Tunbridge Wells 4 Hildenborough Athletic 2

Match 10/15/1215 - Tuesday, 4th August 2015 - Pre-Season Friendly

Tunbridge Wells (3) 4 Parsons 14, Izokun 20, Bryant 38, Cornell 60
Hildenborough Athletic (1) 2 Chandler 44, Unknown 58
Attendance: Est. 150

Entrance: £3 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/524

That’s pre-season done for another year and many questions have been posed and now we look to Messrs Edinburgh, McKimm and Bird for the answers.

As this is a post relates to Tunbridge Wells, I’ll concentrate this preview of the up-coming season with their chances in Southern Counties East. I don’t think there is a harder league to get out of than the SCEL. With its status in the pyramid only offering one promotion place and appearing to have one club (at least) every season with a budget that exceeds everybody else, the task for those with a realistic budget is monumental. But Phoenix Sports proved last season that it can be done and whilst Greenwich Borough and Ashford United might be holding the big bucks, perhaps another Phoenix can emerge from the chasing pack.

The early pre-season turbulence at Culverden has settled down and from the three games I’ve seen, whilst there are plenty of reservations, general opinion (and mine) is that the football is more pleasing on the eye. Defensive fragility was very much in evidence at Chatham and against Hildenborough, a Kent County League side, two converted far post headers posed a few more questions for the Tunbridge Wells back line.

The pre-season revolving door of players may have unearthed a gem in Ehis Izokun (Izzy to his mates!) who skips defenders for fun, but his style might not be conducive to the heavier pitches of mid-winter onwards and perhaps contributed to his departure from Sittingbourne where their Woodstock pitch is not the best.

If goalscoring is a bit of a worry, manager Keith Bird would have been cursing his luck to have seen new signing Elyon Marshall-Katung go down with an injury after only seven minutes and during the half-time break stretchered away to a waiting ambulance.

Ian Parsons was the beneficiary of a mazy run and cross from Izokun for a tap-in after 14 minutes and, after half-an-hour, a goalkeeping howler allowed the winger a goal of his own, with a celebratory back-flip for good measure.

Full back Tom Bryant was allowed time to steady himself in the box to make it 3-0 after 38 minutes and a deluge of goals threatened. But, to the credit of Hildenborough, they didn’t throw in the towel and just before half-time a long cross to the far post found an unmarked Jake Chandler to reduce the deficit.

The deficit was further reduced early in the second half when another unmarked far post header brought the score a lot closer than it should have been. Hooley Cornell restored some order having been sent clear one-on-one with the keeper, he finished well on the hour.

Expectations are no more than consolidation for Tunbridge Wells and that is disappointing for the best supported club in the League. They will achieve that minimal ambition with ease, of that I’m sure, and with more than one big spender in the league, this is probably not the season to be throwing money the club might not have at a futile tilt at promotion. The problem for the Tunbridge Wells board is when is the right time? Next season might have exactly the same scenario because, as I have already said, there is always a club with that little bit extra in the budget.

Meanwhile, Tonbridge and Gillingham appear to have recruited well during the close season and both offer good reason for optimism. Perhaps not for automatic promotion, but definitely an improvement that could leave them on the edge of the play-off places in their respective divisions. In both instances, whether there are enough goals in the team is the concern that moderates that optimism. Both have very difficult opening games, Gillingham are hosts to my favourites for the League One title, Sheffield United, whilst Tonbridge travel to Enfield Town, who made the Ryman Premier play-offs last season only to lose their place after having points deducted for an ineligible player.

It’s a long slog through to May, at times we will be frozen to death and, no doubt, wondering why we are wasting our time, but would we have it any other way, of course not!