Tonbridge came into this game knowing that they must at least take a draw but three points would help their battle for survival but a last minute goal for Concord broke their hearts.

This game was a game of two halves as Concord dominated the first & Tonbridge had the second.

The game was only 25 seconds old when Evan James a Canadian international making his debut picked up a loose ball & ran forward from the halfway line but his shot from twenty yards sailed over the bar.

Concord thought they had taken the lead in the tenth minute when Joe Gardner passed to Gary OgilIvie who shot past Lewis Carey only to be flagged offside, a minute late Steve Cawley ran from the halfway & saw his shot from twenty yards sail over the bar.

In the very next minute Henry Muggeridge running forward passed to Nathan Pinney whose shot from twenty yard went over the bar.

Concord took the lead in the 17^th minute when Cawley received the ball on the edge of the area & passed out to Sam Collins whose shot from ten yards shot past Carey on the near post.

The game went quiet for a while with Concord on top, then in the 31^st minute a Collins free kick curled round the two man wall forcing Carey to push it around the post for a corner.

In a rare Tonbridge attack in the 35^th minute Pinney thirty yards out saw his volley go just over the bar & in the next minute Pinney was put through but he shot early & it went wide.

The last chance of the half came in the 43^rd minute when Tony Stokes passed out wide for Jack Lampe & his low cross saw Gary Elphick stretching clear it over his own bar.

The second half was only a minute old when Tonbridge equalised & this time James scored when he received the ball on the edge of the area went across goal & his shot beat Jamie Butler, what a dream start for the Angels.

Tonbridge now started believing in themselves & in the 58^th a Lee Browning corner caused confusion the area & the ball came out to David Ijaha who from ten yards saw his shot go just past the post.

Tonbridge deservedly took the lead in the 80^th minute when Nathan Green on the left crossed into the area where Mark Lovell beat Butler to it & headed into an empty net.

Three minutes later it could have been three as Green twenty yards out saw his shot saved at the second attempt with Lovell ready to pounce on an error.

With the game going into injury time Tonbridge had a real good chance to win the game when a ball into the Concord area found Michael Bakare whose shot was blocked but came out to Muggeridge who jinked in before shooting but it rebounded to Green whose shot was blocked & came out to Bakare who jinked sideways & from five yards blasted his shot over the bar.

With time running out for Concord they got a lifeline as in the 93^rd minute they were awarded a free kick which rebounded to Steve King eight yards out & he shot home to the dismay of the Tonbridge team, manager & fans.

TONBRIDGE:

1 .L.CAREY  2. C.PIPER  3. H.MUGGERIDGE  4. D.IJAHA  5. G.ELPHICK  6. S.MILES  7. E.JAMES (DEBUT, 69 )

8.  L.BROWNING (88)   9.  N.PINNEY (74)  10. M.LOVELL  11. N. GREEN

SUBS USED: 12. M.BAKARE (74)  15. P.APPIAH (88)  16. D.WALDER (69)

SUBS NOT USED: 14. L.CUMBERS  17. T.COLLINS

BOOKED: 4. D.IJAHA (64)  6. S.MILES (90+1)

 

CONCORD RANGERS:

1. J.BUTLER  2. L.GORDON  3. M.FRY  4. N.CROWLEY  5. J.LAMPE (85)  6. J.EASTERFORD  7. S.CAWLEY (62)

8. J.GARDNER  9. G.OGILIVIE  10. S.COLLINS  11. T.STOKES (69)

SUBS USED: 14. S.KING (85)  17. L.TAFFE (62)  18. S.NJIE (69)

SUBS NOT USED: 15. T.MILES  16. J.WHITE

REFEREE: Mr S.BUTLER

ASSISTANTS: Mr M.HAYDEN & Mr G.REED

ATTENDANCE: 274