The predatory instinct that made the name Lovell feared by Football League defences of the 1980s resurfaced at a very heavy Longmead as the Tonbridge Angels soared above the mud as they inflicted a second defeat of the season on Play Off chasing Eastbourne Borough.

Two goals from Mark Lovell – the first a six yard tap after a stunning corner move, and the winning penalty seven minutes from time – meant that the Angels secured three vital points in their fight to stay in the division; it was vital because the two sides immediately above Tonbridge (Boreham Wood and Maidenhead United) both recorded away wins on the day!

With everything that has gone on with all the flooding in Tonbridge and the surrounding areas of the past week, the Angels turned on the style for their beleaguered supporters and Tommy Warrilow was delighted that his players could bring some cheer at the end of what has undoubtedly been a troubled seven days for the area.

“I thought it was a tremendous game between two teams looking to win a game of football,” the Tonbridge boss admitted after the game.

“It could have gone either way at points, but I’m not going to stand here and say that we didn’t deserve that one as I was delighted with us today. We knew when we wrote the side on the team sheet that we were going to be a bit short on the set pieces but every single one of them stood up and out their bodies on the line and that’s all I can ask.”

“And you know I thought it was a great atmosphere here today and a decent game where I hope that everyone will get home and think that they’ve got their moneys worth today.”

Yet the start was all Eastbourne and just how the visitors weren’t in front is as big a mystery as you could get in the sport. Warrilow joked afterwards that it was akin to the Alamo in the first ten minutes but that doesn’t do the Eastbourne start any kind of justice.

They ripped into the home side as if their lives depended on it and would have been out of sight but for Angels keeper Lewis Carey having the game of his life.

Three times in the opening five minutes Carey pulled off top drawer saves to keep his side level – Tom Derry was first to be denied by a stunning low save and from the resulting corner, somehow Carey managed to somehow deny central defenders Adam Watts volley from 20 yards, and when that corner wasn’t properly cleared, Frankie Raymond was denied by a magnificent block from the Tonbridge number one.

Goal keeping from the top drawer, and it really set the tone for the home sides performance which defied their lowly League position against a side who would have gone third with a win.

Jamie Taylor had Eastbourne’s next chance just before the half hour and after dispossessing Henry Muggeridge let fly from 30 yards and he was only a coat of paint away from spectacularly beating Carey – the Eastbourne player was left staring skywards in total disbelief!

Then on the half hour almost against the run of play the Angels were in front with a goal straight off of their very soggy training ground! Lee Browning’s corner was dummied by Muggeridge on the angle of the box and as Chris Piper arrived to drive the ball goal wards, Lovell stuck out a boot to steer the ball past a motionless Craig Ross in the Eastbourne goal.

Despite frantic appeals from the Borough defenders that Lovell was offside the goal stood and Tonbridge were in front. Quite how they were still in front at half time is only because of a truly world class save from Carey to again deny Taylor.

Super saves are usually described as being from the top drawer – this save was beyond that and hopefully words will do it justice! The ball was drilled into the Angels box from the right by Jack Deaman and Taylor arriving late couldn’t have connected with the ball better sending it seemingly past Carey as the keeper moved to the right across his goal.

Yet somehow the keeper stuck out his left hand and managed to reach the ball allowing Sonny Miles to launch the ball out of the ground as all of the six hundred crowd sighed collectively at the brilliance of the save!

The second half began as the first with Borough piling forward but this time without testing Carey and it was the Angels who had the first chance of the period when Shamir Goodwin had Ross skidding across his goal for a shot that was always going just wide of the goal.

The Angels were then again indebted to their defence for keeping the lead, and yet again you really had to start feeling for Taylor as yet again it was he who was denied. James Stinson and Deaman combined to thread the ball through to Taylor and as Carey raced from his goal line the ball was prodded past the keeper only for Miles to somehow get round and clear the ball off of the line before getting tangled up in the back of the net.

By now the game was moving end to and end and despite the conditions was an absolute joy to behold. On 71 minutes the Angels came with inches of doubling the lead when Dominic Green’s drive deflected off a defender, looped over a motionless Ross before smashing off of the face of the bar and rebounding to safety.

Twelve minutes from time and the goal Eastbourne had threatened all afternoon finally arrived and not even the most die hard Tonbridge fan could have begrudged them. A ball into the Angels box wasn’t cleared and as Taylor went down under the challenge of Ryan Watts, the ball fell to substitute Darren Lok who blasted the ball home – and this time not even Carey could stop.

Full credit though to the home side as they rallied almost immediately, and seven minutes from time were awarded a penalty after an almighty scramble in the Borough area.

A corner wasn’t cleared and as the ball pinged around the box, it fell to Lovell who’s drive beat the prone Ross but was brilliantly turned aside by the right hand of Sam Cole – who was eventually shown the red card for hand ball once referee Wood (who must be complimented on his running of the game which added to the drama and excitement) had identified the culprit through the sea of bodies in the box.

Not put off by the delay in the dismissal, Lovell coolly put the ball on the spot and as Ross dived left, he duly dispatched the ball into the bottom right corner of the net!

After the game, the Tonbridge match winner joked that his former Welsh international striker Dad Steve would have been pleased with brace. “He would have been – the first one he’d have definitely been proud of – a tap in from six yards and obviously the penalty as well – yeah I suppose Dad would have been happy with that!” he admitted with a smile on his face.

“As it was my shot that was going in when the lad handled it, I thought I’d best take the penalty to finish off and luckily enough I was able to stick it in the corner of the net.”

“There was some pressure on the penalty as the three points today is a massive three points for us but if you hit them hard enough they go in don’t they?”

In a strange way this game was more about a game of football, it was about a club putting a smile back on its communities face after a turbulent week – Tommy Warrilow and his Angels certainly did that on the last Saturday of 2013…

“I’m delighted with what we achieved for the supporters today – I hope that we put a few smiles back on some faces and can carry it on and make it three wins out of four against Dover on New Years Day.”

TONBRIDGE ANGELS – Lewis Carey, Chris Piper (Mikel Suarez 78), Ryan Watts, Mark Lovell (David Ijaha 86), Sonny Miles, Jon Heath, Henry Muggeridge, Lee Browning, Gavin McCallum, Shamir Goodwin (Phillip Appiah 89), Dominic Green

Subs – Charlie Slocombe, Clark Masters

EASTBOURNE BOROUGH – Craig Ross, Jack Deaman, Sam Cole, James Stinson, Ian Simpemba, Adam Watts, Jamie Taylor, Frankie Raymond, Tom Derry (Darren Lok 57), Simon Johnson, Gary Hart (Chris Shepherd 62)

Subs – Charlie Gorman, Ollie Rowe, Emmanuell Akokhia

Referee – Lloyd Wood (Dagenham)
Assistants – Peter Conn (Gillingham) & Ollie Davies (Stowmarket)