TONBRIDGE ANGELS

[littlehampton]

Not long to go now. Tomorrow's FA Trophy match at Tonbridge is eagerly awaited by all Towners and promises to be a classic cup-tie.

 

Angels will start as favourites, fourth in the Ryman Premier, home advantage, good run of form, etc but make no mistake this will be a very close encounter and a very tough match for both clubs.

 

This match is a one-off winner takes all situation and our very talented squad of players are more than capable of raising their game and mixing it with the best on the day.

 

Next season, if we win promotion, we will be competing against sides like Angels week in week out. This match will show, one way or other, how good we are and how close we are to that standard.

 

Can we will, you bet. Will we win, who knows. If the lads play as we know they can, firing on all cylinders and competing for every ball right from the start, they will have every chance of success.

 

Good luck you guys. Go for it and give it your best shots. We are all right behind you.

 

" COME ON THE TOWN "

 

[Mini - Smith Towner]

Not been able to make the game today so just want to wish Steve and the boys all the very best for today's game.

 

Come on Towners!!

[seemgee]

1-0 to Tonbridge 30 mins " COME ON THE TOWN "

[seemgee]

2-0 on the stroke of halftime

[seemgee]

and it ended 2-0.

[townerboy]

concentrate on the league then...

[OldTowner]

concentrate on the league then...

 

..............Not with this type of performance

[Mini - Smith Towner]

We need to look ahead to the massive league game on Tuesday now and get right behind the lads. It's important to stay positive even if this can be classed as a slight dip in form since the Worthing game. Being able to now fully focus on our league campaign is probably a good thing now. I for one have every faith in the boys getting us back to winning ways.

[Steve Newing]

I think sometimes we see negatives more than positves. That was a much improved performance than the poor display against Gt Wakering from last week. We were up against the in form team from the Ryman Premier on their own patch and gave a very good account of ourselves and all of the lads deserve praise for the way they accquited themselves today. Two big decisions went against us today. Penalty not given for foul on Sam and their free kick ( second goal right on half time ).

Dont forget we were missing as options , Deniz , Ben , Stuart , Jonesy and Kirby.

Steve was given some very complimentary comments about our display from their management , what is required that we have more of these levels of performance than the Gt Wakering display. If we can come out fighting like we did today , get a little bit of the old lady then we will be alright.

PS - did Steve get a bit upset with the Ref at half time over those poor decisions?? (lol)

[Gazza]

Fellabob, I can't comment on the freekick awarded as I was in the queue for a cup of tea, but was about 5 yards from the Byfield incident & trust me it was never ever a penalty, the keeper cleared the ball cleanly on what was a half hearted challenge by Sam.

What a decent ground Tonbridge have, great stands & facilities with acres of space to develop, nice pitch too, a really good organised club, two down points for me though, 1. What was that embarrasing anthem they come out to in

each half? 2. The club crest/badge looked like a cartoon character!

As for The Town on the pitch, didn't think we looked intrested, very lacklustre, a big disapointment.

The next two league games are vital in shaping the rest of the season.

[Enfield United]

I was not at the game so can't comment on it. But i've got to know the squad very well over the last season and a half to know that we do miss individuels when we have key pieces of our 11-14 jigsaw puzzle missing. Any team our level would miss The quality of Deniz, Ben Kirby and Stuart. I think we also need to add to our bench as well especially in regards to having quality impact players to come on and be effective in changing the fortunes of our team in a match. We have centre mid players that would run through brick walls for our cause, but feel we ned to add a key quality player in their that dominates.

 

All being said, we are one win in the league from going 2nd on Tuesday as we are the only game scheduled. If our players are men they will put the last 2 games out of their minds, roll their sleaves up for what will be a tough encounter against an improved PBU. One thing we all expect as supporters is 100% guts and effort to add to the quality that is in the starting X1. We are a well gelled unit that must not doubt our ability.

 

One game at a time, lets be ready for Tuesday both as supporters and of course the team.

[Steve Newing]

I am sorry but I must have been watching another game , all the lads put in a tremendous amount of effort and commitment yesterday and were only undone by a mishit shot/pass from a corner and a ridiculous free kick right on half time that killed us. Many teams might have thrown in the towel but they all kept going man to man right to the end. Tonbridge are the best team we have played by far this season with some top players in their side and as stated the lads acquitted themselves well. Hey ho football is a game of opinions so people will always see things differently but we do seem to quick to be a bit downbeat when we dont win.

[Steve Newing]

Enfield have nothing to be ashamed of, they tried to play football from the back and were by far from the worst team we have seen this year. they need something more up front but would easily be lower mid table in the Prem. bought a good number of fans as well .

 

lets hope we get a good draw for the next round -could be my farewell game

 

( QUOTE FROM TONBRIDGE FORUM )

 

Opinions , all different !!!!!!

[Steph]

Whether or not it was a foul by the goalkeeper on Sam I am not going to comment on as I did not have a clear view however, I did have a clear view of the shirt pulling that preceeded it as did the lino and, I am sure the ref, but it was not given, Why not!!!

 

The second incident when I feel the ref got it wrong was when Bryan was fouled in the box. The ref blew but awarded a free kick to Tonbridge. Now I was nearer than the ref and can only assume he thought Bryan was backing in but he wasn't he was trying to jump with the defender all over him. It was a penalty which again was not given.

 

Finally I saw Paul Campbell with teh goalies arms around his neck. I dont know whether the ball was out of play at the time but why was the goalie allowed to stay on the pitch?

 

All together I thought that the ref was a "homer".

 

As for the football. Tonbridge were a clear head and shoulders superior to us. What we lacked which they had in abundance is speed. It takes us 3-4 moves to get to the penalty area because our forwards, for all their ball skills that they have in abundance, lack pace. Tonbridge and GWR have forwards with pace and can get the ball to the penalty area in 1-2 moves. We sorely miss Ben and Stuart who can give us that pace.If Steve is looking for other players he should consider players who can run at defences whether they have the football ability or not. This will free up Sam, who I thought was our MoM yesterday, and Adam to use their silky skills as they wont have 2-3 men on them all the time.

 

A creditable performance however and, by my reckoning, with a crowd of 517 we should have made around £2000 out of the trip. The cup runs this year have been nice little earners.

[Enfield United]

Steph-As previosly mentioned I could'nt make yesterdays game, but agree totally with the support needed for Adam and Sam who are both having very good seasons bt with our injury list are currently lacking the quality support around them. No disrespect to those who are filling in admirably of course as a squad will get us success and not a good X1. So far a win this coming Tuesday, the squad would have gained us 2nd spot in the league.

 

FellaBob-You will find some of our supporters would moan at the best of times, I agree with you that a couple of defeats need dealing with and it's not the end of the world as we have had enormous bad luck with injuries this season. At the same time the supporters (including myself, and no doubt the management team) are desperate of promotion, especially this season with the carrott of a new home next season. I think we need Mr Treasurer to take a little calculated gamble on a key signing which would embrace the individuels we already have.

 

I know it's easier said than done. However, once everyone is fit for selection we will be a difficult team to beat. I still see plenty of light.

[Tom S]

. What was that embarrasing anthem they come out to in each half?

 

It's an Aussie Rules song, the relevance of which to a soccer team in Kent escapes me.

Edited October 31, 2010 by Tom S

[thecoldend]

Town put in a good performance against a top Ryman Premier side who if they keep all their players fit will go close to being top of their league and will most certainly be in the play offs at the end of the season with a chance to get up to the Blue Sqaure South. To lose 2-0 in no disgrace and on another day it could of been a little different...without the scrappy goal before half time it changed the course of the game.

 

My take on it is rewind exactly a year when we were knocked out of the Trophy at Concord when we lost 2-0 at a ground not many teams get anything from and we put a team out which was missing one or two influential players. We have been unlucky with injuries...when those players return and a few new faces join to feshen things up (as they did last season) we'll be in the thick of things!!

 

Back to the bread and butter of the league now and a run of seven important league games in November the results of which could shape how the season pans out -

 

Potters Bar Town (home and away)

Wingate and Finchley (home)

Leyton (home)

Maldon and Tiptree (home)

Grays Athletic (away)

Heybridge Swifts (home)

 

These are all tough games and the league is very tight (we were top last weekend prior to GWR and are now ninth...could go 2nd on Tuesday)

 

Then comes the big trip to Needham Meerkat at the beginning of December.

 

COME ON TOWN!!!

 

Apologies for no photos or highlights from yesterday - My camera has packed up...hopefully i'll have it fixed soon

[littlehampton]

Totally agree with fellabob and Steph's comments. Everyone has their own personal thoughts and views on this match, but putting disappointment aside, I think over 90 minutes our lads gave a gutsy performance, against a very good Tonbridge side, and tried hard until the final whistle. Tonbridge are a form team who stand a very good chance of promotion to the Conference. Our lads certainly did not disgrace themselves, but against a technically good side, with lots of pace and movement, it was always going to be tough encounter for Steve's injury-hit squad. Don't think anyone would disagree that the better team won on the day.

 

We now need to move on. Steve and his players have done exceptionally well for us in the major cup competitions this season, and produced some much needed revenue for the club. Our main aim is promotion and, in the temporary absence of quality players like Ben, Stuart, (Mark Kirby yesterday) and others, it is clear we do need to strengthen the squad in certain areas, not least with more strike power up front. Am sure Steve is acutely aware of existing weaknesses, and is doing everything possible to put things right.

 

Let's accentuate the positives, continue to give Steve and our players maximum support and encouragement, and remain optimistic about our chances for the rest of this season.

 

" COME ON THE TOWN "

 

[Tom S]

Whether or not it was a foul by the goalkeeper on Sam I am not going to comment on as I did not have a clear view however, I did have a clear view of the shirt pulling that preceeded it as did the lino and, I am sure the ref, but it was not given, Why not!!!

 

He played advantage, and presumably decided that a one-on-one with the keeper was advantage enough compared with a free kick outside the box.

 

The second incident when I feel the ref got it wrong was when Bryan was fouled in the box. The ref blew but awarded a free kick to Tonbridge. Now I was nearer than the ref and can only assume he thought Bryan was backing in but he wasn't he was trying to jump with the defender all over him. It was a penalty which again was not given.

 

A two-frame sequence here. Ideally I'd have got one or two earlier shots, but you can just about see that Judge's left arm is on top of Bryan's shoulder.

[OldTowner]

Interesting views of the game, some points I agree with and some not. We all have our own opinions of Players , their ability and more importantly their willingness to do that bit extra.

Unfortunately, I felt that there were a few yesterday that di NOT do that bit extra which was required.

 

Considering Tonbridge are near the top of the Prem we did very well and for long periods did not look out of place, but, we had no firepower.

It took until the 85th min for us to ruffle the hair of the keeper and he showed he did not like it. Why did we wait so long to introduce Morton and Campbell.

I have said before that we seem short of a "plan B" and at 0-2 down at half time it was crying out for a change to upset their "not so good" back four.

 

We have failed - tried maybe - but we have failed to replace Stuart once he confirmed he was going. We lack firepower up front.

Not sure it is fair to expect him to create miricles when he gets back, when ever that is.

 

The next 5 or 6 games are fairly criticle for the remainder of this season. Let's hope we are still up there come December.

 

In my opinion, we are 3 or 4 players short of winning the title.