After a dramatic finish to Sunday’s original tie, Tonbridge Angels dominated their Hellenic Premier League opponents, Ascot United, to record a 7-0 victory; their highest ever FA Cup win in this incarnation of the club.
Ascot had little impact on the game, other than Ryan Britnall’s ugly lunge on Luke Allen which earned him a straight red, but by then the game was already over. Angels recorded seven different scorers, albeit two of them being Ascot’s skipper Jesse Wilson and goalkeeper Carl Dennison. In between, Nathan Elder, Damien Scannell, Allen, Bradley Fortnum-Tomlinson added a further four goals, with Tom Phipp adding the seventh in stoppage time.
Manager, Steve McKimm, still delighted just to have still been in this year’s competition, said “we got out of jail with the 94th minute penalty save, but the pitch played a factor up there. It was narrow, whereas ours is nice and wide, so it allows players to get wide, and the difference was proved today.”
“I felt that the higher fitness levels you need the higher you play was a factor, but it was very pleasing. We try to press teams in every game, but were unable to on Sunday because of the size of the pitch.”
“I’m not getting into a dispute about Damien’s second. He’ll have to argue with the Chairman about his goal bonus for that one; the PA man gave it to him. But we kept them quiet tonight. Our work-rate with and without the ball was outstanding, and I’d told the boys that this was our second bite of the cherry. They’ve done the club proud.”
Having been a penalty save away from elimination on Sunday, Tonbridge seemed determined to demonstrate their higher league standing and flew at Ascot from the initial kick-off. Nick Wheeler and Damien Scannell were raiding down their respective flanks.
Scannell laid a pinpoint ball in behind the Ascot defence for Tom Parkinson’s run from the right, but the low cross evaded any of the supporting men in blue. Wheeler and Jack Parter then combined on the left, with Wheeler’s stabbed cross being cleared to Luke Allen on the edge of the box. Allen’s curling right foot shot was clawed away from the top right corner by Carl Dennison in the Ascot goal.
From the resulting corner, Sonny Miles had a header cleared behind for another set piece, then Parkinson climbed highest, but found a yellow wall blocking the way across goal.
Nick Wheeler played a ball over the top of the Ascot defence in the 10th minute, and with Nathan Elder out-muscling Jesse Wilson, the forward had the chance of an early volley from just inside the area, but screwed the effort wide.
The opening goal wasn’t long in coming though, and from a Wheeler freekick on the right, Wilson’s diving header rocketed into the back of the net, leaving his goalkeeper helpless.
Elder and Parkinson both saw headers saved by Dennison following a Parter cross from the left as Tonbridge continued to press forward, and Wheeler earned himself a series of corners on the right side. From the first, Parkinson’s header was tipped over the bar by Dennison. Then, from the second, Elder worked some space in the middle of the box to glance a header into the left side of the goal, doubling Tonbridge’s advantage.
Jerrome Sobers, returning to the side in place of the injured George Beaven, glanced a similar header wide, then Elder bulleted a header wide, but would have been denied by the assistant’s flag.
Tonbridge were dominated all of the forward areas, and just on the half hour, Allen drove through the middle of the pitch to the edge of the Ascot box, before dinking a cross towards Elder. The big forward’s first touch took him past Ryan Britnall; his second was a thunderous volley to which Dennison reacted brilliantly, to parry the ball away from goal.
Ascot had a small period of possession, but Tonbridge soon reasserted their dominance. Allen curled a 22-yard freekick over, before the midfielder’s slide-rule pass inside left-back Steve Deverall allowed Scannell into the area to calmly slot a shot under the advancing Dennison for 3-nil in the 39th minute.
With the freedom of the park ahead of him, James Folkes followed his initial pass to raid into the Ascot box, and when the ball was played back into the path of the full-back, Folkes’ shot was well parried again by Dennison; who was keeping the scoreline respectable.
Unsurprisingly, Tonbridge found it hard to retain the same tempo as in the first half, and Ascot finally showed some attacking intent in the 51st minute. Charlie Samuels’ wayward shot took a deflection for a corner on the right, that was met by Britnall, but headed over.
Tonbridge extended their lead on 55, as Allen crowned a superb performance in midfield with a rasping 30-yard drive into the bottom left corner, having been given too much time and space outside the box.
Allen tried a similar shot as Ascot tired, and following an intricate 5-man move, Allen lifted a further chance over the bar. Even the replacements were able to pick up the pace of Tonbridge’s game with ease, as Tom Phipp started to run the midfield, and Bradley Fortnum-Tomlinson’s pace added to the threat on the right.
Fortnum-Tomlinson cut a shot across goal and wide before he added his name to the list of scorers on 66. A through-ball from Phipp allowed Fortnum-Tomlinson to cut inside Deverall, before firing a left foot shot back into the right corner.
Ascot’s 2-goal hero from Sunday, Charlie Samuels finally had a sight of goal on 77, with a 20-yard freekick that deflected wide off the wall. While from the corner, Anthony di Bernardo was called into action for the first time on the night to punch clear.
There was a flashpoint on 80, when Ryan Britnall flew into a tackle on Allen with studs extended, which earned the Ascot central defender a straight red, and Angels’ Phipp a booking for his protests to the official.
A Scannell corner from the right on 84 was floated in under the bar and, under pressure from Sonny Miles, the unfortunate Dennison dropped the cross into his own net to compound a night of misery for the Hellenic Premier Division side.
And the scoring wasn’t finished, as Phipp made it seven different scorers with a 20-yard freekick that was curled through a wall that gave Dennison no protection at all.
TONBRIDGE ANGELS: Anthony di Bernardo, James Folkes, Jack Parter, Tom Parkinson (Tom Phipp 59), Jerrome Sobers, Sonny Miles, Damien Scannell, Luke Allen, Nathan Elder (Tashi-Jay Kwayie 67), Luke Blewden, Nick Wheeler (Bradley Fortnum-Tomlinson 63).
Subs not used: Tommy Whitnell, Stewart Copeland.
Goals: Jesse Wilson 12 (o.g.), Nathan Elder 22, Damien Scannell 39, Luke Allen 55, Bradley Fortnum-Tomlinson 66, Carl Dennison 84 (o.g.), Tom Phipp 90+1.
Cautions: Jerrome Sobers 77, Tom Phipp 80
ASCOT UNITED: Carl Dennison, Jack Smille, Steve Deverall, Ryan Britnall, Jesse Wilson, Theo Jones (James Smith 74), Thomas Hedges (Samir Regragui 64), Paul Coyne, Charlie Samuels, Ben Knight, Luke Wilson (Gavin Branch 83).
Subs not used: James Brazier, Remy Meyers, Jeff Lamb.
Cautions: Charlie Samuels 31, Paul Coyne 73
Sent Off: Ryan Britnall 80
Attendance: 376
Referee: Mr Damith Bandra (Horsham)
Assistants: Mr Simon Cutler (Sheerness) and Mr Harry Wager (Tunbridge Wells)