Enterprise National League South, Saturday 29th August
My second game of the bank holiday weekend saw me over at a rather soggy New Lodge for an Essex Vs Kent match up in the Enterprise National League South, and it brought together two seemingly well match teams looking at the start both have made, Billericay Town & Tonbridge Angels.
The Blues were back at Step Two of the non league pyramid once again after reaching it a few years ago before slipping back, they will hope they are more prepared for it this time around, and they welcomed a Tonbridge side to New Lodge who had began the season winning both their away games thus far without conceding a goal, with their only loss being at home, however the hosts had won their only home game so far without conceding a goal.
Both had picked up six points from their three games so far, both had also scored six goals in those games combined, so a lot of similarities heading into this contest, so as said seemingly two well matched teams going head to head to see who could potentially climb above the other and into the top seven of a very early National League South table.
A good crowd of 1,065 had shown up in what was mixed conditions, and some may not have even been in the stands when the hosts grabbed the lead, the game barely a minute old when a cross came in and saw visiting keeper Nathan Harness attempt to catch the ball, but as he returned to the ground he saw it slip from the grasp and allow Jon Benton the chance to fire the lose ball into the net, and that no conceding away from home thing had vanished just like that.
It had been the ideal start for the hosts, whereas it had been a disaster for the visitors, both teams were looking to get forward at any opportunity which certainly made for a very good watch, the hosts though certainly had the better of the openings but were pegged back in magnificent style when Jaden Brown cut inside onto his left foot and bent a wonderful curling effort beyond home keeper Joe Wright and right in the 'top bins' as they say, 1-1 after 26 minutes.
The pace of play didn't let up though, and The Blues managed to restore their lead, probably deservedly so as said, and it saw two of the stand outs in the first half for the hosts combine, Charlie Ruff playing a wonderful long range pass perfectly into the path of Elliott Long, and although he appeared to be fouled inside the box, he managed to continue and fire a lovely left footed effort across Harness and into the bottom corner, 2-1 to the hosts with five minutes of the half to go.
However, in keeping with the nature of this game and half, Tonbridge were to be given a golden opportunity to restore parity prior to the half time whistle when they were, in my opinion, given a very dubious penalty, the 'foul' saw a rather theatrical fall the the ground, but the referee pointed to the spot, but, Wright managed to save the spot kick brilliantly, so maybe justice had been served, it's only my opinion, but it meant the hosts would end a frenetic half in front, and they probably deserved that too based on chances created.
It appeared their would be no let up in the tempo in the second period as pretty much straight from kick off Macauley Bonne really should have punished the visitors slack defending, but could only hit the side netting with just Harness to beat, but thereafter for the next fifteen minutes or so it was Angels who were on top, they struck the bar with one effort, and it was no surprise when they levelled once again twenty minutes into the half, a shot from the edge of the box was parried across goal by Wright, but straight into the path of Jephte Tanga who had the simple task of tapping home, 2-2, the game was now superbly poised with twenty five minutes to go.
Tonbridge had more chances to go ahead as they looked to turn this one around and win it, but The Blues began to find their feet again after what had been a rather flat second half performance thus far and not hitting the standards they had reached in the first, Ruff & Elliott again were a threat to the visitors, and Frankie Merrifield replaced Bonne to see if he could make any difference, and he was to be involved heavily in the dying moments of the contest in what was a very contentious moment.
In the last minute of stoppage time, a ball to the back post looked destined to be nodded in by Merrifield, but he looked for all money to be pulled back. manhandled even, by his marker to prevent him from getting on the end of the cross, and everyone in the ground were amazed when the referee said no penalty, unbelievable, and it meant the game would end all square, a truly wonderful contest played by two sides who wanted to attack, a it resulted in a very enjoyable watch indeed.
Ultimately it means a point each for both, and overall I feel it was probably a fair result in the end, and both sides probably deserved something for their efforts and entertaining play, both contributed to an excellent game, and both can take a lot of positives going forward into the season ahead.
Full time Billericay Town 2 Tonbridge Angels 2
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