Tonbridge (1) 1 Collin 23 (pen)
Havant & Waterlooville (0) 0
Att. 397
Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 26/3,512
Match Report
The story of Tonbridge’s season has been one of consistently inconsistent. Early season it was a matter of too many draws, one win in seven or unbeaten in five was generally down to drawn games, presently the pattern is win one, lose one. The league table suggests that this is general throughout the majority of the division, the last play-off position is just four points out of Tonbridge’s reach, but looking over their shoulder, a relegation spot is a mere five points away. This win, leapfrogging their visitors in the process, moved them up four places, such is the mid-table congestion.
Tonbridge paraded their new signing, Nathan Green arriving from Billericay, employing him as a left winger and in general he had a satisfying debut. The other recent signing, David Ijaha has added the physical presence, already nicknamed Tank by supporters, to the centre of midfield and it was through the spine of the team that the win was built.
Havant looked dangerous throughout the match, they have in their ranks the division’s leading scorer in Ollie Palmer and the left-sided pairing of Sahr Kabba and Chris Arthur presented a constant threat.
The game was ultimately settled by a penalty, awarded after an inexplicable handball by Ed Harris, converted by Frannie Collin, restored to his position leading the line and looking the better for it. Either side of the goal it was a case of steadfast defending from Ollie Schulz and Gary Elphick with Tom Davis and Ijaha patrolling the central midfield area in front of them.
The first of Worgan’s saves came on 20 minutes when he tipped over the bar a shot from outside of the area by Arthur and a couple of minutes later a clear shooting opportunity was wastefully blasted over the bar.
The visitors’ profligacy in front of goal was punished when Collin scored from the spot on 23 minutes.
Between the goal and half-time Worgan was called on to make saves from Harris, Palmer and Kabba as the right side of Tonbridge’s defence was exposed by the pace and ability of Arthur and Kabba.
The second half was nowhere near as one way. Although Havant continued to make and waste chances, Tonbridge were much more of a threat, albeit on the counter attack. It is to the credit of Schulz and Elphick that Palmer was limited to just a couple of chances the best of which was turned away by Worgan.
Tonbridge thought the game had been made safe with a second goal, ten minutes from time. Green swung in a free kick from the right and Mark Lovell’s glancing header found the corner of the net. Initially given by the referee, his attention was drawn to a linesman’s flag and eventually ruled out, for what remains a mystery. Tonbridge saw the game out with just one more scare when Harris put a header wide and, if anything, finished the game on the front foot.
Manager Tommy Warrilow, in a Kentishfootball interview, seems to have an impression that Tonbridge fans in general are unappreciative of where they are sat in Conference South and are not particularly enjoying the experience. The impression that I get from the people I watch my football with is completely different. They understand that this is a difficult league and the second season is, more often than not, harder than the first and consequently they are fully appreciative of where the club is positioned at this present time. Even on the forum, which has got to Warrilow in the past, the members criticising are in the minority. If I had the opportunity to put a point of view to Tommy it would be “if you don’t like what you read, don’t read it.”
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