Horsham 0 Tonbridge Angels 1

Match 64/25/2406 - Saturday, 14th March 2026 - National League South

Horsham (0) 0
Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Sutcliffe 90
Attendance: 1,468
Admission: £11
Mileage: 134/3,974

WHISPER IT QUIETLY – MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Whisper it very quietly as the magic 50 point mark remains three points away, but Dunney has dun[ne] it, mission accomplished.

A first visit to the Fusion Aviation Community Stadium, the Hop Oast trips off the tongue a lot easier, brought a 1-0 win with a 90th minute goal from Ethan Sutcliffe in a game that had mid-table, end of season written all over it, except for Tonbridge Angels at least, there was just a little rubber stamping remaining.

Firstly, for the groundhopping fraternity, Horsham’s newish stadium was opened in 2019 and is a presentable, 3,000 capacity ground, tree-lined that adds to its charm. On entry to the Hop Oast, the first point that should be made, is the friendliness of the place, if everywhere could follow the template of Horsham Football Club, football would be in a much nicer place.

The main stand holds around 300 people, the only seating in the stadium so only just fulfilling the National League criteria. Opposite the main stand are two covered enclosures, either side of the dug-outs and behind the far goal is another area of covered terracing. At the entrance to the ground are the well-appointed bar facilities raised above flat standing behind the goal. The 3G pitch, which we were told would be replaced in the summer, certainly looked to have seen better days.

As the season enters its frantic last six weeks, with Saturday/Tuesday the norm from now on, Alan Dunne chose to rotate quite heavily with five changes following the midweek defeat at Dover.

The first half can be filed under the 45 minutes that the 1,468 present are not going to get back category, shaded by the home side, was awful. Best chance of the half was blazed over the bar by Horsham’s Shiloh Remy, whilst efforts from Alfie Pavey and Ricky Korboa for the Angels disappeared into the bright blue Sussex sky.

Thankfully for the paying public, the game did improve somewhat in the second period with Tonbridge taking control of the game, despite the opening chance falling to former Angel, Shamir Fenelon, who broke clear but took too long to get his shot away allowing Sutcliffe to make a saving tackle.

After 64 minutes, there was a heavy collision between another former Angel, Jack Brivio and Pavey that saw the former laying motionless for somewhile and, during the 12 minute stoppage, the Horsham manager, Dom Di Paolo saw a red card for saying something out of turn directed at referee Dan England.

As the game entered its extensive stoppage time, Matt Warren saw his shot from distance agonisingly deflected past the post but, from the resulting corner from Bailey Akehurst into a crowded penalty area, Sutcliffe stabbed the ball home and with perhaps the help of a deflection, leaving Lewis Carey wrong-footed and the Angels were in front.

In the fourth minute of the twelve added, Matt Rowley was called on to make his big save of the afternoon from a header following a corner, leaving the visiting supporters to celebrate with the We Are Staying Up chant as Tonbridge saw out time with relative comfort.

Looking at the National League table, the grotty trip to Braintree beckons alongside the visit to the end of the earth that is Truro, can’t wait. Thanks Dunney!

Action pictures: Dave Couldridge

Dover Athletic 2 Tonbridge Angels 0

Match 63/25/2405 - Tuesday, 10th March 2026 - National League South

Dover Athletic (1) 2 Wilkinson 22,54
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 731
Admission: £17
Mileage: 94/3,840

When the fixtures drop in July, there are dates that are immediately pencilled it, Boxing Day, the Maidstone games and perhaps there is a new ground to visit. On the flip side, there are the visits that are done out of nothing more than loyalty while secretly hoping that a valid excuse surfaces to give it a miss.

Such is Dover Athletic, charmless and unfriendly, whose modus operandi seems to be to make visiting supporters as unwelcome as possible.

Where was the communication that this would be a segregated game. I’ve no issue with the decision to segregate given the recent history of both club's set of youths, but to only find out on arrival at the ground is poor, very poor.

For those of you who have never been to Crabble (lucky you), the stadium is set atop a hill, not just any old hill, it’s a mountain that with a bit of snow could host the downhill at the Winter Olympics. After a torturous climb to reach the turnstiles, with no help from club officials informing you in which direction to walk, I decided to put a step counter on the return descent which recorded a near half-mile hike down a treacherous, unlit pathway.

On the playing field, I have nothing but respect for Dover’s manager Jake Leberl. He took over a basket case of a club with a notoriously difficult chairman in a pretty toxic atmosphere and has led them to promotion and relative safety in National League South on what I can only imagine is a small budget in comparison to the division’s big hitters that certainly doesn’t include Tonbridge Angels.

One area in which Dover have always excelled is with their academy and it was fitting that a scholar of their programme, George Wikinson, was the architect of their 2-0 win.

Tonbridge went into the game on a high following Saturday’s win against Worthing, but on the night have to reflect on an evening of possession aplenty but with no cutting edge and ending up on the receiving end of two very good goals, the first a beautifully crafted team goal and the second a wonder strike from 25 yards.

On a heavy pitch, manager Alan Dunne opted for an amount of rotation with four changes to the starting XI with Bradley Williams, Matty Warren, Naz Bakrin and Alfie Pavey included.

A game unfolded that was high on endeavour, low on quality but, uncharacteristically defined by two moments of excellence. After 20 minutes of nothingness, a series of one-two’s within the Angels box opened up the space for Wikinson to roll the ball past Matt Rowley into the far corner.

Frankie Baker’s persistence and pace offered the Angels a route back into the game but this foundered throughout on the defensive solidity of two brick outhouses in Jalen Jones and Harry Beadle.

Bunmi Babajide, as always, was full of energy and it was his effort just before the break that was deflected into the welcoming hands of Mitch Walker that brought the first involvement of the Dover stopper.

Dunney’s Plan B was left with a Crabble-sized mountain to scale after 54 minutes when a headed clearance was met on the half-volley from Wilkinson which found the top corner like a tracer bullet. It was some hit and one I guess he won’t replicate ever again.

The goal brought a trio of the Dover oiks to goad the Angels support, undoubtedly the segregation plan was well founded, if ill-timed.

A full complement of substitutions, the vast majority of possession and plenty of “penalty area entry” failed to unduly stretch Walker although a cross-cum-shot from Bailey Akehurst drifted only narrowly wide and Akehurst was also responsible for a shot that cannoned off the goalkeeper’s chest.

Roll on July, fixtures being scanned in excited expectation, but this one won’t set the pulses racing.

Sent from my iPhone

Tonbridge Angels 1 Worthing 0

Match 62/25/2404 - Saturday, 7th March 2026 - National League South

Tonbridge Angels (0) 1 Korboa 90+2
Worthing (0) 0
Attendance: 1,137
Admission: Season Ticket
Mileage: 38/3,746

Another remarkable result in season of remarkable results that only leaves me scratching my head as to why Tonbridge Angels have spent any time looking over our shoulders.

Worthing arrived at the Yeomans with continued praise ringing in their ears following their 4-0 demolition of the Angels in the FA Trophy in November but departed having been made to look bang average.

It is a shame that those of us with non-league in our hearts are subjected to reading almost every week of another club issuing an apology for supporter behaviour and because of previous discretions from youths that have attached themselves to Worthing, this match was segregated. In all my time, there has never been a problem with Worthing, so it must be difficult for genuine supporters of the Sussex club to stomach the reputation they now carry.

Manager Alan Dunne made three changes to the starting XI at Hemel Hempstead with Scott Wagstaff, Marcus Sablier and Bunmi Babajide returning.

Another change was needed as Kyle Smith went down with a recurrence of an injury within the first five minutes and needed substituting by Nazir Bakrin.

Worthing had none of the fluency of November, or even in defeat at Woodside Road in September under the guidance of Craig Nelson. In the first half they were restricted to one chance, two minutes before the break, when a shot from Joel Colbran was parried by Matt Rowley to the head of Shiloh Remy but his tame header was easily collected by the Tonbridge goalkeeper.

Tonbridge had started the game brightly with Smith seeing his free kick saved by Taylor Seymour; Frankie Baker firing over and Sablier also having a shot comfortably saved by Seymour.

Early in the second period, came the Angels most heart stopping moment of the game when a free kick saw a missed overhead attempt from Coleman De Graft confusing the Angels defence with the ball falling at the feet of Remiero Moulton at the far post but the alert Rowley was quickly plunging at his feet to smother the shot before it was hacked to safety.

On 58 minutes, substitute Callum Morton should have done better than steer a header wide, but from that moment Tonbridge contained the visitors with ease and, on the break, were offering dangerous moments of their own.

As the clock ticked into added time, Tonbridge supporters were probably happy with a hard earned point when Bradley Williams, who had made a huge impact on the game from the bench on 56 minutes, fed the ball to the left to Ricky Korboa, who cut in, found enough space to pick his spot into the final corner to send Angels supporters into raptures.

Eight agonising minutes, that turned into 11, had supporters baying for the final whistle, but as it had been for the most part of the afternoon, the visitors final push was tepid at best and seen off comfortably.

Twelve points clear, 13 in reality with a vastly superior goal difference, surely safety is as good as assured. Football Web Pages think so, but at one point this afternoon they had Larkfield winning their SCEFL match 22-3 when they actually lost 4-2! So let’s get to 50 points before cracking out the bubbly!

Pictures: David Couldridge and Wes Fitness

Tonbridge Angels 4 Gillingham 3

Match 61/25/2403 - Tuesday, 3rd March 2026 - Kent Senior Cup Quarter Final

Tonbridge Angels (1) 4 Babajide 37 Baker 53,66 Bakrin 84
Gillingham (1) 3 Dayal 43 Theodore 53 Booth 82
Attendance: 407
Admission: £10
Mileage: 38/3,708

Tonbridge emerged for the second time in three years victorious in the Wink Derby with a 4-3 win in an exhilarating Kent Senior Cup Quarter Final.

Whilst we at Tonbridge refer back to 1975 for our last Kent Senior Cup success, remarkably, Gills supporters have to have very long memories as their wait goes back to 1948!

Gillingham did what they always do by fielding a youth side and refusing to play any Kent Senior Cup game at Priestfield whatever the draw as terms of their entry.

What they did bring to the Yeomans was a talented group of youngsters that thrilled going forward but lacked a bit of resilience defensively.

Card marked before the game by old friends who have survived the toxicity of the final years of the Scally era (unlike myself) to watch out for Sullivan Booth, who was very good, but eyes were drawn to the sparkling wing play of Damian Theodore, who embellished his performance with a superb strike.

Scott Wagstaff, it was revealed on the day, has been appointed Youth team Manager at the Gills and he would be more than welcome to send these two lads our way on loan next season.

Spring has meteorologically sprung but it remained a chilly evening as Alan Dunne almost completely rotated his squad following Saturday’s defeat at Hemel Hempstead.

Gills started brightly, and dominated the opening half-hour, with Theodore immediately to the fore, perhaps a touch too many at times but never anything less than a real threat.

Tonbridge’s first attempt on goal came after 31 minutes when Sean Shields brought a save out of substitute goalkeeper, Benji Spencer before they went ahead on 37 minutes when Bunmi Babajide received the ball on the left to bury a shot into the far, bottom corner.

The Gillingham youngsters were not to be cowed by going behind with a cross-cum-shot from Kelly Adams that only narrowly drifted wide of the right hand post. The equaliser that their first half performance richly deserved came two minutes before the break when Theodore crossed to the for Louie Dayal to steer the ball home from 12 yards.

Perhaps the telling factor of the second half would be that from the bench, each substitution made the Angels stronger and this brought an immediate dividend as substitutes Ricky Korboa and Frankie Baker combined for the latter to convert Babajide's right-sided pass inside.

Theodore decorated his performance after 53 minutes when he cut in from the left to bury an exquisite strike into the top corner to bring the scores level once more and for a period of 10 minutes, the Gills were once more on top.

But, after 66 minutes, a shot from 20 yards from Matt Warren wasn’t held by Spencer and the ever-alert Baker was on hand to force home the rebound.

Any thought that that was that for evening’s highly engaging entertainment were dispelled eight minutes from time when Booth collected a through ball and sped through a gaping hole in the centre of the defence to finish clinically past the advancing Laurie Shala.

With penalties on the horizon, as was the case two years ago, the Angels found a winner on 84 minutes when a free kick swung into the box saw Ethan Sutcliffe head the ball back into the centre of the goal to the feet of Nazir Bakrin who poked it home from six yards.

The Angels move forward to the semi-final where they will visit Chatham Town. It is not the FA Cup, but one feels that, good though the Chats were back in October at Longmead, Tonbridge didn’t do themselves justice on the day and it will be something of a compensation to put one over them before looking forward to a Kent Senior Cup Final where the old enemy, Maidstone United lie in wait.

Photo: Dave Couldridge