Aveley (1) 2 Anifowose 20 Kelly 65
Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Vincent (pen) 45 Shields 72
Attendance: 513
Admission: £10
Mileage: 70/644
Tonbridge Angels headed back over a congested Dartford Crossing with a hard-earned point following the first of their Essex double-header against Aveley.
A respectable following of Angels supporters battled their way through the tunnel traffic to take their places at Aveley’s Parkside on a very warm afternoon. Jay Saunders made no changes to last week’s starting XI with new signing Timmy Abraham taking a place on the bench.
Overall, a draw was probably a fair result as Jay reflected in his post-match interview: “I thought it was quite an even game, I think Scopesy (Aveley manager) will be the same as me, disappointed with the goals we conceded, especially when we got ourselves back into the game at 1-1. But we showed good character, got the equaliser and then you thought is it going to be a draw. Both sides had a go on a hot day.”
Aveley, who had their mayor cutting the ribbons on a new 3G pitch laid during the close season, started the brighter with Toby Steward the first to make a save from Charlee Hughes.
The Angels first chance of the game came on 14 minutes when a ball over the top was seized on by Trevan Robinson after a defender misjudged its flight, but the Angels’ forward’s effort was denied by the trailing legs of the home goalkeeper, Carey Bloedorn.
The home side took a deserved lead on 20 minutes when a shot from Hughes was palmed away by Steward but only into the path of Josh Anifowose who bundled the ball home from close range.
Tonbridge’s response was positive with Liam Vincent, in particular, sending in a string of crosses that brought pressure on the Millers’ back line.
One such cross, on the half-hour, was scrambled clear but only to Sean Shields whose first time effort from around 12 yards was spectacularly turned onto the crossbar by Bloedorn, a truly great save.
The. Vincent supply of crosses continued; Shields was once again denied by Bloedorn before on the cusp of half-time a long ball forward from the excellent Ryan Hanson saw Robinson clear before being poleaxed by the advancing goalkeeper leaving the referee to point to the spot and issue Bloedorn with a yellow card. Vincent stepped up to convert from the spot to give the Angels deserved parity at the break.
After a relatively quiet opening to the second period, Shields brought a good save out of the goalkeeper just before the hour with Crossley Lema’s effort from the rebound going wide.
But it was the home side that regained the lead on 65 minutes when an almost aimless cross into the box was only partially cleared to the left hand corner of the box from where Garrett Kelly drove his shot into the far, bottom corner.
As with the setback of the opening goal, the Angels responded on the front foot and were level seven minutes later. A long throw from Vincent into the box sparked confusion, the ball dropped to Shields around the penalty spot and his driven shot gave Bloedorn no chance.
An unseemly skirmish broke out after a challenge by Robinson which led to bookings for the Angels player and the Aveley’s Gibbs with the home kit man being shown a red card some 50 yards from the event!
Credit to both sides who both searched for a winner despite the unrelenting heat of the afternoon but both had to accept a share of the spoils leaving the Angels supporters with a 30 minute wait to return across the bridge into Kent.
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