Angels have now suffered three straight defeats failing to score in any of those and while the panic buttons are not being pressed just yet, clearly Boss, Steve McKimm is starting to get concerned.

Losing an FA Trophy tie at Dorking Wanderers last Saturday in an even game was no disgrace while the 4-0 reverse at Haringey Borough on Monday evening was perhaps ‘ a bad day at the office’, but surely better fortunes would occur when faced with the basement club without a single home league win so far this season.

So it was with relatively high hopes that the travelling Angels support witnessed the kick off at a sunny and cold Harlow Arena but 45 minutes later they would start to become concerned as they had just witnessed probably one of the most inept halves their team had played so far this season. The hosts had offered very little up front and it was therefore incredible that the away side had managed to effectively waste the first 45 minutes playing a type of football that lacked any intensity, poor passing and at times careless defending and better sides than Harlow would have taken full advantage.

Was it that The Hawks somehow managed to drag their opponents down to their level but that it is no excuse when one considers the pedigree and reputation of many of the Angels players.

The best two moments of that dreadful first half was after 24 minutes when a Tom Beere free kick caused chaos in the Harlow defence with the ball running loose but the resultant Joe Turner Cross was off target and on 29 minutes when a host’s free kick flashed just wide of Jonny Henly’s left hand post.

Surely the 2nd half would improve for the 277 spectators? It did but not by too much. Harlow continued to offer very little threat up front with their occasional forays into the Tonbridge final third easily dealt with by the defenders. For their part the Angels did improve slightly with an Arthur Lee header crashing against the crossbar on 50 minutes but we had to wait until the 72nd minute for their next genuine potential goalscoring chance when a free kick was headed just over.

As the game reached its final stages it seemed the game was most likely to end in a goalless draw. It seemed the only way Harlow would score would be through some catastrophic error in the Tonbridge defence while the Angels for their part needed to be braver in front of goal.

In the 85th minute it was that catastrophic error that at last gave the majority in the crowd something to cheer about. A miss kick in the away defence and a following moment of hesitation with no one taking control allowed Harlow substitute Laurence Vaughan to slip through and prod the ball into the net from close range.

Tonbridge now of course threw caution to the wind and played with that high intensity that had been missing for so much of the match. Harlow,however , were not going to let this one slip and defended as if their lives depended on it.

There were strong Angels appeals for handball in the area, and a Sonny Miles on target effort that was deflected for a corner but it was to be Harlow’s day and as the referee blew the final whistle there was joyous cheering form the home support as they celebrated their first league win at the Arena in this campaign.

After the game, a visibly angry Steve McKimm said: “The players have let me, the Board and the supporters down this afternoon. They need to take a long hard look at themselves and ask questions of their current performances. We haven’t changed the system of play which saw consistent success just a short while ago.”