For the second time this season Tonbridge have been eliminated from an FA knock out competition at the first attempt by lower league opposition.

Not that Heybridge Swifts looked a step 4 side as they swept aside a lacklustre Angels who were perhaps fortunate the defeat wasn’t heavier .

Man of the Match Luke Callender with his two goals caught the eye but the reality was that Swifts more than matched their opponanrts all over the park with wide men Juan Luque and Harrison Chatting a real threat all evening and central defenders Ryan Henshaw and Jack Cawley dealing with virtually everything that came their way.

If Swifts keeper Danny Sambridge was looking for an easy night in advance of their FA Cup adventure at Exeter City this coming Sunday then he certainly got one. Just the one decent save from a Chris Kinnear effort on 42 minutes was the most difficult it got for the custodian with the remainder of the evening seeing him deal with routine mopping up.

The goals for Heybridge came in the 47th minute when Callender turned Callum Adonis-Taylor and fired home from close range with the second arriving in the 61st minute with a far post header. In between the goals Dan Thompson’s shot did force something resembling a save from Sambrook but in truth he made a meal of it.

With time running out The Angels went four up front with Nathan Elder thrown on to try and help save the game. It did have some effect with the substitute scoring in the 81st minute but there were few scares for Heybridge who seem to adopt a policy of attack being the best form of defence and it was always they who looked the more likely to add to the scoreline.

These are difficult times for Angels boss Steve McKimm and his team with no major cup competitions to savour and a league campaign that needs to get back on track quickly. Successive away games coming up at Enfield Town and Staines Town make this something of a challenge.

After the game McKimm seemed at a loss to explain why his players had appeared to show a lack of desire. “I will need to sit down with the Chairman to discuss where we go from here but it’s difficult when the budget is tight. However changes may have to happen”, he added. He also apologised to those supporters who had made the trip to Essex and the Board for the performance.