Blues Narrowly Lose To Tonbridge

By Josh Cole

In the hot sun at Longmead, Margate were narrowly defeated by Tonbridge Angles.

The ‘Gate took the lead on the 26th minute as Jordon Ababio raced down the left and he fired a shot through the legs of the ‘keeper!

Tonbridge would peg back the Blues just three minutes later after tricky winger, Shomotun put in a low cross towards the back post where trialist 16 tapped home into the empty net.

The Angels would double their lead in the 37th minute from the same two players, but this time trialist 16 curled his effort into the far corner past Wray.

Margate travelled to Longmead in the midst of a heatwave and came out the blocks firing.

An early corner in the 4th minute saw Sterling denied by a brilliant save from the Tonbridge ‘keeper.

Two more successive corners would follow but no chances created from them.

For the first 20 minutes the ‘Gate would continue to trouble the home sides’ backline with shots from Davey and Bessey-Saldanha being saved.

In the 26th minute the Blues would get their due reward from the sustained pressure.

Ababio used his lightning speed to breeze past the full back and he cut inside onto his right foot and powered a shot through the goalie!

The lead wouldn’t last long as just three minutes after, dangerous winger, Shomotun, would find trialist 16 at the back post for him to level the scoring.

This foothold in the game would allow Tonbridge to continue to pressure the ‘Gate and the Angels doubled their lead in the 37th minute.

The same two players involved in the first goal linked up again but this time, trialist 16 curled a shot into the far corner from outside the box.

Going into half time a goal down, The Blues were eager to get back into it!

Ibrahim Olutade, who came on at half time, announced himself to the game as he held off a defender and took a shot from the edge of the box but it didn’t trouble the ‘keeper.

The chances would continue to come from Margate but the ‘keeper continued to repel all the shots The ‘Gate threw at him.

Reece Hobbs had only been on the pitch for six minutes when he was called into action and he made a good double save to deny Tonbridge extending their advantage.

A big chance for both teams came next. Harvey Brand rose highest in the box but his header came off the post, and trialist 16, straight up the other end, squandered his chance for a hat-trick as he skied a shot from the penalty area.

The final chance of the game would fall to Olutade, as he rounded the ‘keeper but he saw his shot cleared off the line.

A positive performance from Margate against a good side.

Ben Greenhalgh reacted to the loss:

"I'm frustrated with the two goals we let in because they both came from our attacks. This is something we can't do in the season, however, we've got forward a lot, had a lot of good opportunities, they changed shape and we adapted ourselves well, which is not something we have worked on at training."

"For the boys to be taking the information this well at this early stage is a real positive we just need to work on the goals we are conceding and iron that out ready for the season ahead."

Margate XI: Tom Wray (Reece Hobbs 70’), Harrison Hatfull (Trialist B 70’), Lewis Knight (Harry Hudson 45’), Tyrone Sterling, Trialist A, Fyn Rutherford (Harvey Brand 45’), Brandon Davey, Ben Greenhalgh, Jordon Ababio, Lukas Franzen-Jones (Vinnie Bowman 70’), and James Bessey-Saldanha (Ibrahim Olutade 45’).

Goalscorer: Jordon Ababio 26’

Margate Media Player Of The Match: Brandon Davey

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