Tonbridge travelled to Taunton for their last away game of 2023. Kodi Lyons-Foster was welcomed back to the eleven in Jamie Fielding’s place, otherwise it remained the same team that beat Dartford.

XI: Henly, Hinds, Lyons-Foster, Sutcliffe, Meade, Higgs, Wagstaff ©, Gard, Dabre, Greenidge, Shields. Subs: Mampolo, Yeboah, Gibb, French, Janneh. 

Taunton started the game with early spells of positivity. Jonny Henly was tested by opposition skipper Nick Grimes with four minutes played. Shortly after, Zac Smith thumped the crossbar after shifting away from his marker and creating space outside the box.

Jordan Greenidge worked hard to latch onto a forward ball with 20 played but was taken out in the process by Dan Ball who earned himself a yellow card. The striker was again involved just six minutes later being pushed and pulled in the opposition area, but the referee waved away appeals for a penalty.

Ross Stearn popped a shot straight at Henly in the 31st minute, moments before Greenidge was involved yet again, this time having been slotted through and denied only by a perfectly timed last-ditch tackle from Booth. The loose ball fell to Lewis Gard who pulled his effort wide of the left post. 

Nearer to half time, Taunton took the lead with Dylan Morgan breaking the deadlock. Chamberlin on the right found the scorer with a perfect ball which Morgan received, took inside and nestled it into net.

Out for the second half, Taunton were pushing for a second and Tonbridge relied on a pair of excellent double saves from Jonny Henly to keep them in the game. 

Tariq Hinds was more involved throughout the second half, lifting a shot over the bar after some good football from Tonbridge. With 74 minutes played, the full back had a strong effort for an equaliser denied by a fantastic save.

Scott Wagstaff was taken out of the game after a strong tackle with ten to play forcing him to limp off the pitch, he was replaced by Obed Yeboah. Lewis Gard also felt a tight hamstring and was swapped with Ansu Janneh. 

As the clock wound down, Angels were looking for a lifeline and Sean Shields delivered it bringing Tonbridge level with a practically unsavable shot, setting Angels alight.  

With nine minutes added on due to stoppages throughout the second half, there was still plenty of time for Tonbridge to steal the win and it looked as if they had done when Jordan Higgs finished a belter of a shot in additional time to put Tonbridge ahead. 

However, within a minute or two of his goal crossing the line, Taunton captain Grimes scored an equally impressive goal to bring his side back level. Although Tonbridge had led for a moment, they’d been behind for a lot of the game and a point was ultimately a good collection. Taunton 2, Tonbridge 2.