Tonbridge 0 Bromley 3

Match 41/12/994 - Saturday, 29 December 2012 - Conference South

Tonbridge (0) 0
Bromley (2) 3 Jones 12, Rhule 42, Pigott 58
Att. 682

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 26/3,361

Match Report

Accusing looks are being the made at The Hat. Back in late October, following Gillingham’s 1-0 win at AFC Wimbledon, my old hat got mislaid and since then a series of hats have been used to break a cycle of poor results, but none of them have worked to any great degree. A new hat, a replica of the one lost, was bought for Christmas, but so far, whilst it has warmed the head, it has presided over two defeats without a goal being scored. My old gardening hat managed a win at Rotherham, I think the tatty old bit of headgear is about to earn a recall. Mind you, if the old hat was lost at Wimbledon, picked up and worn by a fan of theirs, then their luck is no better with the Dons slipping to the foot of the table.

The surprise postponement on Friday of Gillingham’s home game against Northampton at least had the compensation of a first look at Tonbridge for the best part of six weeks. Following their Boxing Day win over arch-rivals Dover Athletic, I arrived at Longmead high on optimism for a game against a bottom three side, Bromley. I left thoroughly disappointed following what can only be described as a quite abysmal performance.

Tonbridge did well to get this fixture on and following the Gillingham postponement, I didn’t think this game would have a prayer and was to be the subject of a 10 a.m. pitch inspection, but a strong wind and a temporary cessation of the never-ending deluge rendered even the inspection unnecessary.

It is hard to consider how good Bromley were on the day as Tonbridge were so poor. But impressive performances from Sanchez Ming at right back and their loanee from Charlton, Joe Pigott caught the eye.

It took the home side 87 minutes to stretch Bromley goalkeeper, Joe Welch, into his first diving save of the match and in time added on their clearest shooting opportunity of the match was ballooned over by Henry Muggeridge.

Tonbridge can be thankful that they emerged from this game just the three goals in arrears. Bromley missed a penalty after 17 minutes when the score was 1-0, Danny Waldren’s spot kick saved by Lee Worgan diving to his left and after an hour Pigott rounded Worgan only to see his shot cleared from the line by Ollie Schulz.

After a bright start from both teams with Schulz heading wide for the Angels, Bromley opened the scoring with a swift counter-attack on 12 minutes. A well-crafted passing movement ended with Pigott crossing for Mike Jones to score from close range. The penalty gave the visitors the chance to double their advantage when Gary Elphick handled in the box only for Waldren’s miss to offer Tonbridge a lifeline.

Worgan was a busy man as Bromley continued to carve out chances but Tonbridge should have levelled the score just prior to half time when Mark Lovell tamely headed Danny Walder’s cross into the arms of Welch from an unmarked position just a couple of yards from goal. The miss was to prove costly. A swift break allowed winger Aaron Rhule to cut in from the right and curl a shot into the top corner from 20 yards.

Tonbridge started the second half a lot brighter and had several attempts on the Bromley goal that failed to test Welch to any great degree. The game was over as a contest on 58 minutes when Pigott cut in from the right to plant a well struck shot into the top corner. Quickly following was Pigott’s one-on-one chance to wrap the game up following a woeful back pass from Walder as the visitors began to look capable of inflicting considerable embarrassment on Tommy Warrilow’s men.

As the visitors pushed forward, Tonbridge enjoyed their best period in the game having some joy with counter attacks but the chances were wasted with Welch barely being called into action.

Conference South is a tight division from where Tonbridge’s win against Dover propelled them six places up the table and a defeat next match sends them almost back where they came from. Warrilow’s use of Frannie Collin has to be questionable. The goals have dried up from last year’s Golden Boot winner but the position he is being asked to play is not, and never will, get the best out of him.

So the tatty old gardening hat will satisfy superstition at Dover on New Year’s Day, if Tonbridge can produce a result from that difficult trip, then it is going to see a lot more of the grass at football grounds than in my own back garden.