Tonbridge Angels continued their impressive recent run winning 3-1 at Dulwich Hamlet's blazing hot Champion Hill stadium. A Warren Haughton brace, sandwiching Tony Dolby's stunning free-kick, secured a fourth consecutive victory for the Angels. It could be argued that Haughton only found himself back in the side due to Nick Barnes' shoulder injury picked up against Ramsgate, but the striker pounced on his chance to impress and notched his first two goals for the club.
Tonbridge threatened to get off to the same electric start that had stunned Ramsgate five days earlier, winning a corner within seconds. Dolby curled it into the box and Haughton found himself with a free header, but somehow couldn't get any power behind his effort and the home side were granted a reprieve. Dulwich then settled and marginally had the better of the play early on, Wayne Cort also missing a free header from a corner, and were threatening to drag their opponents into a dull game of hoof-ball in which either side would attempt to volley the ball as high as possible. To Tonbridge's credit they relented and an inspired midfield containing the creative passing of Lee Carey, the tenacity and never-say-die attitude of Danny Lye, the trickery of Luke Piscina and the driving force of Dolby behind them, subdued the home side and stamped their authority on the game. This brought about the opening goal, a long kick from the returning Jerome John in goal found Lye, who released Haughton with a beautifully placed through-ball. The forward shrugged off his marker before sending goalkeeper Paul Seuke the wrong way after a one-on-one.
Two minutes later a Dulwich defender had to leave the field after an unfortunate clash of heads with Lye, both players trying to get their heads to a Dolby free-kick. The Angels had an opportunity to double their lead when Piscina found himself through on goal with one defender to beat, laying off to Carey to his right the youngster took one touch before curling into the area. The cross just beat the onrushing Piscina and was caught comfortably by Seuke.
Tonbridge made a rare goalkeeping substitution after the break, John suffering more discomfort with his hamstring problem and being replaced by Mikhel Czanner. Another chance to increase the lead went begging on 69 minutes, Lee Carey thumped a low cross into the danger area only for it to strike the foot of Leroy Huggins and trickle wide. Tony Dolby has an unblemished record with a dead ball in the competitive games so far, and continued his remarkable run by making it 2-0 on 79 minutes. Luke Piscina went on a surging run through the middle, and then cut inside just on the edge of the area, sprinting between flanks he was brought down quite cynically outside the area. Dolby outwitted Seuke with a brilliant free-kick from 20 yards that would have tested even the most talented of goalkeepers.
The joy of the travelling players and supporters was not over, for five minutes later Haughton took advantage of a defensive mix-up to round Seuke and convert into an empty net to give Tonbridge a 3-0 lead against one of the sides tipped for play-off contention this season. Darren Smith was given a brief run-out at the end of the game, making his competitive debut for the Angels, and although he will be disappointed with the loss of possession in the 90th minute that led to Charley Side's consolation goal for Dulwich, the game was comfortably won by then and Smith will expect to enjoy a much longer and more settled contribution on his next appearance. Tonbridge stay third and go into a cup match double against Hastings and Clapton before entertaining bottom of the table Ashford Town on 17 September.
Report by: Dan Couldridge
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