On Tuesday evening, The Angels made the short journey to Essex to try to cause somewhat of an upset in this year’s FA Trophy competition, against Ryman Premier outfit East Thurrock Utd. Following a disappointing 1-1 draw at Longmead, the two sides battled it out once again for the right to host Conference National side Gravesend & Northfleet in 1st Round Proper. In the end, it wasn’t to be on this bitterly cold evening in front of an appalling attendance of just 130. Goals from Danny Hayzelden, Martin Tuohy and Danny Harris were enough to ensure that Tonbridge were sent crashing out of the competition for another season.
Fraser Logan was cup-tied, Loui Fazakerley had returned to Eastbourne Borough and Jay May was still suspended meaning that strikers Luke Piscina and Leroy Huggins were recalled to the starting line-up. There were places on the bench for Ian Parkes and Richard Ponsford, who have both recently returned from injury, and also flu-stricken boss Tony Dolby.
The pitch was in an absolutely disastrous state, meaning that both sides struggled to play their usual flowing football. Tonbridge had a couple of weak efforts on goal from Nick Barnes and Ray Powell but neither were anywhere near close enough to test home keeper Danny Knowles, on loan from League 1 side and fellow Kent outfit Gillingham. On 18 minutes the home side was to break the deadlock thanks to a scrambled effort from Danny Harris. A corner was not dealt with by the Angels rearguard and headed back across goal by the powerful Steve West. Harris stole in, unmarked, at the far post for probably the easiest goal he is ever likely to score. Three minutes later, the first real talking point of the match arrived. Ray Powell latched onto a brilliant through ball from Nick Barnes only to be abruptly halted by last man Gary Wooton. The referee instantly blew up for the foul and rushed over to his assistant. After much discussion, the man in charge finally awarded a free kick on the edge of the area to the visitors and only brandished a yellow card for Wooton. The hosts knew they were lucky to still have a full compliment of players on the pitch, and this probably ultimately determined the result and the course of the game. Nick Barnes drilled the set piece wide of the right hand upright. East Thurrock led at the interval by the single goal.
Tonbridge pushed for the equaliser and had a marvellous chance to level immediately as the lively Ray Powell somehow managed to push his way through a melee of defenders to power a strike across goal. Knowles was alert between the sticks and palmed the ball away for a corner. Two goals in the space of five minutes really killed the game off for ‘The Rooks’ as the Angels pushed further and further up the pitch in a desperate attempt to salvage something from the game. First of all former Grays Athletic winger Danny Hayzelden was allowed a free header from another set piece to double their advantage. This was followed immediately by Martin Tuohy rounding the helpless Jerome John to ensure East Thurrock booked their passage through to 1st Round Proper. With only ten minutes remaining, the score could have so easily been four as Lew Watts was caught out of position, leaving veteran Steve West in acres of space. With just the keeper to beat, West smacked a low shot towards the bottom corner, only to be denied by a piece of expert goalkeeping from John. An excellent save by all accounts. Leroy Huggins and youngster Adam O’Neill could both have grabbed consolation goals for the visitors but Knowles was equal to them on both occasions.
The Angels put in a solid display and didn’t disgrace themselves at all. In fact, the 3-0 scoreline was somewhat flattering towards the hosts, as the game could’ve gone either way. Jerome John was superb in the Angels goal as always but Angels Man of the Match goes to striker Ray Powell for his non-stop work rate and commitment to the cause.
Report by: Gary Cornwell
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