Tonbridge vs Sutton

[johnnie1]

[Stewart]

It's good to see the home fans are looking forward to our visit

link








This will be my first game as a concession should I be happy or sad?

[Stewart]

Comments from the Tonbridge manager on the game can be found HERE


Jamie Stuart interview HERE

[Del]

Sept 6, 2013 13:31:35 GMT Stewart said:

It's good to see the home fans are looking forward to our visit

link








This will be my first game as a concession should I be happy or sad?

Have you now joined the old gits club?

[DaveF]

Line up: Lovelock, Nelson, Rents, Stuart, Downer, Sinclair, Folkes, Fuseini, Dundas, Binns, Williams

Subs: Telfer, McDonald, Scannell, Taylor, Shaw

[DaveF]

1-0 down at h/t

wind at our backs in 2nd half

[DaveF]

1-1. og resulting from good play by Taylor.

Final Score.

[Del]

We were not at our best today but came away with an away point.I understand we have a few injury problems at the present time so maybe a point gained rather than two lost.

[baboonfish]

Dreadful game, draw was completely a fair reflection as neither side deserved 3 points. Tonbridge had two quality players in the big 8 and tricky 7, but were a very very average team yet we hardly created anything. Not sure why we bypassed the midfield for the entire first half, maybe because of the 8? I didnt even notice Dean Sinclair was on the pitch until near half time, he was a spectator and perhaps thats how he managed to play 90 min as Dos too didnt notice him. Sure I wont be the first to say the ref was pretty dreadful, gave almost every little touch as a foul although he was equally bad for both sides and had no grasp of advantage. All that said we did well to come back and get a point as it didnt look like we'd score. Not sure Dos got his tactics right today.

[os]

Not our best performance but a point away from home is not to be sniffed at when you are 1-0 down at the break. I am sure Mark will have a word or 2 to say about the officials who were pretty poor all round. We never really got our passing together all afternoon yet it was on one occasion we did that we snatched the equaliser. Despite the lack of quality football the boys did dig in and got what I thought was a deserved draw. At the back I am afraid we still have problems particularly on the right hand side, and I still think we need to bring in a center or right back. We saw today we don't like teams running at us and some of the marking and closing down was very poor and we were nearly caught just before the goal as well.

Obviously Tonbridge were happy with a point but I think they were their own worst enemies in the second half seeking to slow and break the game up, rather then getting on with their own game. Still only 5pts off the top of the table without ever playing our first 11?

I would rather be us then Chelmsford right now!

[markf2]

Don't think either side mastered the conditions that well today and in particular judging the strong breeze. Happy with a point after being a goal down and deserved something from the game.

Their goal, while a fine strike, should never have been allowed as Skip was blatantly fouled as he headed clear and U's never got the ball back until Tom had to retrieve it from the net. U's goal arrived after some great work by Scannell and JT's movement that resulted in the Angel's defender getting the vital touch.

The ref's inability to see the foul on skip was just one of a large number of inconsistent decisions made by today's official who was poor. He didn't look fit enough, three times he got in the way of a U's attack and actually blocked a pass on the third occasion. That's because he did not run his diagonal properly and rarely got the outside of play. (Bit like I used to be on a Sun morning!!)But that's not good enough for Conf South level.

Considering our absentees and the injured players we had, indeed used, on the bench you'd take a point. It has been a difficult start to the season mainly because the squad has been so disrupted but the unbeaten competitive record at The Longmead remains.

[Stewart]

Local report

Tonbridge Angels were held to a 1-1 draw by big-spending Sutton United at Longmead.



For a third straight league game Warrilow, unsurprisingly, stuck with the same starting XI and Angels were the better team in the first half.

Henry Muggeridge enjoyed his best game of the season and was a constant menace down the right wing, giving Sam Rents a torrid time. David Ijaha hustled and bustled, while Luke Blewden chased everything, as is the norm.

Jon Heath, at left-back, kept Dale Binns quiet, while on the other side, Chris Piper goes from strength to strength.

With Angels fans in good voice the hosts were soon on top. Heath and Mikel Suarez both had headers saved comfortably by Tom Lovelock, while Nathan Green tried his luck from distance with a free-kick, but the Sutton goalkeeper, back-pedalling, gathered well.

In truth, chances were few and far between. Referee Ryan Atkin wasn’t helping matters and Ijaha harshly found himself in the book, while the man in the middle used his whistle to disrupt proceedings.

At the other end Craig Dundas was a handful and he gave Sonny Miles a busy afternoon, while Gary Borrowdale misjudged a header and Marvin Williams stole in and forced Masters into a fine save. Sutton, though, were mostly going long and never had any sustained pressure in the opening period.

But most of the attacking was from the hosts. Muggeridge jinked one way and then the next on 33 minutes, got to the byline and whipped in a great cross that eluded everyone. Five minutes later Angels were ahead.

After a period of concerted pressure the ball found Heath down the left. His cross went to Blewden at the near post and the forward rolled the ball back to Ijaha. The midfielder could have hit the shot first time, but took a touch, cut inside and unleashed a beauty into the top corner from 20 yards.

Sutton were much-improved after the break and put pressure on the Angels defence. The wind clearly played a part, but chances were few and far between. Borrowdale marshalled the defence brilliantly once more, while Piper didn’t give anyone a look in.

Fuseini tried his luck from distance, but Masters saved well, while Dundas shot into the side netting after good play by Dean McDonald on 70 minutes.

Angels, as an attacking force, offered little, with Blewden feeding off scraps.

The hosts were inviting pressure and on 78 minutes that told. Sutton had rung the changes and went all out attack and one of those subs, Jamie Taylor was the architect. He spun Philip Appiah in the box before cutting back, and putting in a cross that Miles turned past his own keeper.

Angels had one late, great chance to win it. Miles intercepted the ball and found Muggeridge on the right. The winger exchanged passes with Nathaniel Pinney and played in Browning whose shot was superbly blocked by Lovelock.

In the seventh minute of injury-time, Taylor hit a free-kick that whistled wide of Masters’ goal, VIDEO LINK HERE but in the end a draw was a fair result.

[Millsy]

Cracking run out music - great marks being taken in this clip and, per the comment, look out for the trainer at 1:59!

[os]

Sept 7, 2013 22:17:53 GMT Millsy said:

Cracking run out music - great marks being taken in this clip and, per the comment, look out for the trainer at 1:59!

Yes best run out music in the league, I love the song. Mind you TAFC take it a bit far by playing to Aussie rules

[Amber Aleman]

Poor game, with Tonbridge shading the first half and us shading the second. In the absence of Rivs our midfield looked lightweight and it needed the introduction of Jamie Taylor late in the match to pep up our attack. Both teams looked mid-table at best.