Hemel Hempstead Town 1 Tonbridge Angels 1
“We’re famous for our magic roundabout,” said a friendly home fan when asked what distinguished their town. “Everyone gets confused by it.”
Perhaps a perplexing roundabout was a suitable metaphor for a football match in which neither side could really find their way and a curiously flat score draw ensued.
On the positive side, Angels maintained their excellent unbeaten away record this season and procured a point at a ground which has proved barren in recent years.
Alan Dunne, serving a one-match suspension and banishment from the dugout, named an unchanged side from that narrowly beaten by Maidstone United on Tuesday with the only change to the squad the addition of temporary goalkeeper Oliver Kabeer replacing the injured Archie Burford on the bench.
There was a hard-to-fathom flatness in the air at the Focus Community Arena which seemed strangely devoid of atmosphere and appeared to affect a match which never really got out of second gear.
An early half-chance fell to Lamar Reynolds who skyed his shot over the bar. With the game taking time to get going, the hosts were suddenly awarded a penalty after Jordon Thompson shoved Marshall Francis in the back and referee Thomas Hales pointed to the spot.
Up stepped Remaye Campbell who only succeeded in side-footing his penalty to Harness’s left but also to the left of the post, the ball shaving the outside of the woodwork as it went.
When Leo Ramirez-Espain scuffed a snapshot it looked like Angels had dodged a bullet and on 21 minutes, they made The Tudors pay.
In a re-run of a scene Angels fans have seen several times before, Ricky Korboa received the ball on the left flank, cut in and then produced a low shot which had sufficient venom to beat the despairing dive of Tudors’ ‘keeper Michael Johnson to make it one-nil.
On the brink of half-time the newly-crowned August Player of the Month, Jephte Tanga had a superb chance to double the lead after being played in by Sam Corne. Tanga’s clinical finishing has been a hallmark of Angels’ early games but on this occasion his aim was awry and his shot went wide.
The second half continued in the oddly pedestrian way of the first and the home side made a succession of substitutions to inject some vim into their own lacklustre display including a first start for striker Harrison Panayiotou.
And shortly after Angels brought on Alfie Pavey for Lamar Reynolds, The Tudors got their reward.
A ball played in from the right caused disarray in the Angels box and there was debutante Panayiotou to snaffle the equaliser.
Seeking an immediate riposte, Angels went up the other end and Tanga drew a save from Johnson.
Harvey Lintott replaced Lexus Beeden and Korboa gave way to Jaden Brown as the Angels bench sought a formula to get a winner which nearly came.
Frankie Baker did well to get in behind the Tudors’ defence and squared a cross. It was heading straight to the well-positioned Tanga but ‘keeper Johnson got a strong hand to the ball to divert it just behind the flying winger.
It was the last action of a match in which neither side probably did enough to win and a draw was about right.
The friendly fan said at the end: “Perhaps we should have spent the afternoon watching the traffic negotiating the magic roundabout instead.”
A little harsh maybe but from a footballing perspective a decent point for Angels.
After the game, assistant manager Larry McAvoy told Angels Media: “I think it’s two points dropped. We feel that if we were anywhere near how we’ve been playing this season we’d come away with a win but it all just felt a bit flat and our quality wasn’t what it’s been.
“But looking at it from a positive perspective, while we’ve been nowhere near as good as we have been this season, we’ve come away with a point from a place where we don’t normally get anything so we can be pleased with that.”
Angels: 4-4-2 Harness; Sutcliffe, Thompson, Beeden (Lintott), Akehurst; Tanga, Corne (cap), Bullas, Korboa (Brown); Baker, Reynolds (Pavey)
Subs not used: Kabeer, Cockerill, Martin, McDonald
Photographs: Dave Couldridge
