Maidenhead United 0 Tonbridge 4

Match 08/11/895 - Saturday, 13 August 2011 - BSq Conference South

Maidenehead United (0) 0
Tonbridge (2) 4 Henry 20, Beecroft 37, Main 70 Olorunda 79
Att. 385

Entrance: £6 Senior Citizen
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 156/612
New Ground: 243

Match Report

It’s not going to be this easy every week.

Tonbridge took their place on opening day of the Blue Square Conference South at a historic venue, York Road, Maidenhead and the 4-0 win would have been beyond the expectations of even their most optimistic of supporters.

Tonbridge fans turned out in force to welcome their club to the relative big time and might easily have accounted for one-third of the 385 attendance. They left probably a bit bewildered that the standard of the opposition was so poor, they should not be fooled, I doubt we will see a worse side than Maidenhead in the coming months.

But that should take nothing away from a thoroughly dominant performance from the Angels. They started brightly, setting the tempo for the whole match. When called upon, the central defenders coped with the little threat offered and when asked, Lee Worgan made a couple of decent saves to preserve their clean sheet. On another day, Jon Main will be the first to admit that his goal tally could easily be have been four as the visitors shredded the home defence almost at will.

Tonbridge took the lead on 20 minutes when the tricky Chris Henry collected a pass from the impressive Anthony Storey and curled a shot into the corner of the net. This was followed in the 37th minute with a second first half goal. Main seized upon a weak back pass and although the dithering Nick Bussey took the sting out of his shot, it did no more than leave Jake Beecroft with a tap into an open net.

Into the second half and Main inexplicably steered a header wide before, in the 65th minute, finishing with the aplomb of a seasoned striker. Latching onto a ball over the top from Jon Heath, the home keeper neither came or stayed at home and the Tonbridge striker lobbed him with ease. The game was completed when Ade Olorunda, who had a superb match leading the line, curled in a shot from the corner of the penalty area to the delight of the fans assembled behind the goal.

Impressive it was, but when Sutton United come visiting on Tuesday evening smarting from a 5-0 home defeat by Woking, thoughts are more likely to be centred on just how good are Woking rather than another easy night for the Angels.

York Road is the oldest football ground in the country, some say the world, with continual use as a football stadium. It is perhaps not quite what we might have expected from a higher level of the pyramid. It is a hotch-potch of enclosures that engendered a certain charm, but also the reality that it is very old and a little tatty. But it will certainly be remembered as the place where the first three points of Conference football were attained.