St Albans City (1) 2 Frendo 7, Nwokeji 73
Tonbridge (1) 1 Lovell 43
Att. 607
Entrance: £8 Senior
Programme: £2.00
Mileage: 160/2,567
Match Report
It is hard to comprehend how a team collectively just fails to turn up in the manner that Tonbridge Angels did for this tie. Were the opposition under-estimated? Was there complacency given the lower status of the hosts? For whatever reason, the fact was that Tonbridge started lethargically and never really shook themselves out of their comatose state.
The financial implications may well be felt at the club for the remainder of the season and whilst Tonbridge, or any other club, should not be budgeting for a cup run the amount of money on offer would make for a far more healthy balance sheet at the year end. The last round victory brought a cheque for £4,500 and this would have risen to £7,500 had they progressed. A favourable draw in the last qualifying round would have netted a possible £12,500 plus the gate receipts and it is easy to see that something approaching the £20,000 mark has been lost.
Whilst lamenting the woeful nature of the Tonbridge performance it should not be overlooked that St Albans played much better than their mid-table, Southern Premier League position would suggest. There was a 15-20 minute spell in which the visitors began to resemble a Conference South side which showed that if that momentum had been carried forward for a longer period then there was every possibility that their name would be, at the very least, in the hat for Monday's draw.
St Albans just looked like a team that wanted the prize that little bit more; they were a yard quicker and most second balls fell at their feet and it wasn't all a question of good fortune. When they needed to put bodies in front of the ball, they protected their goalkeeper and when it came to the counter attack, Tonbridge seemingly had no answer to their pace.
Once Tonbridge had got off to the worst possible start, the game was going to be uphill front that point on. Mark Nwokeji outpaced Ryan Watts to a ball that the full back always seemed favourite to get to first, once past he crossed to his strike partner John Frendo who composed himself before shooting past Clark Masters to open the scoring.
Tonbridge responded relatively well and the wingers were proving to be good outlet, however, time and again, frustratingly, the cross failed to clear the first defender.
As if to prove a point, with five minutes of the half remaining, Watts delivered the perfect cross and Mark Lovell was in the right place to plant the easiest of headers into the net for an equaliser that was barely deserved.
Buoyed by their equaliser and one would hope a rocket of a half-time team talk from Tommy Warrilow it was hoped that a Tonbridge with more urgency and a bit more craft would emerge for the second half and take the cup tie by the throat. Sadly, if anything matters got worse.
In the entire 45 minutes they created one chance of note, a 25 shot that cannoned back off the goalkeeper's chest to Lovell who put the rebound wide, whilst the home side's pace in counter attack was a constant threat.
A swift breakaway on 73 minutes ended with Nwokeji receiving a pass on the right side of the box and from an unchallenged position he shot past Masters. It was a head in hands moment for all those on sidelines who found it difficult to comprehend the time and space that the St Albans player, who was a deserved man of the match, had to pick his spot.
I'm a mere supporter of the club, my time and money is spent on days like this and I'm bitterly disappointed, but you have to feel for the people whose efforts keep the club alive on an almost daily basis. They deserved so much better than this performance and one can only hope that the players are conscious of the fact that on this occasion they let a lot of people down.
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