Tonbridge 1 AFC Hornchurch 0

Match 53/12/1006 - Tuesday, 19 February 2013 - Conference South

Tonbridge (1) 1 Piper 45 (pen)
AFC Hornchurch (0) 0
Att. 304

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 26/3,915

Match Report

Two games, three days apart from two entirely different leagues, but if I was particularly lazy, I could just recycle Saturday’s posting from Gillingham. Another set of supporters who hold strong opinions on where their club should be at this present time and whether the management is steering the correct course.

Two particularly bad results, shipping seven goals in the process without scoring, in a very tight Division left Tonbridge Angels’ supporters once again looking nervously over their shoulders before this crunch match against a side from the bottom three, Hornchurch. Tommy Warrilow’s team selection had the majority of a desperately poor crowd at Longmead scratching their heads as he left out the club’s leading goalscorer, Frannie Collin. This omission was tempered by the return of Mikel Suarez to Conference football with Tonbridge after continuing his rehabilitation with a successful playing return at Hastings United.

On a freezing cold night that was spent watching the green grass turn white before our eyes; Tonbridge did just enough to beat a Hornchurch side, for whom a big improvement is needed if they are to avoid being one of the sides in the bottom three at the end of the season. The match was settled on the stroke of half-time when Lewis Smith handled in the box offering Chris Piper, in the absence of Collin, the opportunity, which he duly converted, from the spot.

This was ultimately another, stuttering nervous performance from Tonbridge with far too many misplaced passes and the creation of very few chances. Lee Browning pulled a shot wide after fastening on to a woefully short back pass after 10 minutes and there was also a disallowed second half goal for an offence that most people missed but obviously not the referee.

Collin was introduced into the fray for the second half and he looked fairly sharp, perhaps justifying Warrilow’s decision to give him a gentle reminder that nobody is beyond being benched. Suarez’s return was both welcome and a good one and perhaps it might be the rekindling of his partnership with Collin that garners the points necessary to ward off the threat of a relegation battle.