Sutton Common Rovers U18 5 Tonbridge Angels U18 1

Match 45/23/2168 - Wednesday, 1st November 2023 - Isthmian Youth League

Sutton Common Rovers U18 (2) 5 Ueno 5,40 Hill 65 Bond 71 Hogben 87
Tonbridge Angels U18 (1) 1 Firman 24
Attendance: 36
Admission: £3 Senior
Mileage: 82/3,306
Weather: Very wet, 10degC
Played at Whyteleafe

Whilst the south-east battened down the hatches in the face of Storm Ciaran, Tonbridge Angels Under-18’s faced a second half storm in the shape of Sutton Common Rovers.

The deposed champions, pipped last season by Cray Valley PM, are looking as good as ever and no doubt will challenge for the title again this season.

Our Under-18’s acquitted themselves well in the first half falling behind to a goal that was clearly offside before gaining a thoroughly deserved equaliser only to fall behind again just before the break.

Sutton Common took a fifth minute lead when the diminutive, but very busy, Ueno rifled a shot into the roof of the net from an angle on the right side of the box despite claims for offside that were waved away by the referee.

The Angels struggled to contain their hosts in the early stages with a second goal being disallowed as the ball had crossed the byeline before being crossed and, after 19 minutes, the crossbar was also struck.

But, they were back in the game, after 24 minutes, when Sam Firman created a bit of space for himself before firing into the bottom corner.

After half-hour the forerunner of Ciaran started to make itself felt as Church Road became rain lashed leaving supporters retreating to the covered areas.

A strong run out of defence from Will Puffette ended with a snap shot from Firman that was blocked but, five minutes before the break, a cross from the right byeline from Bond offered Ueno a tap-in.

Toby Underwood was called upon to make a couple of decent saves to keep the deficit at one at the break.

The early part of the second period saw the Angels with chances. Firman put a teasing cross across the face of goal and the SCR goalkeeper saved well from Evan De Silva and, on the hour, a 35 yard effort from Ben Martin-Coward was turned over the bar.

On 65 minutes, Sutton Common opened up the Tonbridge defence with a well worked move that ended with Hill scoring from close range and the game was over as a contest five minutes later when Bond scored a fourth.

A good passage of play saw Cameron Honarvar shoot narrowly wide but, with three minutes remaining, the impressive SCR skipper, Hogben, weaved his way through to add a fifth.

Beaten by much the better side, Dom Welsh commented following the game: “We defended poorly tonight and were punished by a very good team. We just had too many individuals not at the races.”

Tonbridge Angels U18 2 Whitehawk U18 3

Match 125/16/1432 - Thursday, 20th April 2017 - Ryman Youth League Cup Final

Tonbridge Angels U18 (1) 2 Smith 8 Chapman 59
Whitehawk U18 (2) 3 Sisimayi 35 Coltherd-Walls 44 Broughton 49
Attendance: 123
Played at Whyteleafe FC

Entrance: £3 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 86/8,561

Tonbridge’s Under-18s fell agonisingly short in the Lucas Fettes Ryman Youth League Cup Final at Whyteleafe losing to Whitehawk, who completed a treble having previously won the South Division of the League by a clear eight points and the Sussex Youth Cup.

The suspensions of their talismanic striker Sid Sollis and goalkeeper, Lewis Mitchell proved to be a burden too heavy to carry but they fought to finish with a rally that had the well-organised Sussex side defending for their lives.

Henry Ikeije tested the Whitehawk goalkeeper, Jordan Hawkins with a comfortable save in the opening minute before Whitehawk took the ascendancy in the opening period including having a goal disallowed for offside when Anesu Sisimayi’s header found the net.

However, it was the Angels that took the lead after eight minutes when a cross from Tommy Chapman picked out Liam Smith on the right hand angle of the six yard box who struck a ferocious shot into the far corner of the net.

The game took on a cagey stage following the opening goal with neither side registering a shot on target for the best part of 30 minutes.

Whitehawk equalised after 35 minutes when Tonbridge were caught out by a quickly taken free kick that allowed George Coltherd-Walls to cross for Sisimayi to head home.

A minute before the break Whitehawk scored a second goal when a shot from outside of the box by Billy Barker was parried, low to his left, by Henry Lovering but only into the path of Coltherd-Walls who was left with the easy chance of slotting into an unguarded goal.

After just four minutes of the second period, the Angels were left with a mountainous task when Lewis Broughton, the Whitehawk left back, surged to the edge of the box and fired in a shot that Lovering could only help into the net.

With the supporters that had made the journey to Surrey urging their side to keep their heads up, the Angels fought back and were unlucky when a shot from Connor Watson was brilliantly cleared from the line.

Just before the hour mark, Tonbridge were right back in the game when a defence splitting pass from Watson sent Chapman clear to finish clinically from the left hand side of the box.

Liam Smith, who had been switched to left back, following the substitution of the injured Jardell Conteh, did well to clear from the line to keep the Angels in contention.

In the final ten minutes, the Angels poured forward to find the equaliser with skipper, Callum Adonis-Taylor joining the attack as the Tonbridge coaching staff gambled with leaving three at the back.

As it was, Whitehawk stood firm, with Adonis-Taylor firing over the best opportunity of the period whilst Lovering produced a good save to deny Coltherd-Walls.

There was a massive consolation on the night when news came that Merstham had been held at home by Ashford in their final league match leaving the Angels with the opportunity to win the East Division with a victory over Kingstonian at Banstead next Thursday.

Action shots: Dave Couldridge

Tonbridge Angels U18 4 Merstham U18 4

Match 89/16/1396 - Monday, 13th February 2017 - Lucas Fettes Ryman League Cup QF

Tonbridge Angels U18 (3) 4 Killick 15,35 Ikeije 22 Sollis 69
Merstham (1) 4 Tran-West 33, Wilson 64, Omrore 66, Obazee 77
Tonbridge Angels won 6-5 on penalties
Attendance: 73
Played at Whyteleafe FC

Entrance: Free
Programme: None
Mileage: 86/6,261

The Angels U18s progressed to the semi-finals of the Lucas Fettes Ryman League Cup after a thrilling penalty shoot-out win against a very good Merstham side.

After three postponements and an abandoned game, the decision was made to play the game on the 3G surface at Whyteleafe.

Tonbridge seized the initiative from the outset with Jack Bray heading narrowly over from a Tommy Chapman corner.

It had been pretty much one-way traffic when the Angels opening the scoring after 15 minutes. Sid Sollis surged from the left across the face of the box before playing in Harvey Killick, who picked his spot into the bottom corner from the right side of the six yard box.

The “hosts” doubled their lead after 24 minutes when Henry Ikeije finished from close range after good work from Killick.

Going two goals down stirred Merstham into life and they went close after 32 minutes when a shot that would have needed a save from Lewis Mitchell was inadvertently blocked by a fellow Merstham attacker. However, the reprieve was short-lived. A foul conceded just outside the box brought a delightfully flighted free kick from Anwah Transwest over the wall and beyond the grasp of Mitchell.

Killick scored his second of the evening when a well placed cross from Chapman found the head of Sollis who steered the ball into the path of Killick to finish clinically.

The Angels could have put some gloss on a dominant half when Sollis shot over and Jack Fenton brought a good low save out of the Merstham keeper.

Merstham made a real fight of the game in the second period inspired by a couple of substitutions that gave them some attacking impetus. After 64 minutes the deficit was reduced to 3-2 when following a free kick into the goalkeeper's corridor of uncertainty, Nick Wilson pounced as a shot rebounded off the left hand post.

Two minutes later, the Surrey side were level when a lightning break down the left hand side had a similar end result as Manny Omrore scored when the ball rebounded off the post.

The game took another twist with a third goal in six minutes when Sollis took aim from 25 yards with a powerful shot that left the goalkeeper no chance as it sailed into the top corner.

Sollis had a shot cleared from the line before, with 77 minutes on the clock, Merstham found another equaliser with a finish from Ross Obazee following a cross from the right.

An audacious lob from the cultured foot of Chapman very nearly found a winner with the goalkeeper falling over as he back-pedalled.

The tie went straight to penalties with the first five from both sides being converted. Tonbridge’s takers being Liam Smith, Ikejie, Ziyad Ghali, Jack Cussens and Sollis. Merstham’s sixth penalty was brilliantly saved to his left by Mitchell and Killick kept his nerve to slot home the winner.

Manager Jay Stubberfield was delighted for his match winner: “Harvey has struggled with injuries and it’s great to have him back fully fit. We were exceptional in the first half, almost perfect barring the set piece. We haven’t had a game for five weeks, it was impossible to keep up that first half intensity, given more game time I think we would have seen it out better.”

Steve McKimm, who was watching from the terraces praised the youngsters first half performance and added that he has been invited to Sutton United for their glamour FA Cup tie against Arsenal and was gutted that he would miss the semi-final due to be played on the same evening.

The Under-18s now meet Woking in the semi-final on Monday at Knaphill FC.

Whyteleafe 0 Tonbridge 2

Match 02/15/1207 - Tuesday, 7th July 2015 - Pre-Season Friendly

Whyteleafe (0) 0
Tonbridge (2) 2 Phipp 3 Elder 5
Match abandoned after 70 minutes
Attendance: 80

Entrance: Senior £2
Programme: Free
Mileage: 76/138

A lovely summer’s evening that had begun with Tonbridge Angels supporters at Whyteleafe’s Church Road stadium full of optimism for the coming season ended after 70 minutes with a feeling of sheer helplessness as a 23-year-old trialist, Junior Dian, collapsed on the field of play. Both club’s physios sprinted to the player’s aid and administered CPR before an ambulance was called.

As the players of both sides left the pitch, Whyteleafe officials were asking spectators to leave the stadium as the game had been abandoned whilst the physios continued their efforts on the stricken player.

I was due at work, so left the scene immediately but those that stayed on report that the ambulance arrived just before 21:40, approximately 25 minutes after Junior had slumped to the ground. He was transferred to St George’s Hospital, Tooting, where at 1 a.m., he sadly passed away.

Junior is a young man that was completely unknown to the Tonbridge supporters assembled at Church Road. In fact, on the club secretary’s team sheet, he was simply listed as Junior. My eyes were following the ball when he fell to the ground, without any contact with any other player I was told, and it took some minutes to realise the gravity of the situation. The sight of Melvin Slight, the Tonbridge physio and his Whyteleafe counterpart rendering CPR was not one that I had witnessed on a football ground, or anywhere else for that matter, and not one I would wish to repeat. I, for one and I’m sure many others would echo the thought, that the two physios were heroes for their actions despite their efforts ultimately being in vain.

In later days, it has emerged that Junior had been a player with Dagenham and Redbridge in his youth and was known to Tonbridge players, James Folkes and Jerrome Sobers, who had asked manager Steve McKimm if Junior could attend training with them. He had impressed enough for McKimm to give him an opportunity to play a part in the pre-season friendly.

The match itself, obviously became a irrelevance but it should be said that Tonbridge got off to a storming start with new signing Nick Wheeler very much to the fore. After just two minutes he floated a left wing cross to the far post from where Tom Phipp converted with a header. The lead was doubled within a couple of minutes, this time a long right-sided cross from James Folkes was easily headed home by Nathan Elder. The visitors went on to dominate the first period and could have been a long way clear before the break.

Saturday's home friendly against Gillingham goes ahead as a tribute to Junior Dian.