Worthing (1) 3 Young 44 Faal 57 Wheeler 63
Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Bakrin 21 Robinson 65
Attendance: 1,930
Admission: Pass
Mileage: 120/1,606
Poor defending cost Tonbridge Angels dear as they slipped to a narrow defeat in a five goal encounter at Worthing.
Manager Jay Saunders was disappointed with the manner in which each of the goals were conceded: “All three of them were avoidable. In the first half, they never really looked like scoring. They put one long throw in, I expect us to deal with, I need to see it again. Toby thinks he can’t get there, I think he can, then Liam’s got to do better. So we go in at half-time at 1-1 when I felt we should have gone in 1-0 up and quite comfortable in the game … In the second half, we had a 15 minute spell when we were poor to be honest. Lost individual battles and got punished for it … I am disappointed today, because I thought it was a harsh loss.”
Woodside Road, scene of many a disappointment and much frustration over the years, is adorned with a brand new covered terrace the length of the north side and bathed in warm autumn sunshine as Saunders made two changes from the side that secured FA Cup progress at Cray Wanderers with Taylor Maloney restored to the starting XI and Jason Adigun returning after injury. Jeremy Santos and Mo Dabre took places on the bench.
Toby Steward was pressed into early action as a misplaced cross from Joel Colbran required turning over his crossbar.
The Angels quickly grew into the game, a long throw from Liam Vincent was only partially cleared to Adigun whose shot was wide and, on 21 minutes, took a deserved lead. A short corner routine saw Adigun lay the ball to Sean Shields, whose inch perfect cross found the head of Nazir Bakrin at the far post. Bakrin’s header was pushed against the inside of the post by the Worthing goalkeeper, Chris Haigh, with Colbran clearing, but on the assistant referee’s instruction, the ball was adjudged to have crossed the line for Bakrin’s first goal for the club.
A scramble in the penalty area might have seen Tonbridge increase their lead as Bakrin saw a close range shot blocked before, with four minutes remaining in the half, the home side equalised. Plenty of warnings had been given of an absolute missile of a throw from Ollie Black and on this occasion, from the left side, the ball travelled fully 45 yards, high in the air, before being met at the far post with a header from fellow defender, Alfie Young.
When questioned about the effectiveness of the long throw, Jay commented: “It is [a missile}, but the majority of them we have dealt with alright, but that one has landed in our six yard box and we have to do better, that’s the basics.”
Just prior to the break, Tariq Hinds drove forward to pull a cross back from the byline for Trevan Robinson to get his shot away, but a saving block from Joe Cook deflected the ball to safety.
Tonbridge started the second period brightly, with a long ball forward from Ryan Hanson sending Robinson clear before being challenged by Cook and when the loose ball fell to Shields, his shot was saved low by Haigh.
The Angels fell behind on 57 minutes. Ex-Angel Nicky Wheeler got in a low cross from the left; an attempt at a shot from Jack Spong turned into a pass to Colbran, who unselfishly laid it inside to Muhammadu Faal, who had an easy finish from inside the six yard box.
Tonbridge’s task become greater as they fell two behind on 63 minutes, with the inevitable Woodside Road goal against them from Wheeler. Colbran delivered a cross from the right byline, Wheeler controlled with his first touch before lashing home.
Within two minutes, Tonbridge were back in the game when a long ball forward from Hanson saw Haigh charge from his goal to the edge of the penalty area but was beaten to the ball by Robinson who touched it past him to run the ball into the net.
The Angels contributed to a lively finish that saw a flurry of yellow cards for both sides, with Shields and substitute Dabre bringing saves from Haigh before the referee brought to an end another afternoon at Worthing where Lady Luck failed to make an appearance.
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