There is always so much anticipation as the league campaign gets underway and certainly this encounter provided plenty of questions in the build up.  Weymouth had suffered relegation from the National League and as a result there had been a number of changes in playing personnel.  The Angels have of course a new manager, Jay Saunders, but also some players making their debuts for the Kent side. 

The pundits would perhaps favour Weymouth but first day matches can sometimes spring surprises and the Angels contingent, players, staff and supporters will have travelled to Dorset in good heart as they welcome in a new regime. 

A small surprise in the Angels line up was seeing Louis Collins on the bench with Femi Akinwande the one recognised striker to start.  That aside boss Jay Saunders weren’t with a largely expected set up.  

Weymouth were first to show any genuine intent with an effort from Tom Blair that was just over but the better chance fell to the Angels after 4 minutes when a Joe Turner corner bobbled around the Terras goal area but nobody in a yellow short coiud force the ball over the line. 

In the 8th minute Akinwande set up Lewis Card but for the Angels but he couldn’t quite get the ball under control. Three minutes later a shot from TQ Addy was deflected for a corner.  If Angels were disappointed not to open the scoring with their first corner then this set piece was far more fruitful.  Femi Akinwande made some space for himself and smashed the ball past White in the Weymouth goal to open the scoring.

Bradley Ash for the hosts forced Jonny Henly into a decent save to his left in the 18th minute followed by an effort from Nathan Carlyle as Weymouth tried to re-impose themselves on the game.

Their efforts were to come to nothing as they fell further behind in the 32nd minute. A Jamie Fielding free kick won by the increasingly influential James Taylor was cleared by Weymouth but only fell to the feet of Sonny Miles whose wonderful dipping effort ended up in the left hand corner of the host’s net.

With half time approaching a Doug Loft free kick had Bert White scrambling across his goal and push the ball round for a corner.  There was just time for strong penalty appeal from Weymouth but the referee wasn’t interested.  

With a 2-0 lead at the break any team would want to keep things tight for the first 10 minutes of the second period, but unfortunately Angels contrived to concede within three minutes the restart. A mistake on the left allowed Weymouth to deliver a dangerous cross with Keilan O’Connell on hand to convert.

The Terras were now very much back in the game and backed by their noisy supporters for a 15 minute spell they gave the Tonbridge defence a very thorough examination.  But the yellow shirts withstood the onslaught and gradually worked their way back into the game. 

On the hour mark Akinwande was through on goal but a saving interception from the Weymouth defender denied him the chance to get his second of the afternoon. 

TQ Addy was starting to become far more influential in the game and seemed to be involved in most of the good things the Angels were producing. Five minutes from time it was indeed that man TQ who grabbed the goal that killed the game.  Having jinked past two Weymouth players and with the home defence somewhat bemused he let fly from 15 yards with a shot that flew into the net.  

Angels Boss, Jay Saunders said after the game: “Its good to get a win on the first game as it gets the monkey off the back so to speak.  I thought everyone played their part this afternoon, a bit disappointed we conceded straight after half time but we dealt with it and I’m delighted to get three points off a team that I believe will get better as the season progresses.” 

Picture : Dave Couldridge.  Sonny Miles fires in the Angels 2nd goal