Tonbridge Angels 2 Ebbsfleet United 0

Match 88/18/1681 - Tuesday, 29th January 2019 - Kent Senior Cup QF

Tonbridge Angels (0) 2 McKenzie 61 Beere 83
Ebbsfleet United (0) 0
Attendance: 148

Admission: £6 Senior
Programme: £1.00
Mileage: 38/5,126

No matter that Ebbsfleet United brought a weakened team to Longmead for this Kent Senior Cup Quarter-Final, progress to the semi-final is not to be sniffed at. Given Tonbridge's record in recent finals, we will gloss over what might happen should they make it any further.

On a cold night that turned to snow before the final whistle, a sparse 148 attendance sought the covered enclosures and almost saw the visitors take the lead before they had settled into their seats with James Magri shooting narrowly wide with less than a minute on the clock.

Tonbridge settled into their task following the early scare and employed goalkeeper Jon Miles with a header following a corner and an Alex Read effort.

A first half ensued with Tonbridge dominant, reducing Ebbsfleet, who were managed on the night by Danny Kedwell, to very spasmodic attacks on the Angels’ goal. D’Sean Theobalds, once again catching the eye with his busy work in midfield, set up Jared Small to cut in from the right but shoot wide.

A Read shot that was blocked with Adem Ramadan’s follow-up clearing the bar; a Sonny Miles header drifting wide and Joe Turner’s final minute effort cleared from the line saw the game go into the break scoreless with the home support wondering whether the misses would return to haunt them.

The traffic became ever more one-way into the second period with the home side’s list of missed opportunities going past double figures. Eventually, just past the hour, the Angels’ finally broke the deadlock when Chinedu McKenzie, a 52nd minute substitute for Small, bundled the ball over the line (with the hint of a possible own goal) following a corner.

Ebbsfleet briefly rallied and Myles Weston was thwarted by an advancing Jonny Henly. Weston, Cody McDonald and Corey Whiteley brought the experience to the visitors front line but were offered very little service throughout.

Tonbridge finally put the tie to bed with seven minutes remaining when McKenzie laid the ball back for Tom Beere to cleanly strike the ball into the bottom corner.

A dismal night weather-wise was not exactly brightened by a great game, largely because Ebbsfleet were not competitive, and I daresay that the Ebbsfleet contingent were just as happy as the home support that it was Tonbridge that had progressed to host Bromley in the semi-final.