Tonbridge 1 Bath City 1

Match 53/13/1080 - Tuesday, 21st January 2014 - Conference South

Tonbridge (1) 1 Browning 10
Bath City (1) 1 Muggeridge (o.g.) 17
Att. 298

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 26/5,496

Match Report

Tonbridge v Bath City is an evocative fixture that I haven't been able to cover in the time of this blog. On 19th December 1959, my Dad dragged his eldest son to the Angel Ground to watch this fixture and from there a life-long obsession with football was born. Tonbridge Football Club was engraved on the heart and despite a trial separation when they were evicted from the Angel; it has remained a lasting marriage.

In 1959 there was an over-riding reason why my Dad chose not only to turn up at the Angel (he wasn't a regular) but also to bring his eight-year-old with him. In the Championship-winning Bath City side was a striker called Charlie Fleming, who carried the nickname of Cannonball, as a testament to the verocity of his shot.

Born in Blairhall, Scotland, Fleming was, admittedly, on his way down from a sparkling career that reached its height with a spell at Sunderland, where in three-and-a-half seasons he scored 71 goals in 122 appearances. In his first season at Roker Park he ended as the First Division's (now, of course, the Premier League) second highest goalscorer with 28 goals. In each of his first two seasons he suffered the heartbreak of being a losing semi-finalist in the FA Cup.

He had been a cult hero at East Fife earlier in his career, scoring 169 goals in 241 appearances in eight seasons and was in two Scottish League Cup winning sides. In 1951/52 season Charlie won his one and only Scottish cap, scoring twice in a 3-1 win over Northern Ireland, but amazingly, he was never picked again. It was during his time at East Fife that supporters gave him the nickname of Cannonball.

It seems strange that on leaving Roker Park in 1958, Fleming decided to drop straight into non-league football with Bath City, especially as he had lost none of his predatory instincts. In seven seasons with the Twerton Park club he averaged 50 goals a season and in that 1959/60 season, Bath won their first-ever Southern League championship.

Sadly, the details of that game that I have are sketchy. The Tonbridge stats man, Dan Couldridge, has furnished me with the Tonbridge team that day: Bickerstaff, Thompson, Lovell, Boswell, Ruark, Hailstones, Shaw, Dunne, Heffer, Smith J, Ball. The game was won by Bath City 2-1 with the Tonbridge scorer being Dunne (no christian name, I'm afraid). I can only assume that Charlie Fleming was in the Bath City side that day; if there is a Bath City supporter out there somewhere who can add some more detail I would be delighted to hear from them through the comments box.

Back to the present day and, unfortunately this Conference South game will not live long in the memory. Both sides huffed and puffed their way through a mundane game in front of just under 300 people. In 1959 the game drew 2,534, what would any Conference South club give for attendance of that size these days?

The game started brightly enough for the home side and they very nearly took the lead in the opening minute when Gavin McCallum beat the on-rushing goalkeeper to a through ball but a defender managed to get in a saving tackle. Bath had started sluggishly and their legs appeared still on the bus when Tonbridge opened the scoring on 10 minutes, with Lee Browning curling a 25 yard free kick into the top corner beyond the clutches of Jason Mellor.

In their first attack of the game, Bath City found an equaliser. A corner from the right was flicked goalwards and Henry Muggeridge positioned at the far post could only head the ball into his own net off the bar. The goal wiped the journey out of the legs of the Bath team and the rest of the half was reduced to a stalemate, the only exception being, with five minutes remaining before half-time, when the goalkeeper was once again beyond his penalty area tackling McCallum, the ball rebounded to Muggeridge who shot towards the open goal but his effort didn't carry enough weight and a defender was able to clear from in front of the line.

The second half saw the visitors in the greater ascendancy as Tonbridge rather lost their way, but despite their dominance it was late in the game when Lewis Carey made his first real save, diving low to the left to push away a shot that he obviously saw late.

Tonbridge's great chance of the half fell to Mark Lovell, who tamely shot straight at the goalkeeper from close range having been set up by Tom Collins.

So, 2,329 games and 54 years later, it is unlikely any of the players on show will evoke the same memories as Charlie Fleming, but there have been many along the way that make this game such a rich tapestry.