Metropolitan Police 2 Tonbridge Angels 3

Match 129/18/1722 - Saturday, 11th May 2019 - FA Super Play-off Final

Metropolitan Police (1) 2 Chislett 18 Robinson 57
Tonbridge Angels (0) 3 Lee 52 Theobalds 85 Derry 97
After extra time, score at 90 minutes: 2-2
Attendance: 1,268

Admission: £5 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 120/7,582

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! The last three weeks have been stressful, each game has had its challenges and one-by-one they have been ticked off. Nobody wanted the Super Play-off format that could have been so easily avoided and whilst celebrating Tonbridge Angels’ success it is at the same time commiserating with Metropolitan Police who over the course of a season had finished third in their League, won through a difficult Play-off process but remain an Evo-Stick Premier South club next season. The process was unfair from the outset and remained so, whether as the winner or otherwise.

Tonbridge Angels supporters turned Imber Court into a home game with an estimate that they made up two-thirds of the 1,268 attendance and the scenes at the end of a game that had gone into extra time will not be forgotten by any of them for a very long time.

Sonny Miles’ appeal against his sending-off in the Isthmian Play-off Final was turned down and his place in the centre of the back four went to Michael Kamara, who has been on dual registration with Woking.

The visitors started the game strongly with Joe Turner being brought down on the edge of the box after five minutes Turner’s free kick evaded the wall but was met with a De Gea-type save from Berti Schotteri’s leading foot.

Two minutes later, Turner left-sided free kick was headed away for a corner from which Kamara saw his header cleared from the line. Turner then saw his shot turned away for a corner by Schotteri at his near post before the Police went in front after 18 minutes with their first real attack of the game.

John Gilbert pulled the ball back from the left to Ethan Chislett who, from 20 yards, curled a shot into the top corner giving Jonny Henly no chance.

The Met, now with their tails up, gained momentum and Henly saved well, low to his left, to turn aside a shot from outside of the box by Max Blackmore and, after 25 minutes, from a corner Ollie Robinson headed over.

Tonbridge should have drawn level three minutes later when Craig Stone pulled the ball across the face of goal to an unmarked McKenzie who, inexplicably, ballooned the ball over from six yards.

Half-time arrived with Tonbridge a goal behind in 45 minutes that they had largely dominated.

But within five minutes of the restart they were back on level terms. A free-kick needlessly given away for hand ball by Gilbert. Arthur Lee stood over the ball and the expectant group of defenders and attackers assembled at the far post for the cross, but Lee whipped in a shot to the near post catching Schotteri unawares and only able to help the ball on its way into the corner.

The delight of the massed Tonbridge ranks lasted barely two minutes and it came after a series of saves from Schotteri that denied the visitors taking the lead. He first palmed away a 25 yard shot from Turner; recovered to turn away the rebound from Jack Parter before two efforts from Adem Ramadan were blocked by desperate defending.

From the clearance, the Metropolitan Police counter attacked and forced a corner that was cleared to Gilbert who fired a low cross that was met by Robinson whose touch rebounded off the legs Henly back to him to run the ball home.

It felt like a shattering blow but Tonbridge continued to take the game to their hosts but were finding a goalkeeper at the peak of his form. Stone saw his 70th minute shot tipped over the bar by Schotteri followed by a header from the midfielder.

There were five minutes left on the clock when Theobalds picked up the ball in the centre circle, he left two defenders in his wake before committing another on the edge of the box and as a fourth stood off from making a challenge he rifled a shot under Schotteri for a magnificent equaliser.

Tonbridge should have avoided extra time when a cross from Turner found Derry at the far post whose header across the face of goal seemingly bounced off the shin of McKenzie with the ball agonisingly drifting wide.

Into extra-time and Henly was needed to tip over the bar an effort from Jack Mazzone, the Met’s leading goalscorer who had been well marshalled all afternoon but Tonbridge maintained the momentum as substitute Jared Small started making an impact down the right. Firstly his cross was deflected away for a corner and then, in the seventh minute of extra time, he produced an inch perfect cross to the far post and the head of Derry who nodded it home with ease.

The Met had to respond and Chislett tested Henly twice before Blackmore drove a shot marginally wide.

Three minutes of the second period of extra time remained when Turner fired over after being set up by Theobalds and Tonbridge needed to survive one more corner that was successfully hacked to safety before the final whistle that brought the now obligatory crowd invasion and a wild celebrations that included the chairman body surfed by supporters.

It was the game that nobody wanted, but what a game was produced. This has been a season of epic peaks and troughs, I don’t think there was a supporter out there who would have predicted this outcome after the defeat at Carshalton, but the turnaround is complete and National South awaits.

Metropolitan Police 2 Tonbridge Angels 0

Match 84/17/1534 - Tuesday, 23rd January 2018 - Bostik Premier

Metropolitan Police (2) 2 Mummery 27 Wright 30
Tonbridge Angels (0) 0
Attendance: 126

Entrance: £5
Programme: £2
Mileage: 112/5,893

A better blog than mine

Even though the reality has been evident for some while, there comes a watershed moment when you know this season is dead in the water. Marooned in mid-table the season is destined to drift to its conclusion with little other than pride to play for.

Tonbridge produced their worst half of the season at Metropolitan Police’s Imber Court going into the break 2-0 down when a fair reflection on the game would have been nearer 6-0. Steve McKimm rightly lambasted his lacklustre troops after the game reflecting that it was the type of performance that gets managers the sack. Steve can possibly take comfort from the fact that Tonbridge have not sacked a manager since Terry Naylor left his post in September 1988. I should clarify this statistic with the conjecture that Tony Dolby was sacked in October 2007 after a FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round defeat at Ware, but this was recorded as “amicably parting company,”.

Sam Bantick flashed a shot wide of the right hand post after just two minutes but to all intents and purposes that was as close as the Angels were to get, failing to stretch Tom Williams into a single save all evening.

The Plod are enjoying a decent season, they are on the edge of the play-off places, and for the most part, they looked a good side. How much the woeful Tonbridge performance contributed to that appearance is open to question.

The warning signs were there before the Met took a 27th minute lead. A cross from the impressive Tom Bird found the head of Jay Gasson and it took a combination of Jonny Henly and his right hand post to keep the ball out.

Lessons were not learnt and the home side gained the lead when a cross from Jonny Wright was delivered to an unmarked Bayley Mummery to head home from inside the six yard box.

Three minutes later, I guess it was the precise time of that watershed moment, it was 2-0. This time a soft free kick awarded against Liam Smith, was floated to beyond the far post from where Wright planted a header that somehow got between Henly and the post.

Tonbridge simply had no idea how to defend the cross into the box and the half could have taken on embarrassing proportions as headed efforts from Mummery brought a save from Henly and another that hit the top of the bar.

A half-time rant from a well-known Tonbridge supporter, actually defending the first half performance, took up the entire break and provided the only memorable entertainment of the evening.

The Tonbridge bar was struck again by Gasson as the aerial battle continued to be won by the hosts. McKimm made a series of substitutions, including the return of Ryan Worrall for a second spell from Eastbourne Borough, to inject some life into his side.

But, in boxing parlance, the Angels failed dismally to lay a glove on their hosts despite enjoying (if that is the right word) more of the ball in the second period.

Here we are, not quite out of January, and there are many of us that are wishing this season away for a fresh start in August.

Metropolitan Police 1 Tonbridge 1

Match 21/16/1329 - Saturday, 27th August 2016 - Ryman Premier

Metropolian Police (0) 1 Smart 90+5
Tonbridge (1) 1 Elder 2
Attendance: 144

Entrance: £5 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 84/2,231

If, at the end of the season, promotion is delivered, then Steve McKimm won't be looking back on a missed opportunity to write a little bit of Tonbridge Angels history. A win would have been their fifth straight, the first time this would have been achieved at the start of a season.

For the second time, and the only goals conceded, this season Tonbridge lost a goal with virtually the last kick of the match and with the stopwatches showing well past the announced time-added.

Whereas at Burgess Hill the goal was nothing more than a consolation and a minor irritation, this one at Metropolitan Police cost a couple of points.

At the end of the day, whatever figure is shown on the board at the end of the ninety, the game isn't over until the referee whistles to say it is and we can argue the semantics of "minimum of" and "time-added to time-added" but that whistle is the only one that counts.

This was my first visit to Imber Court for many a year and, in truth, I remembered nothing except for the beautifully kept pitch. So it was something of a surprise when the game was brought to halt after ten minutes to allow the groundsman to fill in a hole that had appeared.

I often wondered who might support the MetPlod and if you did, would you admit it! It did feel that there were nobody other than Tonbridge supporters in the ground, but with their equaliser, there were more than a few cheering. I nice little article about this very subject can be found on this link.

The visitors could not have got off to a better start. Goalkeeper Anthony Di Bernardo made a smart clearance to the feet of Luke Blewden who in turn sent Bradley Fortnam-Tomlinson away down the right. The winger's pinpoint cross found the head of Nathan Elder at the far post who buried his header to give Tonbridge the lead after just 86 seconds.

I've long laboured the point that four games into a season there are no bottom of the table teams just those that haven't made a good start as the rest, but for 20 minutes the Met looked every inch a team rightly at the foot of the table. In that period they were virtually overrun. The Met's full back, Will Salmon, picked up a booking after just three minutes and a minute later the ball was in the home net again only for it to be disallowed and pulled back for free kick awarded to the Angels. From the free kick, the Met's goalkeeper, Luke Edgecombe, clawed away Nick Wheeler's effort from the top corner.

It took 22 minutes for the Police to launch a meaningful attack with Ryan Gondho shooting straight at Di Bernardo. But that little foray gave the home side a bit of confidence to mount a period of pressure.

In the closing minutes of the half, central defender Ollie Robinson headed over from a corner and Charlie Collins directed a shot at Di Bernardo after a good move had put the striker in the clear.

Elder was substituted by Damian Scannell early in the second half feeling unwell.

Whilst the game in the second half was relatively even, it was the visitors that carved out the scoring opportunities. A Wheeler corner offered Sonny Miles a free header that was steered wide and a surging run from Jack Parter ended when he ran out of space on the bye-line.

A significant moment in the return to fitness of Tom Phipp arrived with 15 minutes remaining when he was the substitute for Fortnam-Tomlinson. I half-joked with a friend that we now held our breath for the next quarter-hour. Within 20 seconds of coming on and with virtually his first touch of the ball, Robinson clattered into Phipp and sent him crashing to ground. The centre-half took the booking, Phipp the attention of the physio. Two minutes later and another defender was whacking in a desperate challenge, just below the knee but this one went unpunished.

The clocked had ticked into time-added and, seemingly, well past when a cross from the left was met with a powerful header from the right back Nathan Smart as the Police had piled everybody forward including the goalkeeper for a corner in search of the equaliser.

I could become real anorak when it comes to an old-fashioned floodlight pylon! I love them! In my time supporting England away from home, I would love the visits to eastern European countries where the floodlights would be of this type, to me they are very nostalgic.