Tonbridge Angels 2 Merstham 0

Match 128/18/1721 - Monday, 6th May 2019 - Bostik Premier Play-off Final

Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 McKenzie 34 Turner 90 (pen)
Merstham (0) 0
Attendance: 2,268

Admission: £7 Senior
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 38/7,462

The crowd were on the pitch, they thought it was all over and any other season it would have been. But in this time of reshuffles, one more hurdle is between Tonbridge Angels and the finishing line, a visit to Metropolitan Police, winners of the Evo-Stick Southern Premier South.

An attendance of 2,268 had packed Longmead Stadium courtesy not only of Tonbridge’s thrilling win at Haringey but also Merstham’s unexpected success at Carshalton leaving Tonbridge as the hosts virtue of their higher league position. The length of the queue outside of the ground led to the decision to delay kick-off by 15 minutes.

Once the game got underway, Tonbridge were on the front foot forcing a couple of corners and having a half-hearted appeal for a penalty turned down when Sonny Miles was wrestled to the ground following a corner.

Merstham though showed they carried a threat of their own in their leading scorer Walter Figueira who only found the side netting after a surging run and some clever footwork carried him to the bye-line.

The hosts took the lead after 34 minutes when a run through the centre from D’Sean Theobalds led to a pass to the left for Joe Turner to fizz in a cross to the near post that was directed towards Tom Derry but an interception half-cleared the ball into the path of Chinedu McKenzie who gleefully gobbled up the chance.

Both sides were reduced to 10 men after 42 minutes when Tonbridge’s Sonny Miles and Merstham’s Ollie Cook were dismissed after an altercation that saw Cook push Miles to the ground with the Tonbridge captain seeing red for an alleged kicking-out.

Craig Stone moved into the back four to fill the hole left by the skipper’s departure.

A relatively quiet start to the second period saw a couple of Merstham corners that came to nothing and Tonbridge bolstered their midfield with the introduction of Joe Healy for his first appearance for the club replacing Derry.

On 65 minutes a good move involving Theobalds and McKenzie opened up an opportunity for Turner, but the Tonbridge Player of the Year missed narrowly at the far post.

Tonbridge now held the momentum with Adem Ramadan shooting over before, with five minutes remaining, a driving run from the left by Jack Parter saw him through the gap between two defenders but his attempted chip over Amadou Tangara was saved by the giant Merstham keeper’s legs.

Despite Tonbridge’s overall control of the game, the single goal advantage was still a nervous one until the pressure was finally relieved with two minutes to go when Theobalds was tripped inside the box by Figueira with referee Michael Ryan pointing to the spot.

Turner kept his nerve to power the ball straight down the middle with Tangara committing to his right to bring a Longmead roar of delight, or was it relief.

The final whistle brought the crowd onto the pitch in wild celebration with manager Steve McKimm hoisted onto the shoulders of his charges with the Isthmian Premier play-off trophy. A cup had been won, but the ultimate reward remains one game away.