Enfield Town (1) 1 Kasimu 27
Tonbridge Angels (0) 3 Nelson 77 Shields 78 Botti 90+6
Attendance: 733
Admission: Pass
Mileage: 146/5,384
Tonbridge Angels supporters who had endured a difficult journey to Enfield, whether by a road with an M25 road closure or by train, were eventually rewarded with three goals in the final quarter-hour to record their first win on the road since late November and, in so doing, also put a six game winless run behind them.
For 75 minutes, all that seemed unlikely as the visitors struggled to come to terms with a difficult pitch in which any quality from either side was at a premium.
Jay Saunders speaking with Matt Davison after the game: “Up until we got our first goal, it was not the most enjoyable afternoon I’ve had, but it shows you how quickly a game of football can change. It was a tough game, obviously with the pitch, you know what you are in for. I was disappointed with the first half, and the goal we conceded, but I think we showed a good reaction with the substitutes coming on and making an impact.”
On a mild afternoon with glimpses of the sun, Jay Saunders was able to welcome back Sean Shields, Liam Vincent and Crossley Lema, but lost Harry Ottaway to injury. Mikey Berry, Christie Ward and Bailey Akehurst took places on the bench.
The opening 20 minutes was not for the football purist with misplaced passes, hefty clearances and very little in the way of goalmouth action. To be fair to Enfield Town, much of the early momentum was with them but without troubling Matt Rowley to any great degree.
On 27 minutes, as Tonbridge were starting to wrest a bit of control from their hosts and with Gianluca Botti having broken clear to be denied by a good challenge, Enfield Town took the lead when a cross-cum-shot from the right by Anointed Chukwu was bundled home at the far post by Hisham Kasimu.
The Angels could easily have gone into the break further adrift as, on 41 minutes, John Oyenuga put a good chance wide and on the stroke of half-time, Rowley saved well to turn away a shot from Sam Youngs and, from the resultant corner, was needed to claw away an inswinger from under his crossbar.
Jay made a change during the break, reverting to a back four with the substitution of Ethan Sutcliffe with Ward.
But as the second half progressed and the pitch got worse, so did the game. On 64 minutes, Berry was introduced for Taylor Maloney and after Jack Wood had taken a whack, Akehurst was his replacement.
In the space of a minute the game was suddenly turned on its head when the latest of what had been numerous Vincent long throws that had continuously looked the Angels most potent weapon, found its way towards the far post from where a deft header from Ronny Nelson squeezed its way past the Enfield Town goalkeeper, Joe Wright and his post.
If the Angels support felt relief at the equaliser, they were in raptures a moment later when a superbly weighted through ball from Botti sent Shields clear to finish into the bottom corner.
Enfield Town, desperate to get something from the game to aid their relegation fight, threw bodies forward but Rowley was only needed to catch or punch a couple of corners before six minutes of added time were entered.
The Angels were managing the period comfortably but added some gloss to the scoreline when in the final minute, a cross from the right saw a Shields effort brilliantly saved by Wright but as the energetic Berry fought for the rebound the ball fell at the feet of Botti to drive home from inside the six yard box.
Jay added: “I’m pleased because we needed that. We’ve probably played better recently and not got the results, but today, at half-time, I’ve questioned them when I felt they felt sorry for themselves. When you’ve been on the run we’ve been on with injuries and results, you feel that everything has been against you.”
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