Tonbridge Angels 0 Eastbourne Borough 2

Match 62/24/2301 - Tuesday, 14th January 2025 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Eastbourne Borough (1) 2 Innocent 38 Shamalo 67
Attendance: 800
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/4,384

A game that is best filed in the soonest forgotten and move on drawer.

There are strict guidelines regarding opinion of refereeing performances on National League club’s websites, but thankfully they have no control over a humble blog so I can say my piece. I'm not anti women in football and we've had referees that have been good one match and then not so good the next time they officate, much the same as any male. My gripe is not actually with Emily Heaslip but with the powers that be that have promoted an inexperienced referee far too quickly and left her out of her depth. .

On a thankfully milder evening than of late, Jay Saunders made three changes from Saturday’s side with Bailey Akehurst, Jeremy Santos and Gianluca Botti coming in for Scott Wagstaff (injured), Nazir Bakrin and Trevan Robinson who took places on the bench.

An eagerly awaited contest, for a decent Tuesday night attendance of 800, between an Eastbourne Borough team, for whom a win would see them climb into third place whilst for the home side would place them in touching distance of the players-off positions. But, within the opening five minutes, the game was set on an entirely different course.

The Angels had started the game brightly, forcing an early free kick and from that a third minute corner that brought the usual jostling for position in the six yard box as Sean Shields prepared to deliver. The jostling developed into something a little more which ended with Eastbourne’s Brayden Johnson going to ground and with that Ms Heaslip produced a red card and Garrett Kelly’s involvement was at an end.

The game plan was ripped up in a moment and Tonbridge needed to find a level of commitment that impressed their manager greatly: “I’m proud of the boys’ effort, to play 90-odd minutes with, at first, 10 men against a full-time team. I’m frustrated we had an opportunity to show what we’re capable of and close the gap. A lot’s happened out there but I don’t think there was a bad tackle and there’s been God knows how many yellow cards and red cards.”

When the corner did eventually get taken, Ronny Nelson headed marginally over.

As Tonbridge adjusted to the man disadvantage, Eastbourne pressed forward with Pierce Bird bringing a low save from Matt Rowley and a header from John Shamalo that was narrowly wide.

After surviving the opening half-hour, the Angels became to pose a threat of their own with successive corners but, on 36 minutes, the visitors took the lead when a right sided cross found its way to the left side of the box from where Kai Innocent drove his shot into the bottom corner.

The second half opened with then 10 men of Tonbridge containing their opponents relatively comfortably whilst looking to counter on the break. On 65 minutes, an innoculous booking for tossing the ball away a few inches for Botti was to have greater consequences soon after.

Eastbourne doubled their advantage on 67 minutes when Shamalo headed in from close range following a corner and with frustration playing its part, Botti challenged the Eastbourne goalkeeper, Joe Wright as he cleared the ball to bring a second yellow and subsequent red.

The visitors, strangely with a two man advantage, called time on their evening and played out the remaining quarter-hour with possession mainly played out in their half before the referee’s final whistle brought a chorus of irate boos from the home support.

Tonbridge Angels 1 Chippenham Town 1

Match 61/24/2300 - Saturday, 4th January 2025 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Lema 58
Chippenham Town (1) 1 Mehew 42
Attendance: 935
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/4,346

The Angels had to be content with a point, despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession as the happy travellers of National League South, Chippenham Town, showed their resilient selves.

Jay Saunders reflected: “First half we were dominant in possession, we had a perfectly good goal disallowed. We showed a good response to come back into the game but if you go a goal down I suppose you take it as a point gained.”

As fixtures fell to the weather by the dozen, the functionality of a 3G pitch ensured that the game went ahead, despite temperatures that fell five degrees below zero overnight and were not hovering much into positive territory at kick off.

Jay’s team selection saw three changes with Trevan Robinson, Nazir Bakrin and Scott Wagstaff coming into the starting XI for Ryan Hanson (injured), Harry Ottaway (illness) and Mo Dabre, who took a place on the bench but wasn’t fully fit.

In the sixth minute, a left-sided cross from Sean Shields appeared to be spilt by the Chippenham goalkeeper, Will Henry, allowing Charlie Pegrum to pass the ball into an unguarded net but the referee decided that Henry had been impeded under a challenge from Robinson and disallowed the goal.

In a first half, dominated by the Angels, Shields saw an effort turned over the crossbar by Henry and Robinson hooked the ball over the bar from six yards before Tom Mehew had a great chance to open the scoring for the visitors, against the run of play, dragging his shot wide on 39 minutes.

But, three minutes later, a cross from the right was only partially cleared to the edge of the box from where Mehew struck a cleanly hit shot that Matt Rowley got his hands to but couldn’t prevent the ball finding the bottom corner.

Worse might have followed when Mehew then somehow managed to shoot wide from close range, unmarked, in front of goal in first half added time.

The passage of play continued to be hugely in Tonbridge’s favour into the second half with Henry saving from Shields before substitute Akehurst played in Wagstaff to stand up a cross that was headed into the bottom corner by Crossley Lema, who arched his body backwards to make contact with the cross.

Tonbridge had their chances to win the game through Gianluca Botti, Pegrum and Jeremy Santos but the Chippenham defence stayed strong and created a couple of chances of their own on the break, one of which required a low save from Rowley.

Jay added on missed chances: “You have to be clinical. We were in control of the first half, but looking at it, they’ve had two good chances, they’ve scored and then, right after that, we’ve given the ball away and they nearly score again. They could go in 2-0 up when, for the first half-hour, we’ve been in control. Trevan has to score a couple, the keeper has made a good save, but we were not clinical enough and that’s why we have been looking at other options and seeing what’s out there.”

Tonbridge Angels 2 Weston-super-Mare 0

Match 60/24/2299 - Saturday, 4th January 2025 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Shields 25 Nelson 71
Weston-super-Mare (0) 0
Attendance: 832
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/4,308

Tonbridge Angels eased to a comfortable win over Weston-super-Mare at a bitterly cold Halcyon Wealth Longmead Stadium with a goal in each half.

Jay Saunders commented after the match: “I thought it was a very impressive performance. Weston are a good side, they have got a lot of players who can hurt you and we limited that.”

Jay made one change from the side that started the abandoned game at Hornchurch with Mo Dabre returning for his 50th appearance for Nazir Bakrin.

The opening minutes of the first half were very much those of Weston-super-Mare who created three chances, each of which needed a good save from the Angels goalkeeper, Matt Rowley. After four minutes, he saved low from Jordan Bastin, then after nine minutes denied James Dodd and two minutes later turned over the bar another effort from Dodd.

In the midst of the brisk opening from the visitors, Charlie Pegrum had a chance for the Angels which he dragged wide of the far post.

After surviving the opening surge from the visitors, the Angels settled and took control of the game with Sean Shields beginning to dominate the midfield. A corner from the left was punched clear by Max Harris but only to the feet of Pegrum whose shot was deflected wide and twice in two minutes Harris needed to save from Shields.

The goal the Angels had been threatening came on 25 minutes when Harry Ottaway picked a pocket for Pegrum to slide a pass through to Shields whose shot found the net via a post.

Tonbridge largely dominated the rest of the half with Shields twice testing Harris but WSM gave fair warning that they were not out of the game with a couple of breaks one of which brought a scramble around the edge of the six yard box.

The second half saw, for the most part, a controlled performance from the Angels without creating too many chances of note until the 71st minutes when a beautifully flighted free kick from Shields was met with a towering header from Ronny Nelson to double the Angels advantage.

Efforts to put the game beyond the visitors came from substitute Trevan Robinson and Crossley Lema; a header from Naz Bakrin and in the dying seconds, Robinson and fellow substitute Jeremy Santos combined well to open up a diving header for the former that was narrowly wide before the referee brought the curtain down to allow the attendance of 832 to hurry to the warmth of their car heaters.

Jay summed up: “We could have gone on and scored another couple but all-in-all it was a really professional performance. Parky and Blacky have said that at times we’ve really looked a young looking side but today it looked like some of those boys have really come of age and I was really pleased with the whole team.”

Gillingham 0 Bromley 3

Match 59/24/2298 - Thursday, 2nd January 2025 - EFL League Two

Gillingham (0) 0
Bromley (2) 3 Dennis 7 Arthurs 26 Grant 76
Attendance: 7,454
Admission: £20
Mileage: 38/4,270

Match Report

Hornchurch A-A Tonbridge Angels

Match 58/24/2297 - Wednesday, 1st January 2025 - National League South

Hornchurch (1) A Muldoon 9
Tonbridge Angels (1) A Bakrin 23
Attendance: TBA
Match Abandoned after 38 minutes - Waterlogged Pitch
Admission: Pass
Mileage: 102/4,232

Tonbridge Angels supporters that had made the journey to Hornchurch were left frustrated as referee Ayrton Hursey brought a halt to proceedings after 38 minutes with player welfare being the prime consideration as the pitch condition worsened following incessant heavy rain.

Jay Saunders, who along with his counterpart Daryl McMahon had been consulted, was in agreement with the decision: “Once you entered the field of play you can understand why the game was abandoned. There were a few doubts when we first got here because of a heavy downpour but then it eased off. It didn’t surprise me, it is more for player’s welfare. We wanted to carry on because we were playing quite well given the conditions. But when you went onto the pitch you understood just how bad it was with players struggling to keep their footing.”

Jay had made four changes from the starting XI that was beaten by Maidstone United on Boxing Day. Liam Vincent had failed to recover from the dead leg that forced his substitution whilst Trevan Robinson, Jeremy Santos and Scott Wagstaff made way for Sean Shields, returning from injury, Charlie Pegrum, Garrett Kelly and Naz Bakrin. There was a surprise inclusion for assistant manager Tommy Parkinson on the bench.

An early chance fell to Shields who drove a shot into the side netting before Hornchurch opened the scoring with a fine strike from Ollie Muldoon into the top corner from 25 yards that gave Matt Rowley no chance.

The goal served as an added impetus to the Angels and they quickly gained control of the game moving the ball well on the sodden surface.

After 23 minutes, the Angels got a well-deserved equaliser. A right-sided corner was headed on by Jamie Fielding and as a headed challenge was made, the ball dropped to Bakrin who struck cleanly into the centre of the goal.

The visitors were firmly in the ascendancy when the referee firstly spoke with both captains before going to the dugouts to inform the respective managers.

Jay said of the 38 minutes of play: “I was pleased, other than the strike for their goal, we looked good, threatening at times. We looked quite sharp and up for it, disappointed that it was called off but it is what it is.”

Chatham Town 3 Bowers & Pitsea 1

Match 57/24/2296 - Saturday, 28th December 2024 - Isthmian League Premier

Chatham Town (3) 3 Ufuah 7 Liburd 27 Cooper 45+1
Bowers & Pitsea (0) 1 Teniola 70
Attendance: 2,011
Admission: £8 Concession
Mileage: 33/4,130

Tonbridge Angels 1 Maidstone United 3

Match 56/24/2295 - Thursday, 26th December 2024 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Vincent 45
Maidstone United (1) 3 Fowler 2 Blair 78 Bentley 90+5
Attendance: 2,825
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/4,097

Maidstone United returned home from the A26, three points safely tucked in their back pocket after a deserved, if slightly flattering, 3-1 win.

Historically, Tonbridge Angels have never won a home encounter with their local rivals on Boxing Day and when they went behind with less than two minutes on the clock that statistic looked unlikely to be put to bed. A Liam Vincent header just before the break offered hope but two late goals sent the visiting contingent home happy.

Jay Saunders said after the game: “Give Maidstone their credit, they’ve taken their goals well. The first goal kills us to a degree, an embarrassing goal. Long throw, bounces about and they poke it in and so it is probably the worst start possible. We grew into the game and got better as the half wore on and deservedly got on level terms and there wasn’t a lot in the game all afternoon. Santos gives the ball away in a silly area, they break and to be fair to Blair, it’s a great finish.”

The Halcyon Wealth Longmead Stadium was packed with a record league attendance of 2,825 on a grey, if thankfully mild, day. Jay remained without the services of Sean Shields and made one change from the side that started at Boreham Wood with Jeremy Santos coming in for Mo Dabre (ankle injury).

The Angels found themselves under pressure from the opening whistle and barely survived the opening low throw into the box before a cross from Matt Rush was headed on to the far post from where George Fowler only needed the faintest of touches to steer it home.

A difficult opening period was nearly compounded after six minutes when Rush failed to get on the end of a Antony Papadopoulos cross before the home side began to get anything like a foothold in the game.

After 19 minutes, Vincent managed to get in his first threatening cross of the game which narrowly evaded Harry Ottaway. Another Vincent cross saw pressure on the Maidstone goalkeeper, Alexis Andre Jr, but a charitable referee quickly came to his aid.

Maidstone’s leading goalscorer, Aaron Blair, was understandably causing the Angels back line more than a few concerns and when he wriggled clear of Ethan Sutcliffe, the outcome might have been a whole lot worse than a shot that was comfortably saved by Matt Rowley.

Boxing Day’s pantomime villain, ex-Angel Jordan Higgs, raised a cheer from the home support as he entered the referee’s notebook before those supporters were given a genuine reason to be cheerful as the Angels found an equaliser. Sutcliffe’s cross from the right, was headed towards the byeline but was kept alive by Trevan Robinson’s back header and as the bounce deceived a Maidstone defender, Vincent stole in to plant a header beyond Andre Jr.

The Angels received a huge setback, just moments into the second period, when Vincent went down following a challenge and needed to be replaced by Charlie Pegrum.

A sensational clearance from Ronnie Nelson from the line after Sol Wanjau-Smith had got on the end of a cross preserved his side’s parity as the visitors began to turn up the heat.

With 12 minutes remaining, a game to be honest that had not been blessed with quality, found its moment and with it the visitors regained their lead. A ball lost by the Angels in midfield, was swept to the left from where Blair, stepped inside to curl a shot from 25 yards into the top corner beyond the grasp of Rowley.

A flutter of excitement rippled through the home end as Pegrum’s cross evaded a couple of onrushing Angels and drifted narrowly wide of the far post.

But, in the fifth of seven added minutes, Maidstone iced their cake when Blair laid the ball off to Matt Bentley who picked his spot into the bottom corner.

Jay summed up: “There are things we’ve got to be better on. It’s annoying because I felt we could have come out of the game with something, but we’ve not and the two goals play a big part in it. We lost the game because at key moments were were not good enough. For large parts of it, it was a typical derby, it was a battle with tackles flying in, but you are always going to be up against it if you concede three goals.”