Hemel Hempstead Town (0) 2 Tomkins 69 Matthews-Lewis 78
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance:
Admission: Pass
Mileage: 180/5,602
No visit to Hemel Hempstead comes easy to Tonbridge Angels or their supporters. Our history with the Hertfordshire club doesn’t date back into the mists of time, but each visit has inevitably come with its own set of problems on and off the pitch.
Such as it was for the Angels’ supporters who, for the second week in a row, found Junction 27 of the M25 their stopping point, leaving them with a tiresome diversion through endless congested roundabouts whilst stressfully watching the sands of time to the scheduled kick-off drift away.
The game itself was a dull, lifeless affair, with two second half goals giving the hosts a deserved win.
Someone on high then decided that not enough pain had been inflicted on the Angels’ band of brothers and sisters, and having checked phones to make sure that the road home was clear, the QE2 bridge became closed, necessitating another extended journey back.
Those chasing the clock were given the lifeline of a delayed kick-off of 15 minutes and had the relative good news on arrival of an unchanged team from Tuesday’s win against Welling United, with Mo Dabre and Ryan Hanson returning to a full complement of senior players on the bench.
The first day of spring had brought some bright sunshine and a bit of warmth as the game finally got underway at 3.20pm with, hopefully, the last of the visiting supporters in place.
It seems odd to say on the opening day of March but the game took on an end of season feel from the outset, being scrappy and bereft of goalmouth action.
It was fully 37 minutes before either goalkeeper was particularly asked to do anything with Matt Rowley comfortably saving from Brandon Barzey and four minutes before the break Ethan Sutcliffe broke into the box from the right to pull a ball back from the byline that Hemel’s goalkeeper, Brad House, palmed away to safety.
If anything, Tonbridge had enjoyed, if that’s the right word, the better of the possession in a poor first half.
The second period saw a clever variation from a throw-in that saw an effort from Jack Wood that cleared the bar but the game quickly reverted back to the first half state of stalemate.
That was broken on 69 minutes when this scrappy game got its reward of a scrappy goal from the hosts, who had dominated the half. A long throw into the box produced a scramble with the ball eventually falling at the feet of Ben Tomkins who stabbed it home from close range.
Hemel immediately had a good chance to double their advantage when George Williams sent Oliver Lynch clear to shoot wide but, in the 78th minute, the ball was fed to substitute Millar Matthews-Lewis who lobbed the ball into the far corner from the edge of the six-yard box.
A couple of late half chances might have given the Angels a consolation but it was not to be as a disconsolate set of supporters began their trudge home.
Jay Saunders, interviewed after the game, commented: “It was a nothing game in regards to quality. I don’t think there was a lot in it, neither goalkeeper has had a lot of saves to make and it looked like an end of season game for the large part, but to be fair to them, they have had two opportunities and taken them. In hindsight, some of them looked a bit leggy and off it and if I could go back and change that, I definitely would, so I take that on the chin and take part of the blame for that. But there was not enough desire, second half, to go out and get a win.”
