Tonbridge Angels Academy 5 Whitstable Town Academy 1

Match 22/26/2449 - Wednesday, 9th September 2026 - National League U19 Alliance

Tonbridge Angels Academy (3) 5
Whitstable Town Academy (1) 1
Attendance: 10
Admission: Free
Mileage: 38/1,192

NEW DAWN

Tonbridge Angels comfortably won their opening National League U19 Alliance game, their first since becoming an in-house Academy, beating Whitstable Town at the Yeomans Community Stadium.

Dom Welsh, Academy Team Manager, commented after the game: “A dominant performance and a fantastic start to the season. Plenty of positive football and opportunities to score more but an excellent opening day for the new Academy.”

In the opening 15 minutes, the Angels youngsters should have been a couple of goals to the good having seen the ball cleared from the line in the first minute and a shot from Akshar Santhosh that rattled the crossbar. So it was something of a surprise when Whitstable took the lead on 17 minutes when a free kick from #8, awarded after a foul on #9, who was a handful, found the net coming down off the underside of the crossbar.

The Angels regained their composure and struck the woodwork a second time when a rasping shot from Robert Penman was touched onto the bar by the goalkeeper.

The equaliser came on 25 minutes when Mackenzie Richardson slid a pass for Penman to tap home from close range.

Just past the half-hour, Penman finished clinically into the bottom corner to put the Angels in front but were given a warning shot when another free kick from #8 struck the bar.

The woodwork was being significantly overworked as Callum Fincham hit a post on 41 minutes but, a minute later, the Angels advantage was doubled as Deller-Miles was left, unchallenged in the six yard box, to head home.

Alfie McGuire was required in first half added time as #9 sprinted clear but the goalkeeper saved at his feet.

Half-time substitute Logan Wallace added goals four and five, after 49 minutes when sent clear by Richardson and six minutes later when hooked in a cross from Akshar Santhosh.

Tonbridge dominated through to the end, but Whitstable showed resilience to keep the score at five although Penman gave the woodwork another rattling with a header.

Tonbridge Angels 0 Maidstone United 1

Match 21/26/2448 - Tuesday, 8th September 2026 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Maidstone United (0) 1 Leahy 80
Attendance: 2,260
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/1,154

THAT'S THAT DONE!

It’s done. Once a year the circus rolls into town, they grab a result and leave, hopefully peacefully, allowing us to go about our business for the rest of the season.

I loathe this fixture, its chaotic, stressful and seemingly the outcome is always the same. Financially, 2,260 through the doors on a Tuesday night is fantastic, but it is the antithesis of what non-league football is about. Segregation, all ticket, car park full 90 minutes before kick-off, there is nothing to recommend it unless, of course, you support Maidstone United and know that your return journey home will be with another smug smile.

Not for 12 years, Teniola Time, has that smile been wiped from their face. Yes, we’ve had success at the Gallagher, but it just doesn’t happen at Longmead.

Maidstone didn’t deserve that smile, but took their chance with a screamer of a goal whilst Tonbridge faltered in front of goal, wasting so many opportunities.

With eight players on the pitch who have played for both clubs it was inevitable that one would be the villain of the piece to one set of supporters and Tom Leahy was the man of the moment.

A wet day had subsided into a pleasantly mild evening but one that necessitated a coat for the first time this season. Alan Dunne selected an unchanged side for a third consecutive time.

The game was what you expect from a derby, helter-skelter with no quarter asked and no quarter given. Certainly a game that needed an experienced referee, and although Craig Barnett didn’t get everything right, he controlled the game whilst allowing it to flow.

Tonbridge threatened their visitors goal within in the first minute when a scramble in front of goal ended with Lamar Reynolds’ shot clearing the bar.

The home side were fully in ascendancy and it took 25 minutes for Maidstone to register a shot on goal with Leone Gravata tamely testing Nathan Harness.

After 41 minutes, Tonbridge had the ball in the net through Frankie Baker, but it was disallowed for offside, a decision that was later questioned.

Maidstone certainly showed greater intent from the outset of the second period with Harness turning a Riley Court free kick over the bar at full stretch.

Although Maidstone were dominating possession in the second half they were creating very little in terms of shots on goal and, after 79 minutes, it was Lennie Holden’s turn to turn over a lob from Lex Beeden.

But, from the resultant corner, Maidstone made a lightning break down the left, partly aided by a challenge from George Fowler that went unseen by the referee, with Gravata who slipped the ball inside to Leahy, who from 18 yards picked out the top corner for an immaculate finish.

Whilst the Angels threw bodies forward in search of an equaliser, Leahy rattled the bar in the last minute of regular time.

Two chances fell the way of the home side in time added with Ethan Sutcliffe and substitute Alfie Pavey both heading over when well placed to find the target.

A draw would have been a fair result with each side having the better of a half, but as Dunne commented after life, let alone football, isn’t fair.

When I read this back, it’s going to come across as bitter, but ask anyone from north London to Glasgow, Milan to Istanbul defeat to your local rivals is always bitter.

Picture: Dave Couldridge

Farnborough 0 Tonbridge Angels 4

Match 20/26/2447 - Saturday, 5th September 2026 - National League South

Farnborough (0) 0
Tonbridge Angels (2) 4 Sutcliffe 26 Thomas (OG) 45+2 Korboa 68 Baker 84
Attendance: 905
Admission: £12
Mileage: 152/1,116

WE ARE REALLY GOOD!

“Ah, but they haven’t played anyone as good as us” said an Angels faithful responding to his friend’s assertion of Farnborough’s good early form. It was a statement I haven’t heard in many years, if ever, but later I reflected that we can’t keep doing ourselves down just because we’ve won a match easily. It doesn’t mean the opposition were poor but, more so, that we were really good.

Alan Dunne was rightly proud of his side, he always is, we as supporters can also be proud but without raising expectations to ridiculous levels. We’re not Dagenham, Torquay or dare I say it, even Maidstone but we are a good side that can look upwards rather than over our shoulder.

At the end of last season with the weather very warm, a foretaste of the summer to come, Tonbridge ruined the hosts’ end of season party with a 6-1 demolition that left manager Spencer Day ruing that he even had to attend the function. Fast forward six months, weather still very warm, and Day’s post-match interview, like him or loathe him they are always good value, had him once more a frustrated man admitting that his side could have been beaten by a similar scoreline.

Farnborough’s grass pitch looked resplendent, far removed from the burnt hayfield of Braintree just a month ago and, following the Bank Holiday five-star performance, Dunne was able to field an unchanged side.

Day bemoaned his side’s early lethargy but, in truth, Tonbridge swarmed all over them from the opening whistle of referee Jamie Stevenson, more of him to come!

Jepthe Tanga got the ball stuck under his feet in front of goal after seven minutes and Lucas Thomas, an 18-year-old goalkeeper on loan from Luton Town, did well to save at the feet of Lamar Reynolds.

Tonbridge hit the front on 26 minutes when a long throw into the box from Bailey Akehurst was headed on at the near post by Reynolds to the far post where Ethan Sutcliffe was there steer his header home.

Tonbridge were dominant but had to wait until the second minute of added time before doubling their advantage following an Akehurst corner that was swung into the mass of bodies into which Thomas came to make his punch but only succeeded in deflecting it into his own net.

Farnborough responded in the early part of the second half, no doubt with the proverbial flea in the ear from Day, but despite a succession of corners there was no suggestion of them getting a foothold in the game.

Mr Stevenson took centre stage on 63 minutes when Frankie Baker was hauled down which both looked a free kick and a potential red card but the official saw nothing illegal in the challenge. Dunney certainly did and was booked for his protest.

Justice was served within five minutes when Ricky Korboa lashed a shot into the roof of the net to make the points safe.

Six minutes remained when Baker got his reward for an afternoon of honest endeavour when he picked up the scraps of some hapless defending to add a fourth.

Farnborough were a long way better than the hopeless category of Walton and Hersham of Monday, but they met a side that were actually very good.

Photo: Dave Couldridge

Tonbridge Angels 5 Walton and Hersham 1

Match 19/26/2446 - Monday, 31st August 2026 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (3) 5
Walton and Hersham (1) 1
Attendance: 1,218
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/964

EASY DOES IT!

Even the hard hearted would have had a certain amount of sympathy for the 20 or so disconsolate Walton and Hersham supporters stood behind the goal as their team was torn apart. But the wider picture is that their club has far bigger problems than heavy defeats on the pitch.

Those supporters, and probably a lot more of them, should have arrived at the Yeomans on a wave of optimism following four promotions in the last five years and a place in National League South for the first time.

But a dispute with their landlords the local council, Elmbridge Borough Council and their stadium operators over the revenue that is generated at the Xcel Sports Hub where none of the match day secondary spend benefits the club leaves them without the resources to compete at step two and the consequence has been a nightmare start to the season with six straight defeats and an already mountainous negative goal difference.

Manager Kevin James, who bore fairly light hearted criticism from those 20 hardy souls, paid the price with his job after this latest defeat.

All of this shouldn’t detract from a scintillating performance from Tonbridge Angels who shredded their hapless opponents with football that was a delight on the eye for the most part.

On a warm Bank Holiday Monday, Alan Dunne gave his skipper, Sam Corne, a first start and for an hour until his substitution he ran the show.

The passage of the game was set in the opening ten minutes when the home side could have been four goals to the good as the Walton defence cleared efforts away from the line and Frankie Baker struck a post after rounding the goalkeeper.

The breakthrough finally came on 19 minutes as Ricky Korboa threaded an exquisite pass to send Jepthe Tanga clear to drive his shot past a despairing Tommy Reid.

The floodgates were opening three minutes later when Lex Beeden, recycling a corner, crossed for Baker to score from close range with a neat touch.

The Angels were swarming all over their visitors at this point and looked like scoring with every attack but had to wait until the 39th minute when Bailey Akehurst’s inswinging corner travelled all the way into the far corner.

Into the second period and the Swans woes continued as a cross from Akehurst was horribly spilt by Reid to allow Lamar Reynolds an easy finish.

The scoreline allowed Corne to take his leave of proceedings, an hour’s work greatly admired and as Dunne rang the changes the momentum slipped away to the point that Walton managed a consolation with a good hit from Matas Skarna.

Tonbridge rounded off proceedings eight minutes from time with a goal that spoke volumes of Walton’s catastrophic defending all afternoon as substitute Alfie Pavey was allowed to stroll unchallenged to head home a corner.

When I visited the Excel Sports Hub back in 2018, the business model wasn’t sustainable for Walton and Hersham then and it certainly isn’t now in the rarified air of the National League, I wish them well but fear for them in equal measure.

Photos: Dave Couldridge

Billericay Town 2 Tonbridge Angels 2

Match 18/26/2445 - Saturday, 29th August 2026 - National League South

Billericay Town (2) 2 Benton 1 Long 40
Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Brown 27 Tanga 65
Attendance: 1,065
Admission: £10
Mileage: 120/926

A DAY OF TWO HALVES!

That’ll be the day that started badly, seemed to get worse but came good in the end with an entertaining game and a decent point.

It just has to be a Bank Holiday weekend when the downstairs loo springs a leak and, after much mopping, the drive into Essex is brought to a crawl at the Dartford Tunnel. Experience built half-an-hour into the estimated journey time, so the 40 minute delay was irritating rather than desperate. Just 52 seconds into the game, calamitous goalkeeping saw Tonbridge behind, is this day going to get any better?

Thankfully, yes.

A lot has changed at Billericay Town since those heady, madcap days of the Glenn Tamplin era, three hedonistic years from 2016, that brought the relatively humble Essex club to the front pages of national newspapers, mostly, for all the wrong reasons.

The chaotic multi-million wage bill with high profile ex-Premier League players has been replaced by a local consortium of businessman who have steadily returned the club to a stable structure and, this season, find themselves back in National League South following their promotion via the Isthmian League Premier play-offs.

The legacy of Tamplin, however it was funded, remains with the ground improvements in which he invested including the 3G surface and modern clubhouse and, even the blessed mural remains but now, somewhat more tasteful, with the self-indulgent elements painted over and replaced with club-themed depictions.

Tamplin remains a fugitive, having failed to appear for court proceedings on drugs charges in 2023 but the stand with the mural on the rear still bears his name.

The drought has been brought to end with some decent rainfall that had eased to a drizzle by the time we reached Billericay. Alan Dunne had Sam Corne back at his disposal and he took a place on the bench alongside the returning Bunmi Babajide and Lamar Reynolds.

We hadn’t completed the process of changing ends to the goal we were attacking before Billericay opened the scoring. A ball headed forward should have been dealt with easily, but Alfie Pavey, taking a call from Nathan Harness, ducked under the ball, only for the keeper to drop the ball at the feet of a grateful, probably astounded, Jon Benton who had the simplest of chances to tuck it home.

The helter-skelter nature of the early stages continued, in fact didn’t really change all game, with Ricky Korboa testing Joe Wright and a cross, after six minutes, frustratingly begged any touch which didn’t happen.

Billericay’s Taylor Clark spurned a great chance before the game started to settle down and, once a little structure was added, the visitors became the better side and finally equalised on 27 minutes when a ball forward was headed backwards by Pavey to Jepthe Tanga who laid the ball into the path of Jayden Brown to pick out the top corner from the edge of the box with a curling shot.

Billericay employed an unusual kick-off to restart the game with a ball hoisted so high into the sky that it endangered homecoming aircraft into Stansted, it was novel and certainly caused a bit of confusion.

The home side retook the lead on 40 minutes when a long ball forward found Elliott Long, who brushed off a challenge before burying his shot into the bottom corner.

The Angels were offered the chance to go into the break on level terms on 44 minutes after Tanga was brought down in the box but Bailey Akehurst’s spot kick was well saved, down to his left, by Wright.

Alan Dunne chose to replace his goalscorer with Corne at the break and the dividend was almost instant as his first touch in a competitive Angels shirt rattled the bar.

It set the tone for the second period with Tonbridge dominating before they equalised on 65 minutes when substitute Babajide weaved his way into the box before his shot was palmed by Wright into the path of Tanga at the far post leaving him with a tap-in.

Corne stood up an exquisite cross for fellow substitute Reynolds to steer a header inches wide.

Tonbridge survived a late penalty appeal, later pictures appear to show that it would have been another soft one given, leaving the Billericay faithful to voice their displeasure of the newly-promoted match referee, Henry Harvey, who had a good game that he allowed to flow into the entertaining affair it was.

As if to prove my point, that days can get better, a trouble-free sail over the bridge was a welcome end.

Staplehurst Monarchs U23 1 Maidstone United U23 4

Match 17/26/2444 - Tuesday, 25th August 2026 - SCEFL Development East

Staplehurst Monarchs U23 (1) 1
Maidstone United U23 (2) 4 Gravenell-James (2), Lovejoy, Kuale
Attendance: 75
Admission: £2.50
Mileage: 2/806

Tonbridge Angels 0 Truro City 2

Match 16/26/2443 - Saturday, 22nd August 2026 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Truro City (0) 2 Harvey 51 (pen),74
Attendance: 964
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/804

WIN ONE, LOSE ONE

Win one, lose one would bring an end of season yield of a respectable 69 points and would probably give a top half finish. Financially, one would guess, winning all your away games and losing every one at home would be a disaster.

It’s early days, none of the above is going to happen but as much as two away victories already on the board is fantastic, losing both the home fixtures is a little concerning but, and guessing, both the visiting clubs, Torquay United and Truro City are likely to be challenging at the top end.

Truro made the longest journey of any team visiting the Yeomans this season but, following their overnight stay, showed no sign of travel weariness.

Fresh from their relegation from the National League, Truro showed all the qualities needed to get out of this division a second time. Robust in defence, they have yet to concede a goal this season and up front, Tyler Harvey looks just as sharp as he did in their championship season.

Tonbridge can point to a soft penalty and one that wasn’t given in their favour but, ultimately their opponents were more street-wise and fully deserving of their win.

Hydration breaks seem a thing of the past as the heat has subsided into pleasantly warm days and manager Alan Dunne made a couple of changes with Jepthe Tanga suspended and Bunmi Babajide injured allowing Paul Osew and Harry Gardner starting places.

The first half was one of very few chances with neither side particularly laying a glove on the other and when the gloves were called into action, Truro’s goalkeeper, Aidan Stone turned over a good effort from Ricky Korboa after just four minutes and, midway through the half, Nathan Harness did likewise following a header from Harvey.

Two tempting crosses from Angels’ Bailey Akehurst and Korboa begged a finish that didn’t come leaving the opening 45 goalless.

Truro opened the scoring from the spot after 51 minutes from the penalty spot after Harvey was adjudged to have been brought down by Jordon Thompson with the striker dusting himself down to convert into the bottom corner.

The Cornish side took control of the game following their opener and, on 74 minutes, Harvey made a smart turn in the box after receiving a right sided cross from Luke Jephcott to nestle his shot into the bottom left corner.

The Angels threw bodies forward in search of a consolation but their efforts foundered on the muscular central defensive partnership of Tom Harrison and Shaun Donnellan, who took home a third consecutive clean sheet from the start of the season, limiting the home side to a couple of late efforts from Harry Gardner and Akehurst.

In the closing moments the ball fell towards Alan Dunne who met it on the volley to balloon it away for the referee to issue a yellow card. It was pure frustration, if bookings are taken for frustration then Mr Willmore might as well have booked every Tonbridge supporter in the stadium.