Tonbridge Angels moved up to third place after this draw against second place Havant & Waterlooville.
They defended for their lives & had a bit of luck on the way but in the end deserved the point which could have been three.
The game started with Tonbridge on top & in the 12th minute they nearly scored when Luke Allen’s cross from the left was headed goal wards by Nathan Elder only for Ryan Young push it on to the post but a minute later to the delight of the home crowd they went in front when Alex Akrofi was put through & from 15 yards he stroked the ball past Young.
Ten minutes later Bradley Tarbuck received the ball on the right side on his own & from 20 yards his shot went just past the post.
In the 38th minute came the luck for Tonbridge when a free kick into their area saw the ball bounce about the area two yards from goal before a fortunate decision by the referee who gave a free kick even though it looked to be the other way & a penalty but Tonbridge will say that they deserve a bit of luck.
The second half started with Tonbridge on the attack & in the 48th minute Nick Wheeler saw his snapshot go just past the post. Havant were throwing everything at Tonbridge & in the 57th minute Alfie Rutherford received the ball in the area & his shot was pushed away for a corner by Tony Di-Bernardo.
As the minutes ticked down Tonbridge were defending for their lives & relying on breakaways whilst Havant kept plugging away & in the 82nd minute they equalised when Ben Swallow’s free kick taken wide on the right wing curled in evading everyone but Di-Bernardo in his infinite wisdom decided to go for it but he only palmed it into the path of prolific striker Jason Prior who from 2 yards knocked in.
The final whistle went & both sides can come off the pitch delighted they haven’t lost.
TONBRIDGE ANGELS:
- DI-BERNARDO 2. J.FOLKES 3. J.PARTER 4. T.PARKINSON 5. U.UDOGI 6. T.PHIPP 7. A.AKROFI (71) 8. L.ALLEN 9. N.ELDER 10. L.BLEWDEN 11. N.WHEELER
SUBS USED: 12. A.McCOLLIN
SUBS NOT USED: 15. D.THOMPSON 16. T.WHITNELL 19. S.COPELAND
BOOKINGS: NONE
HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE:
- YOUNG 2. D.STRUGNELL (9) 3. R.WILLIAMS 4. M.CARTER (81) 5. R.WOODFORD 6. E.HARRIS 7. W.FOGDEN 8. T.LEWIS 9.J.PRIOR 10. A.RUTHERFORD (61) 11. B.TARBUCK
SUBS USED: 15. M.PATERSON (9) 12. L.MOLYNEAUX (61) 17. B.SWALLOW (81)
SUBS NOT USED: 14. J.HAYTER 16. G.BAKER
BOOKINGS: 8. T.LEWIS (38) 6. E.HARRIS (68) 9. J.PRIOR (78)
REFEREE: Mr D.BANDARA
ASSISTANTS: Mr O.BENTLEY & Mr P.GREENFIELD
ATTENDANCE: 408