Hendon (0) 2 Corcoran 50, Muir 90 (pen)
Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Kinnear
Attendance: 265
Entrance: £5 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 173/2,996
Match Report
Hendon is not exactly falling off the side of the earth in terms of distance but it is an awkward journey with the vagaries of the Tunnel, the M25 and the north London traffic to take into account and I needed to vent my spleen at just about the most imcompetent official that I am likely to come across this season to clear the head before heading home.
As Steve McKimm said in his post-match interview, this won’t be the last time that a last minute goal will decide a game this season and, perhaps next time, the good fortune might fall at our feet but that doesn’t compensate the here and now.
Let’s get the perspective. Neither side created many chances in what was a pretty ordinary game, so a share of the points would have been a fair result. But the referee, who had seen fit to penalise on several occasions as Ashley Nathaniel-George went down, under the whisper of a challenge, more often than a U-boat was fooled one last time as substitute Daniel Uchechi wriggled along the bye-line and eventually went down under the slightest of touches from Sonny Miles to earn the winning penalty despatched by Nico Muir.
Hendon’s 3G pitch at Silver Jubilee Park appears to have deteriorated quite considerably since our last visit in April. The “grass” element seems to have flattened giving the impression that it is overladen with the rubber pellet base.
Tonbridge needed to defend against the slope in the first half and, consequently, found themselves under pressure for large periods but Hendon failed to fully test Jonny Henly who made a save after 24 minutes to deny Josh Walker and then pulled off a penalty save a minute before the break as Nathaniel-George placed a weak shot to his left.
The award of the penalty was undeniable as Callum Adonis-Taylor misjudged a tackle and brought down George, who went to ground for not the first time of umpteen. But moments earlier Liam Smith had literally been wiped out by a challenge that the referee chose to ignore. Smith had a long spell of treatment and although he was able to carry on, his substitution was needed early in the second half.
Tonbridge’s chances were limited to a Nathan Elder header that was steered wide and another that sailed over the crossbar whilst Joe Turner threatened on a couple of occasions.
Now going down the hill, Tonbridge started the second half better with Luke Blewden firing over before Chris Kinnear gave them the lead on 52 minutes with a rasping shot from 20 yards after Elder had won a header for Alex Akrofi to lay the ball back to the midfielder.
The lead was to last barely two minutes when following a clearance from a free kick, a cross from Sam Murphy found the head of Michael Corcoran at the far post to equalise.
The sides swapped chances as the game opened up in search of a winner. Henly saved well from Muir and Elder shot narrowly wide from around the penalty spot.
Everything set fair for a point apiece until the hapless referee intervened to send the Greens’ fans home happy and leaving the Blues fans with a long, painful ride with that burning sense of injustice.
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