Tonbridge stopped their rot with a hard earned draw against fellow promoted side Weymouth.

Weymouth controlled most the game but Tonbridge nearly snatched victory in the dying minutes.

This was a game where in the first half both sides were guilty of giving the ball away and but defended well and the second half saw three penalties for Tonbridge of which one was saved,  another scored but had to be retaken & then the third scored.

  The game was 7 minutes old when Weymouth could have taken the lead when Ollie Hartfield on the left crossed to the back post where Brett Williams was but his side foot shot went wide of the post.

Seven minutes later Tonbridge had their first half chance when Joe Turner 25 yards out tried his luck but his shot went wide.

In the 18^th minute Yemi Odubade was put through on the right side & he went into the area & saw his shot saved by the onrushing Jon Henly’s feet.

The game went quiet for a while as both teams squandered possession & then in the 38^th minute Khale Da Costa tried his luck from 25 yards forcing Callum Ward to save it.

Right on half time D’Sean Theobalds running forward towards goal laid the ball into the path of Turner but his curling effort went wide of the post.

  The second half was only 4 minutes old when Weymouth took a deserved lead when a long ball down the right saw Odubade get to it and his low cross found Williams who side footed in from 6 yards.

In the very next minute Tonbridge nearly equalised when a Turner corner was half cleared to Rian Bray who turned & shot but it went wide of the post.

In the 51^st minute Jarod Small on the right cut inside & passed to Turner who shot went high over the bar.

Six minutes later Henly came to Tonbridge’s rescue when he parried away Andreas Robinsons 25 yard shot.

A minute later the ball was bouncing around the Tonbridge area & fell at Odubade’s feet and his shot from 10 yards was deflected for a corner.

In the 60^th minute the drama started when Theobalds on the edge of the area saw his shot hit a defenders arm and after what seemed an eternity the referee gave a penalty, the Weymouth players were angry & started pushing and shoving the Tonbridge players in a show of gamesmanship.

The referee only booked one player and that was skipper Sonny Miles who seemed to be one of few players getting involved anyway after three minutes up stepped Turner & his shot down the middle was saved by Ward.

Weymouth were now counting down the minutes & in the 83^rd minute a short corner to Loanee Ade Yuseff saw him go into the area and shoot but Ward was able to clear it but the shot from the edge of the area seemed to hit an arm and another penalty was given.

This time there were no handbags as Weymouth did not argue the case.

Up stepped Yuseff and he smashed it down the middle, the crowd went mad and the players celebrated but they had not noticed the referee had disallowed the goal for encroachment. Yuseff stepped up again & smashed it just to the left, this time it counted.

In the 89^th minute Weymouth had a glorious chance to score when Honel Ainsworth on the right crossed into the middle of the area for Williams but unopposed his header went straight into Henly’s chest.

Tonbridge were chasing the victory and in the 4^th minute of added on time Theobald’s cross to the back post found Tom Derry & from 3 yards out his header went across the goal avoiding everyone & went past the post. If that had gone in it would have been a bit of an injustice as Weymouth did enjoy a lion’s share of possession.

       TONBRIDGE ANGELS:

1.  J.HENLY     2. J.FOLKES    3. J.PARTER   4. K. DA COSTA   5. S.MILES     6. R.BRAY      7. J.SMALL (77) 8.     D. THEOBALDS     9. A. YUSEFF (90)  10. T.HESSION-HARRIS (68)     11. J.TURNER

SUBS USED:  16. T.DERRY (68)   12. C.McKENZIE (68)    17. R.OVENDEN (90)

SUBS NOT USED:  14. A.BENTLEY   15. T.BREWER

BOOKINGS:  5. S.MILES (63)  4. K.DA COSTA (75)  9.A.YUSEFF (65)

        WEYMOUTH:

1. C.WARD     17. C.BROOKS  3. O.HARFIELD   8. J.McARTHY   5. S.ZUBAR  6. S.SHERRING  16. A.ROBINSON
2. Y.ODUBADE  4. J.WAKEFIELD (79)  18. B.WIILIAMS   11. A.BAGGIE (67)

SUBS USED:  7.H.AINSWORTH (67)  12. C.MURRAY (79)

SUBS NOT USED:  1. M.CHILDS  9. B.THOMSON   20. J.ROSE

BOOKINGS:  17. C.BROOKS (65)

       REFEREE: Mr W.CARTMEL

       ASSISTANTS:  Mr K.BAILEY & Mr B. GRANT

Attendance: 629