Jay Saunders went with the same starting line up that dispatched Dulwich Hamlet relatively comfortably 10 days ago.  On the bench we saw the return of Fyn Rutherford the remainder of places taken by Leo Vowles, Ben Hermitage, Tushaun Waters, back from injury, and Luke Holness.

With the rain pouring down there was at least no concerns pitch wise as the Angels prepared to play their first evening senior fixture under the new floodlights and of course the 3G surface. 

Angels were straight on to the offensive and after three minutes a Lewis Gard corner was flighted over the clutch of players in front of the Farnborough goal and there was unmarked Jamie Fielding rushing in to the back stick to place an unstoppable volley past Jack Turner in the visitors goal. 

It was Fielding again who forced a terrific save from Jack Turner three minutes later and at that stage it appeared as if the Angels were going to take complete control of the game but Farnborough worked themselves back into contention with Liam Ferdinand having had two or three efforts that called Jonny Henly into action. 

But the game was to swing back into Tonbridge’s favour on 20 minutes with Jack Turner forced into a reaction save with Louis Collins not quite able to convert the rebound.  

TQ Addy was then able to set up Joe Turner but he was unable to take advantage and it could have been costly as a Farnborough attack on the left wing presented them with a huge chance that should have been converted but somehow the ball drifted harmlessly away for a goal kick for the Angels.

The half however ended well for the home side when Gard who chased what appeared to be something of a lost cause was able to flick the ball past Jack Turner and watched with delight as the ball rolled slowly into the net.  

The second half started with a Joe Turner effort that saw his namesake Jack Turner make a decent save but this was a better Farnborough that had emerged from the dressing room and their midfield was starting to get the possession that was going to put more pressure on the Angels. 

It was time for Tonbridge to show their defensive qualities and it was to their credit that Jonny Henly had few if any saves of note to make.  Farnbrough’s front line huffed and puffed but never really appeared to have the skill to force the issue.  

From a Tonbridge perspective aside  from Farnborough’s improvement, they seemed somewhat unsettled following an enforced substitution caused by a nasty looking injury to Jamie Fielding; this meant various readjustments as there was no obvious replacement for the vacant full back position.

That said as the game entered stoppage time it appeared as if the team in blue had done enough to claim their first clean sheet, but it was not to be.  One more Farnborough attack saw the ball bounce around the Tonbridge goal area and eventually Kevin Lokko managed to squeeze the ball over the line although there were appeals that it hadn’t fully gone over.  It was however only ever a consolation for Farnborough and seconds after the restart the referee was blowing his whistle for full time. 

Afterwards, Angels Boss Jay Saunders said: I thought we were terrific 1st half and should have really put the game to bed. Farnborough improved second half and with the injury to Jamie we’ve had to readjust.  However, I can’t be too critical of the boys for the effort they’ve put in tonight.”