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Tonbridge Angels 0
0
5 Weymouth
5
Rose (23'), O'Connell (27'), Ash (44', 45', 52')

Angels suffer heavy defeat

The Terras arrived at Longmead at the foot of the table facing a Tonbridge side sitting comfortably in 9th place so few would have predicted a Weymouth win let alone by a five goal margin together with a clean sheet.  After such an assured performance against Eastbourne Borough in midweek and with exactly the same line up it was difficult to rationalise why the Angels put in such a poor performance.  

That said virtually from the very first seconds of the game the team in blue for whatever reason didn’t look quite right.  Too many poor first touches, the passes forced and a lack of sensible decision making. 

We should give Weymouth credit however for their energy and pace and certainly there is real hope that with their new manager they can escape relegation.  They certainly looked and largely are a different team from the one Angels beat quite comfortably on the opening day of the season down in Dorset. 

As early as the  5th minute Ash for the visitors had forced a decent save from Angels keeper Henly and already looked the brighter of the two sides. Tonbridge did start to work their way back into proceedings with chances for Greenidge and Jack Wood but two strikes for Weymouth in the 23rd and 26th minutes put the visitors firmly in control the goal scorers being Rose and O’Connell the latter with a spectacular shot giving Henly no chance.

Tonbridge appeared shell shocked by the turn of events with their defence appearing to have lost confidence. it was no surprise when Ash grabbed a third in the 43 rd minute.  If the home side thought they could get to the sanctuary of the dressing room by the break they were wrong as Ash stepped up to get his second and Weymouth’s 4th goal to put the game beyond the reach of the hosts.

There was no restoring pride for the The Angels in the second half as that man Ash achieved his hat track in the 51st minute and at that point it was a question of how many more Weymouth might score.  Inevitably Angels did enjoy the majority of possession with fresh legs on the pitch by way of the subs bench but Weymouth were then happy with a five goal cushion to sit back and perhaps catch Angels on the break.  In fact it was hard to recall any clear cut chances for the home side apart from a Sonny Miles header in the 77th minute.  

In fact there were to be no more goals and the game rather petered out with Tonbridge probably wishing for the final whistle and the Terras happy enough to maintain their clean sheet.  Weymouth had tried to get the kick off time altered and even the match called off due to adverse travelling conditions but in the end they must have been delighted that the game went ahead as scheduled.  

Afterwards Angels Boss Jay Saunders said:  “You get games when perhaps four or maybe five players are off it, but when every player has a bad game then you’re gonna get one of these afternoons.”  

Published Saturday 10th December 2022 (last updated Monday 12th December 2022)