Tonbridge Angels 3 Chippenham Town 2

Match 58/25/2400 - Saturday, 21st February 2026 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (2) 3 McCann 3 Sutcliffe 34 Pavey 57
Chippenham Town (2) 2 Haines 13 Touray 39
Attendance: 1,339
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/3,472

There are six-pointers and then there are genuine six-pointers.

This was not two teams similarly placed in the table in December, this was two teams staring down the barrel of relegation in late February with the games remaining ebbing away and the points required to safety seemingly becoming ever more distant.

But, in a game when, given Tonbridge’s recent history with late goals, the added time board showing six minutes brought more than a flutter of the heart as the visitors, Chippenham Town pressed forward for an equaliser the Angels, ably marshalled by the central defensive unit of Jordan Thompson and Ethan Sutcliffe, made sure of no late despair and the final whistle was greeted wildly by a crowd of 1,339 which was boosted by tickets handed out to local junior clubs.

Alan Dunne, Tonbridge Angels manager, said in his post-match interview: “I’m pleased with the result because it wasn’t our best performance, but sometimes, winning ugly is what it is all about at this time in the season, picking up the points to get the job done.”

I know far too many people at Tonbridge to suggest that the club have sleepwalked into the situation in which they find themselves but, whatever the reasons, this game and the visit of Hampton on Tuesday have become absolutely pivotal.

The scribble pad has been out, the path to safety has been mapped, but like the local roads, that route is littered with potholes but at least the first one has been avoided.

This week reality set in at Eastbourne Borough which cost Tommy Widdrington his job after just six months at the helm and in the club’s statement they referred to their plans for life in the Isthmian League and reverting to part-time. It seems that a wealthy chairman is not necessarily the magic bullet.

Eastbourne replaced Chippenham at the foot of the table after the midweek matches and the Wiltshire club have been showing signs of revival of late with eye-catching wins over Maidstone United and Torquay United.

Whilst Spring hasn’t exactly sprung, the weather didn’t carry a chill but the rain couldn’t stay away completely as Dunne made a single change to the side beaten at Hornchurch with Matt Warren coming in for Naz Bakrin, who dropped to the bench.

The game marked one year of the passing of Devonte Aransibia, who was remembered with a minute’s silence with his young son leading out the Angels side.

Tonbridge got off to the best possible start, taking the lead after just three minutes, when, following a corner that saw the Chippenham goalkeeper, Will Henry save well from Alfie Pavey, the ball was recycled for a cross to fall at the feet of Noah McCann who lashed it home from around 10 yards.

The lead was only to last 10 minutes when a free kick into the area was only cleared to the right side of the six yard box to Luke Haines whose well struck half volley found the roof of the net.

The visitors looked anything but a team that have spent the majority of the season propping up the table, popping the ball about and creating decent chances for Billy Phillips and Will King that was comfortably saved by Laurie Shala.

So it was somewhat against the run of play when Tonbridge went back in front after 34 minutes when a Sean Shields free kick towards the far post took a deflection off a visiting defender before Ethan Sutcliffe bundled the ball home.

The Angels might have doubled their lead three minutes later when a close range shot from Thompson was saved by Henry but after 39 minutes a superb cross from Lewis Colwell was met at the far post with a well directed header from Ezio Touray to level the game at the break.

Dunne introduced the livewire Bumni Babajide at the start of the second period and he had an immediate impact as his surge forward and pass to Kyle Smith saw the latter’s right-sided cross turned in at the far post by Pavey.

Chippenham were certainly not as fluid in the second period and the chances to put the game beyond them fell to Shields and Thompson before the added time, kitchen sink time from the visitors.

Dunne concluded: “There’s still 13 games to go, still a lot of work to do and we need to move on quickly to Hampton on Tuesday.”

Pictures: David Couldridge

Tonbridge Angels U18 1 Cray Wanderers U23 0

Match 57/25/2399 - Monday, 16th February 2026 - Kent Intermediate Cup Semi-Final

Tonbridge Angels U18 (1) 1 Fincham 41
Cray Wanderers (0) 0
Headcount: 70
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/3,434

Tonbridge Angels Under-18’s have reached the final of the Kent Intermediate Cup, a competition that is principally contested by U23 sides.

The Angels route to the final has seen them eliminate Lordswood, Margate, Deal Town and, in last night’s semi-final, Cray Wanderers, all of which from the older age group.

The final will be held on Wednesday, 6th May at Chatham Town against the winners of Wednesday’s other semi-final between Hollands and Blair and Faversham Town.

For a little bit of historical context, the Kent Intermediate Cup was entered into in the early 2000’s by Tonbridge’s reserve sides and was won in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012 and, for the last time in 2013.

Cray Wanderers were considered to be the favourites for the competition and proved stern opposition for Dom Welsh’s side, who fielded a couple of the Academy U19’s in Ollie Thomson and Noah Millis.

As expected the game was competitive from the outset with neither side gaining any sense of dominance. The Angels opening opportunity came on the quarter hour when Thomson narrowly headed wide following a corner with chances coming at the other end that never really tested Jacob Hunt.

On 30 minutes a last gasp block denied Richardson’s shot but, four minutes before the break, it was Richardson’s cross that saw Callum Fincham steal in unchallenged to head home and give the Angels a half-time lead that might have been doubled as Fiachra Pritchard’s effort drifted agonisingly wide.

The second half was never going to be anything other than a backs-to-the-wall commitment from the Angels with the missiles that were being thrown into the area from Cray’s Archie Morley, without doubt the longest throw-in’s seen at this level.

But, superbly marshalled by captain Ed Dyer, the Tonbridge youngsters stayed strong and, barring a couple of scares, they restricted the visitors to absolutely nothing that troubled Hunt.

The vocal band of brothers behind the goal greeted the Under-18’s with well-deserved appreciation that they accord a senior team success.

Hornchurch 3 Tonbridge Angels 2

Match 56/25/2398 - Saturday, 14th February 2026 - National League South

Hornchurch (2) 3 Gibbs 37 Sandat 45 (pen) Balanta 90+3
Tonbridge Angels (1) 2 Leahy 7 Thompson 70
Attendance: 770
Admission: £10 Senior
Mileage: 94/3,396

Valentine’s Day is meant to be a day of the heart, not a day of heartbreak, but Tonbridge Angels’ second defeat in four days following an added time goal was as difficult to stomach as a dodgy oyster served as a romantic hor’dourve.

The visit to Hornchurch, third in the table with games in hand that could take them top, was labelled as a free hit for the Angels, who are slowly getting dragged into a relegation dog fight as teams below them have begun to pick up unlikely results.

But, having taken an early lead, and entering the break 2-1 down to two goals that needed VAR intervention, a second half performance should have brought a deserved point back to Kent.

Angels manager Alan Dunne said: “The boys are gutted, they have emptied the tank and I can only be proud of them coming up against a massive team like Hornchurch. It’s been a week in which we deserved six points, at least four, but we’ve come away with none.”

Hornchurch is an awkward place to watch football with the athletics track, but strangely, I don’t find it quite as soulless as Chelmsford, perhaps helped by the welcoming nature of the volunteers.

But, their grass pitch is a real worry and following Tuesday’s postponement and another week of rain, it wasn’t really expected that the game would go ahead and an 8.30am pitch inspection confirmed those concerns. As it happens, the club officials were confident of its condition after 24 hours of no rain and cancelled the inspection.

Our arrival, after a rare trouble-free ride through the Dartford Tunnel, was greeted with the equally rare glimpse of the great, golden orb in the sky after weeks of interminable darkness. However, as the sun quickly set, the temperature dropped quickly and brought more than the occasional shudder.

Tonbridge welcomed back Sean Shields to the starting line-up in a team that showed three changes from Tuesday’s defeat against Maidenhead Town with Alfie Pavey and Kyle Smith restored to the team.

Tonbridge started as brightly as the sunshine with Shields to the fore, shooting over the bar in the opening five minutes and two minutes later, his shot was only parried into the path of Tom Leahy, who finished from close range.

The Angels were unable to capitalise on their early lead and were forced to defend for long periods after. Following good goalkeeping from Laurie Shala to deny the home side on several occasions, there was a sense of inevitability that the equaliser would come, but not in the circumstances in which it did. Firstly, what is a lumbering centre half such as Harry Gibbs doing crashing in a shot from 25 yards that came down from the underside angle of the bar and post to be cleared only for a linesman’s flag to indicate that the ball had crossed the line. Who knows whether the ball crossed the line, the said official was certainly not in line to make that judgement assuredly and the referee certainly wasn’t having deferred to his assistant.

Tonbridge had their first glimpse of goal since taking their only lead with two minutes remaining in the half after Shields crossed for Pavey to head wide, but as the half entered added time, the home side were awarded a penalty when Henry Sandat was brought down by Angels’ captain, Jordan Thompson, who later claimed that he hadn’t touched the Hornchurch forward, who took the penalty himself, firing into the roof of the net.

Dunne made changes early in the second period replacing Nazir Bakrin and Pavey with Matt Warren and Frankie Baker and the Angels dominated the half and were well deserving of their equaliser on 70 minutes when a ball into the path of Baker saw his shot saved by the feet of the goalkeeper, rebounding to the unlikely recipient of Thompson, who tucked it home from no distance.

At this point, were Tonbridge guilty of over ambition? They sensed an unlikely three points on the road and, indeed, Tom Leahy had a chance to restore the lead, but when the game entered its final five minutes of added time, perhaps the sensible thing would have been to manage the game in the Hornchurch half when in possession, but with possession given away, a ball into the box saw Shala make a great save from Myles Weston only for it to fall to the clinical feet of Angelo Balanta, who tucked it home to the despair of the Tonbridge support.

Substitute Bunmi Babajide had a late chance, but it wasn’t to be and another trip across the bridge was made empty-handed. So much pressure is now on the two upcoming home games against fellow strugglers, Chippenham Town and Hampton and Richmond Borough.

Action pictures: David Couldridge

Tonbridge Angels 0 Maidenhead United 1

Match 55/25/2397 - Tuesday, 10th February 2026 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Maidenhead United (0) 1 Robinson 90+4
Attendance: 600
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/3,302

A drab, dank and damp evening matched the mood of Tonbridge Angels supporters as they left the Yeomans Community Stadium on Tuesday evening after their favourites conceded a goal and a hard-earned point, with effectively the last touch of the match.

Depending on which end of the pitch you were stationed, behind one goal there was exhilaration and, at the other, despair at such a cruel twist. But, if honesty prevailed, neither side had done enough to deserve maximum points.

Tonbridge Angels manager, Alan Dunne, agreed with the assessment that the result was cruel, whilst also accepting that his side had not enjoyed the best of evenings: “Football can be really cruel. We weren’t great, but they came for a snatch and grab and that was what they got.”

In a game of very little penalty area action, the best of which was arguably produced by the Angels, but many free kicks of the soft variety, there was a sense of inevitability as referee Will Briers gave his last of the evening, at the very end of four added minutes. It was lofted into the box from the left by former Angels Josh Popoola to the head of Matt Robinson who rose between two Tonbridge defenders to score from six yards.

The dismal weather reduced the attendance considerably to 600, Tonbridge’s lowest for a National League South game this season and the vast majority of those retreated to the covered areas.

A first half, pretty much devoid of excitement, must of left many questioning why they had left the comfort of their armchair, albeit to be asked to ensure the misery of EastEnders!

That be said, it was the Angels that went closest when, on the half-hour, a snap shot from Tom Leahy hit the base of the post.

Just past the hour, Frankie Baker capitalised on indecision between a Maidenhead defender and his goalkeeper to fire a shot towards an open goal but the deflection from covering defender, Manny Onariase was enough to steer the ball against the post.

A minute later it was the visitors turn to strike the woodwork when a 25 yard free kick from Josh Umerah crashed against the crossbar.

Any slow burner of a contest needs a climax and added time produced the ifs, buts and maybes. In the third minute, Akehurst crossed and when the ball fell at the feet of Tom Leahy he stabbed it goalwards but was left with his head in his hands as Maidenhead’s Dutch goalkeeper, Jordi van Stappershoef, plunged to save low at his near post.

And so to the sucker punch and Robinson’s goal.

Tonbridge Angels U18 2 AFC Croydon Athletic 0

Match 54/25/2396 - Monday, 9th February 2026 - Isthmian Youth League

Tonbridge Angels U18 (0) 2 Fincham 63 Penman 81
AFC Croydon Athletic U18 (0) 0
Headcount: 40
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/3,264

Tonbridge Angels U18’s began their make or break month with a win at the Yeomans Community Stadium against bottom club AFC Croydon Athletic who conspired to ease the Angels path with an indisciplined performance that saw two players sent off.

Perversely the remaining players showed great discipline and resilience, alongside an outstanding display from their goalkeeper to leave the Angels waiting until just past the hour mark to finally break the deadlock.

A couple of slip-ups at the turn of the year has left the U18’s probably needing to win every remaining game to defend their title including home and away fixtures against their principal challengers AFC Whyteleafe.

In the midst of these games they also have a Kent Intermediate Cup semi-final at home to Cray Wanderers.

A sign of what was to come came as early as the ninth minute when the Croydon #3 picked up a booking for an unnecessary trip.

Tonbridge, as would be expected, made most of the early running with Robert Penman shooting over; River Ballach testing the goalkeeper and Callum Fincham steering a very presentable chance wide, but Croydon had also shown that they had something about them not reflected by their league position with their #8 to the fore.

The game had its pivotal moment on 24 minutes when following an Angels corner, a couple of players grappling fell to the ground which led to, we are led to believe, the Croydon #8 kicking out, leading to a melee in which most players of both sides became involved with management from both clubs rushing onto the pitch to act as peacemakers.

As always in these incidents, the referee was left with an almost impossible situation to unravel but came to the conclusion that the #8 as the perpetrator saw red.

With the man advantage, the direction of play became one way, but the Angels bemoaned wayward finishing and superb goalkeeping as the visitors almost got to the break without conceding but were to be reduced to nine men as the #3 picked up a second yellow for pulling back Penman who was about to race clear.

Croydon set up in the second half with two banks of four encamped across their 18 yard line and when the Angels broke those lines, the goalkeeper was equal to Harry Bingham and Callum Fincham.

The breakthrough finally came on 63 minutes when a cross from Ballach found Fincham arriving late into the box to drive home a shot that not even the Croydon keeper could lay a hand on.

Perhaps sensing that they needed something extraordinary, Croydon hit a shot goalwards directly from the restart that needed Jacob Hunt to back peddle and catch on his line.

The corner count in Tonbridge’s favour became endless with one, after 80 minutes rebounding from the bar, but a minute later, Nathaniel Waul played in Penman, who from a fairly acute angle, smashed his shot into the roof of the net.

In the last minute, Ashton Lucas saw his shot come back off the underside of the bar before the referee brought down the curtain on a slightly crazy night.

Gillingham 2 Tranmere Rovers 1

Match 53/25/2395 - Saturday, 7th February 2026 - League Two

Gillingham (1) 2 Hale 25.65
Tranmere Rovers (0) 1 Whitaker 78
Attendance: 5,564
Admission: £21
Mileage: 40/3,226

The first signs that the weekend’s football was not to go as scheduled was on Tuesday when Weston-super-Mare’s home game against Worthing was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. As various storms have battered the south-west since the turn of the year, the Optima Stadium had already suffered two postponements for the same reason. So, the prospects were not good and with a weather forecast that proved correct with rain expected every day going forward left Tonbridge Angels supporters fearing a wasted 300-odd mile round journey.

Torquay United wasted no time and postponed their game on Friday but Weston decided to hold fire, announcing a 8am pitch inspection on Saturday morning. At precisely 8.06, that inspection had been completed, match postponed. One wonders whether the inspection involved somebody looking out of their bedroom window, observing that it was still raining and picked up the phone to Tonbridge to tell them to get off the coach and go home. Credit to Weston, they saved a wasted journey, but could they have made that decision on Friday, almost certainly.

So, plans to change, thankfully Gillingham are at home with no obvious noises that their pitch was going to be unplayable, and as ever, tickets readily available. After an unexpected Saturday morning lay-in and a couple of hours immersed in the curling at the winter Olympics it was time to make the gentle 25 mile trip to sit, more or less, in the same seat that I placed myself for many, many years.

Gillingham are a strange side at present and, from my limited viewing, not a great side to watch. Everything seemed to be lumped forward to Sam Vokes and when he was replaced on the hour with two more big target men in Seb Palmer-Holden and Josh Andrews the practice continued. They are a team that plays in fits and starts, both of my previous visits this season have seen them surrender leads as they retreated to defend their box in numbers.

They shouldn’t have needed to do this as they were well deserving of their single goal half-time lead against Tranmere Rovers and when they went two-up it seemed a done deal but a goal on 78 minutes from Charlie Whitaker set up a closing period that included six added minutes in which the Gills were forced to hold on for grim death.

Ironically, for all the big men and the long balls pumped into the leaden sky, it was Gillingham’s new signing, Ronan Hale, relatively diminutive, that had given them the comfort of a two goal lead, the second of which from a header from a Max Clark corner that had missed the heads of Palmer-Holden and Andrews. Hale’s first half goal was a sharp finish after Ethan Coleman had headed a clearance back into the box.

The win ends a personal drought that I had not realised had stretched back to 29th December 2023 without a win, albeit that was only eight games and most of them have been draws.

Picture: Gillingham FC

Tonbridge Angels 1 Maidstone United 1

Match 52/25/2394 - Saturday, 31st January 2026 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Korboa 67
Maidstone United (1) 1 Moore 5
Attendance: 2,509
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/3,186

The circus that is the A26 derby came to town and for another year Maidstone United returned to the county town unbeaten as they have been since Teniola Time in August 2014, but at least this season has seen the Angels take four points from their biggest rivals following their historic win at the Gallagher in November.

How I wanted a win today, having sat out that Gallagher success on the end of a hospital bed awaiting my wife’s discharge who had spent eight days in hospital following a fall. When the winning goal went in, I asked her if anybody would notice if I ran down the corridor waving my shirt, she said that seeing we hadn’t seen a soul for hours, nobody would notice!

It was not to be, there was no Teniola or Shields Time but Tonbridge gave it their best shot, recovering from going a goal down with less than five minutes on the clock, they hit the woodwork three times before crafting an equaliser that sent a packed Yeomans into rapture.

Alan Dunne’s side is a long way from the finished article, he better than anybody knows that, and just when you think they are on the road to consistency they can throw in a performance that doesn’t meet the standards that he is striving to achieve. But, I as a supporter and I hope many of the people around me, can see where we are heading and that is not back to the Isthmian Premier.

Week after week it seems they are coming up against teams that Dunne labels as “heavyweights” and he bemoans the disparity between his side and full time teams, but, whilst not winning every game, they rise to the challenge. But, strangely and something that certainly needs addressing, it is the odd occasion when they meet a side on a level playing field that they fall short and to ensure our National League South status, the visits of Chippenham, Hampton, Bath City and Salisbury need to supply the vast majority of the 15 points required to get to the magic 50.

The attendance of 2,509 was only a hundred or so short of the number at the reverse fixture and the large number of travelling support in the segregated north end were in jubilant mood when the Angels fell behind to a scrappy, set piece goal bundled home by Deon Moore after Taylor Foran’s initial effort had been parried by goalkeeper Laurie Shala.

This is perhaps the biased bit! I have to say that given the early goal this should have been the catalyst for a promotion-seeking, a club of substantial means, such as Maidstone United to go on and win the game comfortably, that they didn’t is a credit to Tonbridge, but also an indictment that they simply do not have the credentials to achieve to what they supposedly aspire, or could it be that the behind-the-scenes rumours that they don’t aspire to that are actually true?

Tonbridge regained their composure and were unlucky not to go into the break on level terms, with an effort from Tom Leahy that brushed the post and an, albeit mishit cross from Ricky Korboa, that sailed over the head of the Maidstone goalkeeper, Nathan Harness, who had a shaky afternoon, only to strike the inside of the post and rebound to safety.

Dunne made half-time substitutions, something that he does to good effect. Sometimes I don’t agree or even understand them, but more often than not he is right and I’m not, and that’s why he is a football manager!

But Scott Wagstaff brought a different tempo, a quality that eventually brought the equalising goal but not before Korboa had struck the post a third time with the ball gratefully falling back into the arms of Harness.

The equaliser came on 67 minutes, begun and finished by Korboa, who released the livewire substitute Bunmi Babajide who drove at the Maidstone back line before releasing Wagstaff, who driven wide by Harness was still able to put in a cross to the far post from where Korboa was left with a tap in.

A melee in front of the dug-outs saw Wagstaff ending with a dislocated shoulder and leaving the pitch from a situation that an incompetent official in Tom Ellsmore saw pretty much nothing. Biased opinion again maybe, but had Wagstaff stayed on the pitch, Tonbridge were winning this game.

I walked away from a mostly happy Longmead Stadium actually gutted that we hadn’t won the match and whilst it will be Maidstone that, in terms of their league position, will be most disappointed with the point, it was as much as they deserved.

Photos: Dave Couldridge