Angels leave it late- but go fourth

We had only one match in the Premier Division last night, but it was an important one. Victory for Wingate and Finchley could have lifted them above Harlow Town and out of the bottom three, whilst a win for Tonbridge Angels would thrust them back into the Playoff places- and for most of the evening it seemed as if the home side would be the ones to leave their fans celebrating. Sadly for the Summers Lane faithful, it didn't end that way.

The home side took the lead in the seventeenth minute. A free kick from Tommy Tajan-Sie rebounded off the Angels wall, only to be volleyed back towards goal by Reece Beckles-Richards. A wicked deflection changed the direction of the ball and left Angels stopper Jonathan Henly helpless. Angels came close to an equaliser seven minutes before the break when a Chinedu McKenzie effort got the better of home keeper Shane Gore but drifted past the post, but Wingate held their lead until twenty minutes from time, when Joe Turner levelled matters from the spot.

One point wouldn't have been enough for Wingate & Finchley, but it would certainly have been better than no points at all- yet that's what they ended up with. Three minutes from time a pass towards the back post played in Edmund Lewis, and he finished expertly to send Angels- who gave supporter-funded signing Tom Derry a debut from the bench for the last half-hour- a tonic for their journey back to Longmead.

Angels are now in fourth place with forty-nine points, behind Bognor Regis Town on goal difference- but Steve McKimm's men have a game in hand. Wingate and Finchley are third from bottom, three points behind Harlow Town with a game in hand- but Harlow have a superior goal difference of +3, and have scored seven more goals.

In the Berks and Bucks County Cup Quarter Final, Marlow knocked out MK Dons by the only goal of the match. You can read the programme for that game here.