Hampton & Richmond Borough (1) 2 Wiltshire 38 Vilhete 78
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 694
Admission: Pass
Mileage: 122/4,506
A goal in each half was enough for a threadbare Tonbridge Angels to lose on the road at Hampton and Richmond Borough and in the process the squad became further depleted with the sending off of Ryan Hanson and an injury to Ronny Nelson.
The win saw the home side stretch their unbeaten record to seven games and move to within a place of the Angels who remain in ninth.
A good contingent of Angels supporters made the journey with rail travellers hampered by the weekend closure of Waterloo East. They arrived at the Beveree on a cold afternoon to the news that Charlie Pegrum had been recalled by Leyton Orient with Harry Ottaway taking his place in the starting XI. Only four substitutes could be named including assistant manager Tommy Parkinson.
Jay Saunders reflected after the game: “I thought we looked leggy after Tuesday. I’m disappointed at the goals we conceded, they were avoidable, and I thought we lost the midfield today.”
Tonbridge were on the back foot from the outset and might have gone behind after four minutes when a through ball from Mauro Vilhete sent Ibrahim Jalloh clear only to be denied by a smothering save from the advancing Matt Rowley. After the ball looped into the air and was recycled, Jalloh put it into the net only to be given offside.
The visitors came close to opening the scoring on eight minutes when Gianluca Botti’s effort from the bye-line rolled along the goal line before being turned away for a corner, from which Crossley Lema headed over.
Hampton took control of the game and Rowley was kept busy before they were awarded a penalty on 20 minutes as Lema hung out a leg to upend Bunmi Babajide. Fortunately for the Angels, Archie Taylor’s spot kick struck the crossbar and was shepherded to safety.
The momentum, nonetheless, stayed with the home side and they eventually broke through on 38 minutes when a corner fell kindly to Jerry Wiltshire who lashed the ball home off the underside of the bar.
Jeremy Santos put a shot wide as Hampton entered the break deserving of their lead.
An injury sustained by Nelson necessitated his half-time substitution with Hanson taking his place.
The Angels started the second period positively with Bailey Akehurst bringing a save out of Max Merrick and just past the hour the Chelsea loanee goalkeeper made a really good stop to deny Sean Shields.
On 77 minutes, Rowley did brilliantly to claw a shot from Jalloh out of the top corner but was helpless a minute later when a cross from the right found Vilhete, unmarked, to bury a header.
Botti brought another save from Merrick but the red card for Hanson for a challenge on Hampton substitute George Hunt killed any hope of a comeback despite the added time board showing 10 minutes.
Trevan Robinson saw an effort cleared from the line and a Shields shot cleared the bar as the Angels valiantly sought a consolation goal.
After what can only be described as a difficult week for the Angels, Jay added: “The boys put in a hell of a shift on Tuesday night and the squad is very thin and it is hard for us to make changes because we’ve ended up today with four on the bench including Parky. We are very thin on the ground. In an ideal world, if you had everyone available, you make changes from the other night but we are not in a position to do that. I’m not going to be too harsh on the boys, I’m a big believer that it evens itself out, but certainly at the moment, we are getting a bad run of luck.”
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