Another chilly Monday evening saw Tonbridge Angels Spiders travel to Aylesford Amblers Over-50s in the first round of Phase 2 play-off fixtures.
Aylesford had finished Phase 1 in second place, one point ahead of the Angels, so this was a crunch clash in deciding who goes forward to contest the finals on May 11th.
Tonbridge started strongly, enjoying multiple phases of possession and moving the ball around with purpose and skill. Aylesford enjoyed more shots on goal, but their adoption of a shoot on sight policy meant that most of their efforts were restricted to pot-shots from distance whilst the Angels worked a number of good opportunities from close range.
Unfortunately, Aylesford’s keeper was on top form and kept out everything Tonbridge were throwing at him. A predictably tight and cagey first half ended scoreless, and the second half commenced in much the same fashion as the first.
The key moment of the game came when a rare defensive error saw the ball fall to Aylesford’s best player in a dangerous position close to the D. Momentary panic was eased when the Aylesford man was expertly blocked by Bruce Izzard, forcing him to eschew the shooting opportunity in favour of a pass out wide to a teammate. Angels’ relief was very short-lived as the wide man lashed an unstoppable left foot piledriver into the roof of the net from an impossible angle. Mike Hurn in goal was disbelieving, as were the Aylesford team – with nobody seeming more shocked than the goalscorer himself. It was the sort of strike that might hit the back of the net once in a hundred attempts – but Aylesford had got their noses in front…
FULL MATCH REPORT: https://www.tonbridgeangels.co.uk/community/news/spiders-lose-opening-phase-two-game/6023
Author: The Walking Football
You create the memories; we help you relive them forever!
