Tonbridge Angels 1-0 Kingstonian
NO ANGELS
An early goal by Tonbridge saw off Kingstonian as a second consecutive weekend in Kent fininshed with a defeat.
Cray the previous Saturday had seen Bobby Traynor score his century of goals but in the heart of The Weald, the home side could not yield a goal to neither him nor anyone else.
Indeed it could have been a heavier defeat was it not for the some good keeping by Rob Tolfrey; however the match will remain longer in the memory for the two red cards and an injury to Max Hustwick's hand, who had to be asked to leave the pitch by the referee on the half hour.
In the 64th minute Lee Hall was given a red card for a tackle on Lee Minshull, who seemed to have originally come flying two-footed into the tackle but escaped punishment. Then after the final whistle Luke Hickie was sent off after he apparently questioned the referee's judgement. There could have easily been more than the two red cards with both Simon Huckle and Minshull looking likely to finish the game earlier than the 90 minutes.
Tonbridge were on the hunt for goals right from the start and although it was 10th minute before the first chance occurred but before Bashiru Alimi had to kick a loose ball away under pressure and Hustwick had seemingly passed back to Tolfrey which Tolfrey picked up.
Scott Kinch shot wide first after Alimi's throw-in was penalised. Then a minute later Merschach Nugent found the ball in midfield and with a short pass found Paul Booth who scored from 30 yards out.
This saw the visitors find some space at the other end. Hickie's freekick went straight to Lee Worgan in the goal. Then minutes later Hickie was denied again by Worgan after Christian Jolley's pass to him. He then curled a long range high pass to Andy White but once again Worgan was able to deny both. Hickie then shot just over the cross bar as he once again connected with Jolley in the 29th minute.
Hustwick then found himself being taken off after dislocating his finger and John Fletcher came on.
In the 38th minute potentially the best chance for both sides came Kingstonian's way when Worgan pulled off a close-range shot from Traynor, and with the ball finding the unmarked Huckle, he then kicked the free ball rugby-style over the bar from 10 yards.
Jolley then crossed in only for Worgan to get to the ball quicker than the poaching Traynor. At the other end Booth's shot was easily caught by Tolfrey. Once again on the attack, Huckle rattled the cross bar right at the end of the half.
The break saw White taken off for Carl Wilson-Denis, who was soon in the action when a corner from the right by Jerayhl Hughes shot across the goal to find Wilson-Denis, who kicked the ball up field. At the other end he then found Traynor, after an attack up the right but once again Worgan was there quickly.
Hickie then shot powerfully at goal only for a defender or two to get in the way. Similarly the defence denied Fletcher. But this was overshadowed as the lively and tense game had the tension racked up by Hall's sending off. Within minutes Dean Lodge came on for Mo Harkin.
A short pass from Huckle then saw Traynor shoot wide. However in a classic counter punch Hughes then undid the up-field defence and passed a long unopposed ball to Booth but he could only kick the ball straight out. Two minutes later Nugent found himself up against Tolfrey but the latter's two feet slid into another clearance.
In a rare moment for Ks, Lodge then took the ball up the other end only for Minshull to tackle him. However it was a rare moment as Tolfrey then saved from an unopposed Minshull after a pass from Angels substitute Jamie Cade. Anthony Storey then lost out to the ever-busy Tolfrey. And injury time Tolfrey got to the ball from Cade.
A hectic game then saw Hickie needlessly sent off, as he decided to dispute something with the referee, who at times did his best not to endear himself to either side. A strong start and strong finish from the home side masked a few chances for the winning possibilities for Kingstonian and was it not for a few missed shots and Worgan's brave defending, it could have ended that way. Still, Tolfrey's equally brave keeping denied the home side a greater margin.
They now travel to Essex on Tuesday, where points have been easier to pick up: two wins out of two as opposed to only one win in four in Kent.
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Sat 27th Feb 2010 |
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Longmead Stadium |
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439 |
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Isthmian League Premier |
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Tonbridge Angels | 1 |
Kingstonian | 0 |
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1 | Rob Tolfrey | | |
2 | Lee Hall | | |
3 | Bashiru Alimi | | |
4 | Max Hustwick | | 14 |
5 | Francis Duku | | |
6 | Simon Huckle | | |
7 | Luke Hickie | | |
8 | Mo Harkin | | 15 |
9 | Bobby Traynor | | |
10 | Andy White | | 12 |
11 | Christian Jolley | | |
12 | Carl Wilson-Denis | | 10 |
14 | John Fletcher | | 4 |
15 | Dean Lodge | | 8 |
16 | Matt Gray | | |
17 | Craig Bradshaw | | |
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Michael Underwood |
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