Tonbridge Angels (1) 1 Read 72
Gillingham (1) 5 Hanlon 18,60 Reilly 52 Mbo 78 Moussa 79
Attendance: 224
Admission: £3 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/277
Gillingham paid Tonbridge Angels a huge compliment by bringing a strong team to Longmead on a day when they were simultaneously playing at Margate. Manager Steve Lovell took charge whilst sitting in the stand was chairman Paul Scally who would have enjoyed watching his side win by the convincing margin of 5-1, a scoreline that was a little harsh on their hosts.
On another very hot day, I once again took cover under the main stand to find respite from the sun. The players were also treated to mid-half water breaks.
The first chance of the game fell to Brandon Hanlon who saw his header from a David Nasseri cross go wide, but it was the new signing from Charlton that gave Gillingham the lead after 18 minutes when he shrugged off the challenge of Sonny Miles to get onto a long punt forward and fire into the bottom right hand corner.
Soon after the water break a cross from Luke O’Neill was met with a glancing header from Josh Parker that went narrowly wide.
Tonbridge’s new signing Jared Small took a heavy knock after 40 minutes and needed to be replaced by trialist Adem Ramadam, whose performance caught the eye and is deserving of further opportunities to impress the Tonbridge management.
The home side ended the first half stretching Tomas Holy with a save at his near post from Arthur Lee and after flapping at a cross he needed a defender to make a saving block.
Gillingham opened the second half with Parker heading wide and Nasseri sending successive shots over the bar before they doubled their advantage on 52 minutes. Callum Reilly cut in from the left before shooting from 20 yards to score with a shot that went in off the post.
On the hour the Gills went three clear following a surging run from Hanlon that ended with a thumping shot that left substitute goalkeeper Tom Day’s first touch of the afternoon that of picking the ball out of his net.
Tonbridge pulled a goal back after 70 minutes when Alex Read got on the end of a Liam Smith ball over the top to complete the no mean feat of lobbing the 6’7” Holy.
Two thumping efforts in the last 15 minutes added gloss to the Gills' afternoon but also gave Tonbridge a scoreline they didn’t deserve. A 25 yard drive from Noel Mbo made it 4-1 and, a minute later, a sharp turn and hit from Frank Moussa made it five.
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