Tonbridge Angels 2 Bath City 1
“If you’d have missed that, I’d have never let you hear the end of it,” joked Bailey Akehurst with Bunmi Babajide as the happy duo left the dressing room after another home win.
The two were the key protagonists of a delicious move on 52 minutes which produced the defining moment and the winning goal.
“That was a pass that Kevin De Bruyne would have been proud of,” replied a smiling Babajide.
Angels have gone from being a side which couldn’t buy a win at The Yeomans Community Stadium, Longmead to one which has now won four home league games on the spin for the first time since 2017.
Any fears that Angels might enter Easy Street and put their feet up after virtually guaranteeing safety were extinguished by a dominant display which deserved more goals.
Despite conceding early, Alan Dunne’s side found their stride and equalised with a penalty and then produced a fine winner.
Dunne named an unchanged side from Tuesday’s late win at Weston-super-Mare with the only change to the matchday squad, the addition of Martell Taylor-Crossdale on the bench.
The Romans came to Longmead on a dreadful run of form which had seen them slide down the table and fighting for their lives.
And it was the visitors who made the better start and silenced the vast majority of the 1762 crowd boosted by hundreds of children as part of another highly successful Schools Partner Day.
On five minutes Scott Wilson deftly glanced a looping header over Matt Rowley to delight the travelling fans.
On 16, referee Steven Hughes waved away strong Angels appeals for a penalty with what looked like a handball and in the next passage of play, skipper Scott Wagstaff broke down and was replaced by Marcus Sablier.
Almost immediately Alfie Pavey produced a brilliant headed-on flick for Frankie Baker who got behind the Romans’ defence.
He was tripped from behind and this time Mr Hughes did point to the spot in what was the most stonewall penalty imaginable.
Akehurst’s brilliantly struck and perfectly positioned penalty would have beaten most ‘keepers at any level of the game.
Ten minutes later Angels had a close shave when Josh Laqeretabua’s shot was saved by Rowley and fell to Jaiden Putman whose shot hit the bar.
But it was Angels who grew into the game and produced some slick passing. On 37, a lovely one-two between Ricky Korboa and Babajide produced a chance for the late-arriving Sablier who couldn’t keep his shot down.
Three minutes later, Sablier drifted into the box and found Akehurst whose shot was blocked.
Then in added time Babajide drove into the heart of the defence and slipped in Pavey whose daisycutter was also blocked.
The visitors nearly struck early in the second half when the tricky Reubin Sheppard got to the by-line and pulled the ball back for Wilson whose shot was blocked by Jordon Thompson.
On 52 came the moment of the game. The ball found Akehurst on the left. He looked up and saw Babajide moving into space.
Having the vision to spot a pass like this is one thing, but having the ability to execute it is another.
Akehurst split the defence with a pass delivered with surgical precision. Babajide ran onto it. He still had work to do but finished coolly past Harvey Wiles-Richards to get his tenth goal of the season in all competitions.
Dunne immediately withdrew Pavey and Babajide replacing them with Shields and Matty Warren.
Angels controlled large parts of the game from then and could have grabbed a third but Ethan Sutcliffe couldn’t finish.
Despite Bath’s best efforts, the Angels backline remained firm and there was a man-of-the-match performance in midfield from the combative and tireless Brad Williams.
After the game, Dunne said: “We looked leggy in the first half but we tweaked it, changed the shape and got a second goal. I want us to win every game and finish as high as we can. A lot of people predicted us to go down but I think we’ve surprised a few people and I really want to finish the season strongly.”
Tonbridge Angels: Rowley; Sutcliffe; Thompson; Omole (Bakrin); Akehurst; Williams; Wagstaff (cap) (Sablier); Korboa; Babajide (Shields); Pavey (Warren); Baker (Leahy)
Subs not used: West-Astuti; Taylor-Crossdale
