutes with an effort from Gianluca Botti.
A Dominic Poleon effort that cleared the bar by some distance was the only interruption in the Angels momentum who saw further chances for Dabre and Jack Wood go wide.
The best chance of the half came on 39 minutes when a right sided corner found the head of Botti, but from close range he could only steer his header narrowly wide of the post.
In the final act of the half, Botti was denied again this time by the feet of the advancing Goddard.
Dabre, feeling the recurrence of his hamstring injury, was substituted at the break by Nazrin Bakrin but the direction of play was unaltered with the Angels pressing forward for the most part.
Peart put an effort wide on 54 minutes followed by a golden chance on 64 minutes when a slightly heavy pass from Botti found Maloney stretching in front of goal to steer his opportunity wide.
As the home side brought National League regulars from the bench, the pressure on the Angels defence began to intensify but was being comfortably dealt with.
On 76 minutes, Academy player Kimsley Gatakata replaced Botti, who limped away from the action, and immediately had an opportunity in front of goal but, under pressure from a giant defender, he couldn’t get the necessary purchase on his shot and it was saved by Goddard.
Such is the nature of penalties, we will never know the outcome, but this was rendered unnecessary as the clock ticked past the ninety with the outrageous strike from Anthony that gave Matt Rowley no chance.
Jay concluded: “I’m disappointed for everyone associated with the club, it would have been a good final, we took it as seriously as we could, went as strong as we could and gave a really good account of ourselves and I don’t think we deserved to lose it over the 90 minutes.”
Ebbsfleet United (0) 1 Anthony 90+2
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 505
Admission: £5
Mileage: 54/5,955
It was a cruel exit for the Angels from the Kent Senior Cup as Ebbsfleet United scored a wonder goal in the 90th minute after the visitors had dominated proceedings for much of the game.
With the lottery of penalties imminent, Elijah Anthony collected a clearance and from 25 yards found the top corner with a superb effort to see the National League side into the final where they will meet Welling United.
Replying to Matt Davison’s assertion after the match that we deserved more, Jay Saunders said: “I think so. I was really pleased with the performance and the reaction from Saturday. I’ve said to the boys, we have been the nearly men this season when it comes to the league and in games with the chances we had tonight, we nearly took them and, unfortunately, it’s taken a hell of a strike to beat us when it looked like it would go to penalties.”
On another chilly evening of this seemingly endless winter, Jay was deprived of the services of Sean Shields through injury. Bailey Akehurst and Mikey Berry were cup-tied which brought Mo Dabre, Brody Peart and Taylor Maloney into the starting line-up from Saturday’s defeat at Bath City.
Backed by a noisy contingent that made up over a third of the attendance, Tonbridge started on the front foot and never relinquished that control until the final 10 minutes or so when the home side’s strength from the bench made an impact.
An chance fell to Peart within the first couple of minutes but his shot was directed at the Ebbsfleet goalkeeper, Felix Goddard, who was further tested on six minutes with an effort from Gianluca Botti.
A Dominic Poleon effort that cleared the bar by some distance was the only interruption in the Angels momentum who saw further chances for Dabre and Jack Wood go wide.
The best chance of the half came on 39 minutes when a right sided corner found the head of Botti, but from close range he could only steer his header narrowly wide of the post.
In the final act of the half, Botti was denied again this time by the feet of the advancing Goddard.
Dabre, feeling the recurrence of his hamstring injury, was substituted at the break by Nazrin Bakrin but the direction of play was unaltered with the Angels pressing forward for the most part.
Peart put an effort wide on 54 minutes followed by a golden chance on 64 minutes when a slightly heavy pass from Botti found Maloney stretching in front of goal to steer his opportunity wide.
As the home side brought National League regulars from the bench, the pressure on the Angels defence began to intensify but was being comfortably dealt with.
On 76 minutes, Academy player Kimsley Gatakata replaced Botti, who limped away from the action, and immediately had an opportunity in front of goal but, under pressure from a giant defender, he couldn’t get the necessary purchase on his shot and it was saved by Goddard.
Such is the nature of penalties, we will never know the outcome, but this was rendered unnecessary as the clock ticked past the ninety with the outrageous strike from Anthony that gave Matt Rowley no chance.
Jay concluded: “I’m disappointed for everyone associated with the club, it would have been a good final, we took it as seriously as we could, went as strong as we could and gave a really good account of ourselves and I don’t think we deserved to lose it over the 90 minutes.”
Tunbridge Wells 0 Hollands & Blair 3
Match 83/24/2322 - Saturday, 15th March 2025 - SCEFL Premier
Tunbridge Wells (0) 0
Hollands & Blair (1) 2 Brooker 31 Walmsley 45+5 Draycott 66
Attendance: 221
Admission: £6
Mileage: 38/5,901
Tunbridge Wells (0) 0
Hollands & Blair (1) 2 Brooker 31 Walmsley 45+5 Draycott 66
Attendance: 221
Admission: £6
Mileage: 38/5,901
Friday, 14 March 2025
Staplehurst Monarchs 1 Welling Town 2
Match 82/24/2321 - Wednesday, 12th March 2025 - SCEFL 1
Staplehurst Monarchs (1) 1 Headley 45+3
Welling Town (1) 2 Nolan-Samuels 9 Huckle 55
Attendance: 50
Admission: £5
Mileage: 1/5,863
Staplehurst Monarchs (1) 1 Headley 45+3
Welling Town (1) 2 Nolan-Samuels 9 Huckle 55
Attendance: 50
Admission: £5
Mileage: 1/5,863
Chesham United 0 Tonbridge Angels 1
Match 81/24/2320 - Tuesday, 11th March 2025 - National League South
Chesham United (0) 0
Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Botti 68
Attendance:
Admission: Pass
Mileage: 184/5,862
New Ground: 389
Business as usual was the message from chair, Sophie Purves, echoed by Jay Saunders and delivered by his squad who put in a solid performance at Chesham United.
One might say it wasn’t quite business as usual as wins on the road this season have been hard come by, but this fourth win propelled the Angels back into the top half of the table as the Angels seek a good end to the season to send Jay on to pastures new with a sense of satisfaction of a job well done.
It was a cold evening for Tonbridge Angels’ first-ever visit to The Meadow and the manager made four changes from the starting XI that had performed admirably but without reward against Torquay United. Into the line-up came Bailey Akehurst, Mo Dabre, Nazir Bakrin and Brody Peart for Taylor Maloney, Gianluca Botti, Jack Wood, who took places on the bench, and Mikey Berry, who was unavailable following his injury on Saturday.
Ultimately, it has to be admitted that this was not a classic and, at times, had a real end-of-season feel to it as a difficult pitch never lent itself to football of any great quality. But the Angels were gritty and determined when they needed to be in defence and found the one bit of quality that was needed to win the game when Botti converted from close range on 68 minutes.
Jay said in this post-match interview: “This is a difficult place to come on a Tuesday night after Saturday’s efforts. The pitch was very difficult which meant we set up very different and had a different game plan to Torquay and had to play a different way but the boys carried it out excellently and I thought there were some excellent displays and I’m really pleased we have got the win.”
Both sides were looking to put a three game run without a win behind them, so an early goal would give confidence to whoever might have scored it, and that could well have been the home side as Matt Rowley was forced to make a brilliant save after less than two minutes after a shot came in from close range following a corner.
The game then got bogged down in the middle of the park with neither side particularly taking control. Bailey Akehurst fired in a shot that cleared the bar and Rowley was pressed into action again saving from Samson Esan.
The big chance of the half fell to the home side in the last couple of minutes with Nathan Minhas blazing over when well placed.
Tonbridge took the on 68 minutes when a free kick sent to the far post by Sean Shields was headed back across goal by Jamie Fielding, a defender got his feet in a tangle in attempting to clear and, as the ball ran loose, Botti, on as a substitute for Peart, was on hand to tuck home from around six yards.
Despite there being 20 minutes plus to play out, the Angels did this with relative ease, the only scare being a header deep into added time from goalkeeper Ben Goode, who had ventured forward for a corner.
Dabre was sprinting clear in the last seconds only to pull up with what initially looked like a recurrence of his hamstring injury but rather was said to be only cramp.
Jay added: “The boys, overall, deserved it. We worked really hard, it was not the prettiest of games to watch but we knew we had to play the conditions and play percentages and for large parts of the game we did that very well. We’ve been up and around the top 10 all season and I don’t want us to see us fall away because the boys deserve more, as do the supporters.”
Chesham United (0) 0
Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Botti 68
Attendance:
Admission: Pass
Mileage: 184/5,862
New Ground: 389
Business as usual was the message from chair, Sophie Purves, echoed by Jay Saunders and delivered by his squad who put in a solid performance at Chesham United.
One might say it wasn’t quite business as usual as wins on the road this season have been hard come by, but this fourth win propelled the Angels back into the top half of the table as the Angels seek a good end to the season to send Jay on to pastures new with a sense of satisfaction of a job well done.
It was a cold evening for Tonbridge Angels’ first-ever visit to The Meadow and the manager made four changes from the starting XI that had performed admirably but without reward against Torquay United. Into the line-up came Bailey Akehurst, Mo Dabre, Nazir Bakrin and Brody Peart for Taylor Maloney, Gianluca Botti, Jack Wood, who took places on the bench, and Mikey Berry, who was unavailable following his injury on Saturday.
Ultimately, it has to be admitted that this was not a classic and, at times, had a real end-of-season feel to it as a difficult pitch never lent itself to football of any great quality. But the Angels were gritty and determined when they needed to be in defence and found the one bit of quality that was needed to win the game when Botti converted from close range on 68 minutes.
Jay said in this post-match interview: “This is a difficult place to come on a Tuesday night after Saturday’s efforts. The pitch was very difficult which meant we set up very different and had a different game plan to Torquay and had to play a different way but the boys carried it out excellently and I thought there were some excellent displays and I’m really pleased we have got the win.”
Both sides were looking to put a three game run without a win behind them, so an early goal would give confidence to whoever might have scored it, and that could well have been the home side as Matt Rowley was forced to make a brilliant save after less than two minutes after a shot came in from close range following a corner.
The game then got bogged down in the middle of the park with neither side particularly taking control. Bailey Akehurst fired in a shot that cleared the bar and Rowley was pressed into action again saving from Samson Esan.
The big chance of the half fell to the home side in the last couple of minutes with Nathan Minhas blazing over when well placed.
Tonbridge took the on 68 minutes when a free kick sent to the far post by Sean Shields was headed back across goal by Jamie Fielding, a defender got his feet in a tangle in attempting to clear and, as the ball ran loose, Botti, on as a substitute for Peart, was on hand to tuck home from around six yards.
Despite there being 20 minutes plus to play out, the Angels did this with relative ease, the only scare being a header deep into added time from goalkeeper Ben Goode, who had ventured forward for a corner.
Dabre was sprinting clear in the last seconds only to pull up with what initially looked like a recurrence of his hamstring injury but rather was said to be only cramp.
Jay added: “The boys, overall, deserved it. We worked really hard, it was not the prettiest of games to watch but we knew we had to play the conditions and play percentages and for large parts of the game we did that very well. We’ve been up and around the top 10 all season and I don’t want us to see us fall away because the boys deserve more, as do the supporters.”
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