Tonbridge 2 Concord Rangers 2

Match 72/13/1098 - Tuesday, 1st April 2014 - Conference South

Tonbridge (0) 2 James 46, Lovell 83
Concord Rangers (1) 2 Collins 17 King 90+2
Att. 274

Entrance: £6 Senior
Programme: £1.50
Mileage: 26/6,769

Match Report

Over the seven years that this blog has been running I've taken great satisfaction when people have told me that my reporting of games has been balanced and fair. If the following posting takes on a tone of sour grapes then I apologise, but sometimes favouritism cannot be hidden.

From afar, having never seen them play before, I had great respect for Concord Rangers, a club that has risen from the Essex Senior League to the security of mid-table in Conference South in the matter of 12 years and continue to be in with a shout of reaching the end-of-season play-offs. I, along with more knowledgeable non-league people, had the side from Canvey Island down as cannon fodder for the big spenders of this division and while they maintained a steady position in the league, most expected them to fall away anytime soon, but they haven't and that is obviously a great credit to the management team at the club.

Tonbridge desperately needed the three points from this game and with just a minute of time added remaining, they conceded the goal that earned their visitors a share of spoils. What I witnessed next from the touchline was an absolute disgrace and, if it had been done in the glare of TV cameras, then Danny Cowley and his staff would be serving lengthy touchline bans in the not-too-distant future.

I've no doubt that from behind the dug-outs the Concord bench had taken a fair amount of abuse, but as professionals they should rise above that and not become involved in a running dialogue with their protagonists. When Concord snatched their last ditch equaliser the entire bench ran towards their verbal assailants and with a hail of bad language and V-signed finger gestures they postured just feet away. Their actions could easily have escalated into a full-blown fist fight, and it came as no surprise to find out that they had been involved in a similar incident on Saturday at Farnborough.

Concord Rangers are a big, physical side and their togetherness as a team was exemplified by Cowley, who constantly motivated, chastised and was good value to watch until they went over-the-top in those final seconds. His team had gone into the break fully deserving of their goal lead, a well-worked move on 17 minutes finished with a Sam Collins strike.

Tonbridge huffed and puffed their way through the half, Evan James making a flying start to the match sweeping down the right hand side but, when clear, shot hopelessly over the bar. This set the tone for the half in which goalkeeper Jamie Butler wasn’t troubled.

James, the new man from Canada, was to make an instant impact on the second period though when he found the smallest of gaps between Butler and his near post from 25 yards.

Tonbridge held the balance of play through the half but were guilty of over-playing and failing to shoot on goal as the opportunities arose.

With seven minutes remaining their dominance was finally rewarded when Nathan Green crossed from the left and Mark Lovell, contesting with the goalkeeper, headed home.

The game should have been put safely to bed in the dying minutes when in the space of seconds, Henry Muggeridge failed to make a connection with the ball with the goal at his mercy, Green saw his shot blocked and from the rebound Michael Bakare blazed over the bar.

As so often happens, Tonbridge were made to pay for that moment. Gary Elphick appeared to be fouled before committing an offence himself to concede a free kick on the right angle of the 18 yard box. The initial free kick was saved by Lewis Carey but Steve King was the quickest to react to the rebound and tucked home the equaliser provoking the touchline celebrations and its aftermath.

Elphick was shown the red card in the intervening time between the goal and the final whistle, 30 or so seconds later, but my attention had been diverted to the fracas on the bench.

This might ultimately be the loss of the two points that sends Tonbridge down; I hope we can take relegation with a lot more grace than Concord took their point back to Essex.

In the spirit of fairness and balance, I should add that following a tweet I received a vehement response from one of the Concord coaches, Miki Hood, and a couple of their supporters who claimed that they had been the subject of vile abuse for the 90 minutes and why should't they respond in the manner they did given that abuse. I'm not condoning any abuse that was metered out by Tonbridge supporters, far from it, I abhor it, but I still believe that coaches put themselves in that position on the touchline every Saturday and they should rise above it.