It seems to be a tradition at Longmead Stadium that when Tonbridge Angels’ unbeaten run ends, a second consecutive defeat is bound to follow sharply after. Our unblemished start in competitive matches came to an end at Worcester four weeks ago, and was swiftly followed by another cup exit three days later. True to form, our league defeat at Leatherhead was followed by a similarly gutless reverse on home turf. Two second-half goals were enough for an impressive and well-focused Whyteleafe side to brush away the Angels, who were simply not in the game.

As with Saturday’s game Tonbridge started brightly and looked likely to be the first to mark the scoresheet. A well-worked set-piece had to be aborted after a piece of refereeing ineptitude involving the visitor’s wall, and Tony Dolby curled the retake wide. Dolby later drew a corner-kick into the box, and Danny Lye’s header was cleared off the line at the far post. A third chance in the opening ten minutes went begging, Ray Powell making a run down the left and his inch-perfect cross found the head of Leroy Huggins, but the forward was unfortunate to see his attempt go the wrong side of the post.

Having weathered this early storm the ‘Leafe’ began to settle and imposed themselves on the game, and the Angels’ keeper Jerome John had to be in fine form to keep the scoreline level, getting a hand to a corner to put the ball out of play, and later stretching to tip round the post after a defensive clearance had hit the trailing leg of full-back Jon Heath. This spell of pressure appeared to drain Tonbridge of their confidence, and one night after Halloween the 331 crowd were treated to a horror clearance from Lew Watts, who sliced his kick into the path of the now clean-through Andrew Martin. Tonbridge were granted a let-off when Martin blasted his shot straight at John.

There was more anguish to follow as Martin again found himself unmarked in the box, his half-volley struck the crossbar and bounced back into play, and just before half-time John again had to be at full-stretch to tip out a wayward cross from Chris Head. By now the Tonbridge midfield had gone AWOL and more urgency was needed in the second-half to secure three points, which became all the more enticing with the news that closest rivals Dover Athletic were trailing 4-0 in their match.

The second half started as the first had ended, with Tonbridge struggling to make any impact on the match and Whyteleafe looking by far the better team. Jerome John was again called upon to save two efforts, but the deadlock was soon to be broken on 57 minutes. Although the visitors conclusively deserved to take their lead, an element of fortune was involved in the goal as a good Tonbridge attack was broken down by a somewhat harsh flag against Ray Powell. The Angels’ forward was cautioned and the long-range free-kick found Martin, who shrugged off Jon Heath and slotted past John into the bottom corner.

Eight minutes later it was 2-0 and game over, Jerome John parried a powerful header into the path of Chris Head who slotted home. Only now did Tonbridge finally start to pass the ball and play like a team capable of winning, but it was far too late by now and two chances were screwed wide by Luke Piscina. Whyteleafe fully deserved their victory and the Angels must now pick up their morale and attitude in time for the tough games to come over the weekend.

Report by: Dan Couldridge

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