Tonbridge 2 Chatham Town 1

Match 30/14/1139 - Tuesday, 7th October 2014 - Ryman League Cup 1R

Tonbridge (2) 2 Knight (o.g.) 38 Teniola 45
Chatham Town (0) 1 Kaffo 66
Att. 182

Entrance: £4 Senior
Programme: £0.50
Mileage: 34/2,175

Match Report

The Isthmian League management might not appreciate their Cup competition being treated as a trialling ground for fringe players, reserves and youngsters but, in common with the competitions of the Football League through to the Kent League, this is the way it is, particularly in the early rounds. As much as it gives the management the opportunity to watch players that he doesn’t see on a week-to-week basis, the same can be said for the supporters.

From a Tonbridge point of view, a few players showed potential and, getting on an old hobby horse, proved to me that the first team should never have to go into a fixture with a less than full bench as there were players on view that could, at the barest minimum fulfil that role. Charlie Slocombe has made the odd appearance and served time on the bench gave an accomplished performance and although James Steel in goal might lack a few inches in height, he made some good saves at important times. But the eye-catching performance of the night came from Jack Brivio, who looked comfortable on the ball at all times.

For their part, Chatham who have lost the services of the man I stalked last season (!) Alfie May, who is now at Erith and Belvedere but recently trialled at Crewe Alexandra and Ade Yussuf, who has made his way into league football at Dagenham, they appear to have unearthed another rough diamond in Junior Kaffo.

The teams traded early efforts on goal that were comfortably dealt with by the respective goalkeepers before Chatham twice created one-on-one situations that were both saved with the legs of Steel. The visitors were made to pay for those misses with Tonbridge scoring twice in the last ten minutes of the half to give themselves a slightly flattering half time lead.

In the 37th minute, Slocombe crossed from the right towards Owen Kabodi at the near post, from where Lewis Knight, attempting to intercept the cross, sliced the ball into his own net.

A second pin-point cross from Slocombe, in first half injury time, found the unmarked Alex Teniola, who planted a firm header past Tom Welham to double the score.

Tonbridge lost one of their first team regulars, Ben King, to an injury which was bad enough for a stretcher to be called and the suspicion would be that it could be a lengthy time on the sidelines.

Kaffo, who had looked an impressive handful all evening, pulled a goal back for the Chats with 25 minutes remaining when he finished from Greg Benbow’s pulled back cross.

Tonbridge saw out time with relative comfort with perhaps the highlight of the second half, a pantomime moment in which Welham, collecting a back pass on the edge of his area, saw his clearance charged down by Kabodi. As the ball looped into the air, the Chatham keeper failed to collect the ball on three occasions before being bailed out by a defender heading to safety.

This wasn’t a great game and, with temperatures dipping for the first cold evening of the season, the final whistle was greeted with relief that no extra time would be necessary to find a winner. Tonbridge earn a visit to Ramsgate in the next round.