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Tonbridge Angels 1 - 2  Bromley

After a delayed start, Colin Blewden and Chris Hollyoak’s under 18’s lost their first League match since last October, and dropped to sixth place in the table into the bargain, after losing 2-1 against a stronger Bromley side than the one they defeated 5-1 earlier in the season.

The visitors struck painfully early, taking advantage of unorganised and unresponsive defending, with a lone invader nipping through the back line to squeeze the ball past Olly Stell in the Angels’ goal. Further assaults ensued from Bromley, with the first fifteen minutes seeing very little opportunity for the Angels to claw themselves back into the game, except from a free-kick for a foul on Josh Biddlecombe. Nick Hollyoak drove the resulting kick into the Whites’ penalty area, with Elliot Harland’s headed effort being directed straight at the awaiting goalkeeper.

Another free kick on the edge of the penalty area saw Biddlecombe’s effort blocked, with Luke Blewden’s header being thwarted by the goalkeeper’s face at the near post.

With most of the play producing a dire stalemate in midfield, goal-scoring opportunities were still at a premium for either side, with Harland’s next two attempts both finding their way through to a very much untroubled goalkeeper, with Biddlecombe and Mike Holden both suffering the same plight in the closing moments of the first half. Interspersed with such events, defenders Jagger and Holden both had to produce blush-sparing defensive moves as the interval approached, as the Angels had to suddenly defend in numbers in their own panic-stricken penalty area.

After the restart, the Angels started strong with an early free-kick from Sonny Miles that was eventually cleared, but not before Biddlecombe had flashed a warning shot across the face of the visitors’ goal. Despite a greatly improving performance than that of the first half, a spell of frustration followed, with Miles collecting his fifth yellow card of the season, before a spate of free-kicks and corners from Hollyoak that ended with defender Nat Janks heading over the crossbar.

By now all eyes were at the other end of the pitch, as Stell misjudged an awkward bounce, but recovered in time to capture the ball securely, much to the relief of fellow players and spectators. But the respite was short-lived, as for the second successive week, a highly-disputable penalty decision was awarded against the Angels.

The visitors duly converted the spot-kick, sending Stell the wrong way and doubling their lead, before the Angels made their first substitution. Further corners from Hollyoak followed, with Harland’s latest effort finding the keeper again, whilst Blewden was again denied by Bromley’s custodian.

After Stell left his line at the other end and failed to collect the ball, it took a well-timed clearance from Liam Herbert to stop the visitors increasing their lead. Fouls on Biddlecombe were now being generally ignored by the match official, despite them getting more intimate with intrusive handling, as he continued to threaten, weaving his way into the box to set up substitute midfielder Chris Page, whose on-target shot was blocked.

The Angels narrowly failed to score when Hollyoak’s fleeting ball across the face of goal was fractionally missed by Harland, before a move initiated in midfield by Page was driven into the box by Hollyoak, for in-form Biddlecombe to head virtually unchallenged into the net. After a short mid-season goal-drought, the confident and jubilant striker had claimed his seventh goal of the season, and his third in as many games.

With little more than seven minutes left to play, Bromley fought hard to stay in front, and apart from more comedic judging and handling by Stell, they netted for a third time, albeit disallowed for being offside. This gave the Angels the chance of a final onslaught deep in injury time, which saw substitute Jake Miller somehow denied from close-range in the dying seconds, in a move that would have gratefully yielded a much-deserved point.

Mike Holden (composed and committed wing-back performance) was unanimously declared Man-of-the-Match, with Will Jagger (important clearance and challenges) and Luke Blewden (battling midfield play) being possible contenders.

A spokesman for the team commented “Come the end of the season, it will be interesting to see how many points and positions have been lost due to recent disputed penalty decisions.”

Goal Scorerers:  Josh Biddlecombe

Man of the Match: Mike Holden

Tonbridge Angels 2 - 2  Tunbridge Wells

Colin Blewden and Chris Hollyoak’s under 18’s dropped two more valuable points and have virtually lost the opportunity of closing in on the League’s leading pack, after a 2-2 draw against neighbouring Tunbridge Wells on Sunday, in a match that yielded a dramatic climax.

The Angels started dominantly yet again, with striker Josh Biddlecombe’s early shot being deflected off the visiting keeper’s foot for the first of many Olly Funnell corners, the first of which saw Matt Knight head narrowly wide in a busy goalmouth.

With only seven minutes gone, it was hard-working Funnell that sent the ball through for the prolific Biddlecombe to slip his marker, and calmly slot the ball past the keeper to record his eighth goal of the campaign, and his fourth in as many matches.

Stunned by the goal, Wells pushed forward, winning their first corner of the game, with was casually cleared by the autonomous Sonny Miles, aiding an Angels attack where a deep probing ball from Nick Hollyoak was headed wide of the target by Will Jagger. Continuous attacks featuring the inimitable style of Knight and Biddlecombe ensued, with spates of superb interplay with Hollyoak that kept the opposition hemmed in their own half, often in the eighteen-yard box.

A foul on Miles gave Funnell the opportunity to blast home a free-kick, but a slight deflection on route sent the ball skidding off the crossbar, before another Tunbridge Wells corner was cleared by back-tracking Funnell at the other end.

Angels’ domination continued, with Hollyoak weaving through the defence, winning a free-kick, which was curled past the target from 35 yards by a frustrated Miles.

After further attempts on goal by Funnell and Hollyoak, Stell was brought into action late in the half, needing two chances to deal with a deep cross in increasingly difficult conditions, before blocking the visitors’ first on-target attempt, which was ultimately cleared by Jagger. With the interval approaching, the desperate Wells side clawed themselves back into the match, with a lifeline goal, aided by the woodwork.

Another strong start to the second half saw another series of attacks on the visitors’ goal, with Luke Blewden heading over the target, Miles threatening with a low curling free-kick, and Biddlecombe firing into the reach of the keeper before being declared offside, all before Wells sent a rare shot past Stell’s goal. With worsening weather conditions, the match almost became a stalemate in midfield, often with scrappy encounters, but still with the occasional sporadic attack to break the monotony, usually from the Angels.

With a draw looking likely as the match approached the last fifteen minutes, both Miles and Biddlecombe threatened with off-target attempts before an unfortunate clash of heads between Funnell and Knight, saw the latter leave the field bleeding profusely from the injury, allowing Elliot (Rambo) Harland join the affray. A further substitution saw Chris Page replace Mike Holden, bringing the opportunity to re-shuffle the midfield, almost with immediate effect as Pagey found Harland with inch-perfect passes, but sadly to no avail.

With five minutes left of normal time, the Angels kept pressing forward, keeping the neighbouring Tunbridge Wells side heavily occupied in their own eighteen-yard box, as they looked for the vital goal that would have claimed the maximum points.

Another substitution was the late introduction of Joe Adams, who joined forces with Harland in a renewed partnership up-front. However, it was to be Wells that scored on the stroke of ninety minutes, finding the net after a miscommunication at the back, much to the dismay of the shell-shocked Angels.

However, it needed less than a minute after the restart to grab an injury time equaliser, after a combined move by Page and Blewden that found Harland, who slotted home his fifth and probably most important goal of the season to level the score, much to the elation of fellow team-mates.

With emotion running high as the game entered its ninety-fifth minute, Adams was brought down in the penalty area, giving the official no option but to point to the spot, despite a flurry of disputes which saw the yellow card brought into action. Ironically, it was the third successive week where a penalty has decided the fate of the Angels, and this was no exception, as Funnell was denied by the keeper with only seconds left to play.

Olly Funnell was unanimously awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ with Matt Knight in close contention.

Goal Scorerers:  Josh Biddlecombe and Elliot Harland

Man of the Match: Olly Funnell

Tunbridge Wells 0 - 5  Tonbridge Angels

Colin Blewden and Chris Hollyoak’s under 18’s returned to winning ways and claimed local bragging rights by executing an emphatic five-star performance when beating neighbouring Tunbridge Wells 5-0 on Sunday morning.

A strong start from the Angels saw Luke Blewden’s first minute effort driven over the crossbar from close range, before the game settled into a brief, but more evenly matched spell in midfield.

After being amply fed by Sonny Miles’ through-ball, Biddlecombe was denied by Wells’ keeper, who was brought into action again only seconds later, capturing the ball as Matt Knight and Olly Funnell closed in. But with the ball not being sufficiently cleared, and Elliot (Rambo) Harland pressing forward, Biddlecombe collected the ball out near the corner flag, turned magnificently and delivered a swirling cross for Knight to open the scoring with his ninth goal of the season.

Incensed by being behind, Wells responded with what was to be their biggest threat of the game, bringing the Angels’ defence into a state of sheer panic, with Ally Hamilton forced to block an on-target shot, before a corner brought another short-lived wave of paranoia into the penalty box.

Once cleared, the ball spent the next ten minutes firmly in Wells’ half of the pitch in a prolonged spell of dominance from the Angels. Another surge from Knight and Funnell brought Well’s custodian into action, with Biddlecombe flashing a warning shot into the side netting. A series of threatening long throw-ins from Blewden kept the ‘visitors’ occupied, prior to Knight slipping a defender to unleash a shot that was spectacularly tipped over the crossbar by Wells’ goalkeeper.

After a brief appearance of the ball in the Angels’ half, it was punched clear by Ally Hamilton, who was fouled into the bargain whilst doing so, as frustrations were starting to show. Blewden too, was unamused as his probing cross was plucked out of the air by the keeper, whilst Wells actually found the back of Hamilton ’s net, but only to be ruled out for the perpetrator being offside, much to their dismay.

With the Angels back in the driving seat, a deep-flighted ball from Blewden found Biddlecombe, who once again threatened, this time with a shot that dipped menacingly over the crossbar. With Wells offering very little apart from a further effort that was blocked by Hamilton , the Angels continued to push forward, with Blewden and Funnell both going close. With the interval approaching, a surging run and pinpoint cross from Knight was slotted home by Biddlecombe to record his fifth strike in as many games to give the Angels a deserved two-goal lead.

After the restart, normal service was resumed, with yet another impressive save from Wells’ keeper as Funnell headed goalward from yet another long throw-in from Blewden, and further attempts from Biddlecombe and Miles, who flashed a wild shot across the face of the target, and headed wide respectively.

With an hour on the clock, it was quick-thinking Hamilton that captured the ball and dispensed it back upfield to the imposing Biddlecombe, who fired the ball into the awaiting Knight, who duly obliged and found the net for the tenth time this season, giving the Angels a comfortable three-goal cushion.

The hungry strike-force continued to look for more goals, with Biddlecombe hitting the woodwork, and Knight heading over the target in what was to be his final piece of action of the morning, with Joe Adam and Chris Page replacing him and Miles respectively.

With seventy minutes gone, Biddlecombe literally picked himself up off the pitch, to fire home from thirty yards to take his season’s tally into double figures, and to give the Angels a virtually untouchable four-goal advantage over a struggling Tunbridge Wells side, that had posed very little threat.

With the chance of Biddlecombe recording his first treble of the season increasing every time he came into possession of the ball, the small but appreciative Sunday morning crowd were pleasured with just ten minutes left. After interplay between Page and Blewden, the prolific striker rifled home into the roof of the net to record his eleventh goal of the campaign, and an unprecedented seventh goal in five consecutive matches.

Perhaps the only cloud to this silver-lining was the straight red-card, that was shown to Liam Herbert for ‘using his head’ unnecessarily in an act of ‘ungentlemanly conduct’ during a brief moment of ‘handbags at dawn’.

Even with ten men, Biddlecombe still looked to make further entries in his own record book, glowering with disappointment after beating three players on the edge of the penalty area, before firing a final shot wide of the target.

Josh Biddlecombe was unanimously declared ‘Man-of-the- Match’ with Matt Knight in close contention.

A spokesman for the Club commented: “It was an awesome display; Biddlecombe continues to impress.”

Goal Scorerers:  Matt Knight - 2 and Josh Biddlecombe - 3

Man of the Match: Josh Biddlecombe