Substitute Darren Smith's 67th minute strike was enough to overcome dogged Banstead resistance and give the Angels their 15th win from 24 league starts.

The team selection saw new signing Jon Main from Cray Wanderers come straight into the team alongside Jay May up front. Ray Powell moved into a right-sided attacking midfield position, with Smith making way from the side which faced Fleet last week.

Little happened in the first 15 minutes as Banstead made their intentions pretty clear - pack men behind the ball and hope to pick up something on the break. Tonbridge gradually started to up the tempo, May firing Main's cross over the bar from close range under pressure from a defender. Banstead 'keeper Andy Parkinson got down well to block Powell's near post effort, then proved equal to John Beales' thumping downward header from the resulting corner.

Martin Beard's 25-yard effort dipped just over in a rare Banstead attack as half-time approached, but the pattern was one of Tonbridge being increasingly frustrated by a disciplined visitors defence in which Beard and Thomas Ababio caught the eye.

The Angels had started to look a little disjointed by the time Smith popped up to break the deadlock just four minutes after replacing May. A cross in from the left wasn't cleared, and Smith was in the right place to fire beyond Parkinson into the far corner of the net.

A nice exchange between Main and Fraser Logan ended with the Scot's drive going just wide, then Nick Barnes and Logan again went close for Tonbridge as Banstead were forced to go in search of a leveller. The closest they got however was a Simon Mitchell effort, blocked by Lew Watts for a corner with ten minutes left.

Report by: Tony Browne