TONBRIDGE ANGELS 0 TRURO CITY 2
There are soft penalties and there are soft penalties and one today which gave Truro the lead against Tonbridge appeared as soft as the proverbial marshmallow.
If Angels centre back Jordon Thompson did give a slight tug of Tyler Harvey’s shirt then it was minimal and barely deserving of a penalty.
Such was the shock around The Yeomans Community Stadium, Longmead when referee Jack Willmore pointed to the spot that there was a brief moment of utter silence.
According to Angels boss Alan Dunne this was then followed by laughter from the Truro bench – not mocking laughter towards their Angels counterparts – but incredulous, baffled and, one can only imagine, thankful laughter.
Harvey hauled himself up and though his penalty was not struck particularly sweetly it was directed well enough to evade the dive of Nathan Harness who until that point had been relatively untroubled.
Dunne felt this 53rd minute spot-kick was a turning point and killed the game as a contest which was put beyond Angels’ reach when Tyler scored a second on 73, this time a goal worthy of the name.
With two key players missing – Jephte Tanga through suspension and Bunmi Babajide through injury – Dunne was forced into two changes from the side which won at Dover meaning a return to the starting line-up for Harry Gardner and a full debut for Paul Osew.
The Cornish side – containing a big, redoubtable back four – dominated the early stages and Angels were probably fortunate to survive the first twenty minutes with the scores level but Dunne’s side held firm and grew into the match as the first half progressed.
On 25 Ricky Korboa broke on the left and slipped in the tireless Frankie Baker whose shot was deflected for a corner.
At the other end, Luke Jephcott stung Harness’s palms with a well-struck volley before a typically rampaging run upfield from Ethan Sutcliffe nearly created a chance for Angels.
Angels best chance came just before the break when the impressive Hayden Bullas made excellent ground, played in Korboa whose low ball in flashed across the goal but no blue shirt was on hand to finish.
After Truro’s controversial opener, Dunne replaced Osew with Alfie Pavey who immediately gave Angels a more physical threat.
Yet it was the visitors who got the crucial second goal. Jephcott found Harvey in the box and the big number nine swivelled on the time-honoured sixpence and placed a low shot past Harness.
Angels felt they had a big shout for a penalty with 80 on the clock when Shaun Donnellan appeared to handle in the box (below) but Mr Willmore was as certain this was not a penalty as the earlier one for Truro was.
In fairness, victory was no more than Truro deserved for an accomplished and professional performance which consistently shut the door on Angels attempts to assert themselves.
After the game, Dunne said he rued talking about the performance of the officials again but felt he had no choice: “I’m disappointed of course but Truro are a top side, very physical and well-organised but in my opinion the turning point was the penalty. I looked around and the Truro bench was laughing.
“The whole stadium was in shock. I don’t want to use it as an excuse but I think it’s killed the game. I’m in shock myself. Up to that point I thought it was a really good game but I’m really frustrated.
“But look, take nothing away from Truro. Credit to them because they are a good side and I think they will do well this year.
“The challenge was made harder for us because we were missing key players and only had a very young bench. For us to compete at this level we need our strongest side and we didn’t have it today.”
Angels: (4-3-3) Harness; Sutcliffe, Thompson, Beeden (cap), Akehurst; Brown (McDonald), Bullas, Gardner; Osew (Pavey) Baker (Reynolds), Korboa (Cockerill)
Subs not used: Burford, Lintott, Martin
Photographs: Dave Couldridge
