Our season is not dead, says Tonbridge Angels assistant Alex O'Brien

TONBRIDGE ANGELS assistant manager Alex O’Brien has explained why Saturday’s home clash against Boreham Wood is a massive game.
The Angels sit in a respectable 12^th place in their inaugural Blue Square Bet (Conference) South campaign with 34 points from 26 games.

But they were knocked out of the Kent Senior Cup last night as Dartford proved to be too powerful as Tony Burman’s side fought back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 after extra time on a bitterly cold night at Longmead Stadium.

Tommy Warrilow’s side opened the scoring through Chris Piper’s thirteenth minute finish, before winger Nathan Korenteng drove home the second three minutes after the break.

But Jack Pallen swiftly pulled a goal back for the Darts, who forced extra time when Richard Graham scored, before Graham and Lee Burns scored inside extra-time to earn the Darts a lucrative home tie against League One neighbours Charlton Athletic in the semi-final.

Tonbridge Angels last won the Kent Senior Cup back in 1975 and reached the final in 2007, when Warrilow’s side lost to Bromley.

O’Brien said: “Dartford are doing well, aren’t they, with Cup runs and money.  I’m not going to swallow too much about that.  I’m just going to get on with that we’ve got two league games, Boreham Wood and (away to) Staines Town so that’s what we’ve got to do.

“We’re in a fantastic league that we’ve done everything we could to get into and now we’re in it we’re going to enjoy it and we’ve got big games coming up. 

“We’re back to the bread and butter.  We’re eleven points off the play-off’s and eleven points off the drop zone so the season’s not dead for us.

“It’s going to turn into a tight league.  There’s going to be a play-off spot that everyone’s going to fight for and we’ve got to win that game and get on with it and dust ourselves on and then we’ve got (a trip to) Staines the following Tuesday, so we’ve got big games.

“We’re not going to be down in the dumps.  We’ve got two massive games coming up.”

Star striker, Jon Main, returned to action as a 51^st minute substitute against Dartford last night, but O’Brien hinted that the former AFC Wimbledon marksman, who last started a game for the Angels back in September, is likely to start on the bench on Saturday.

He said: “It’s a little bit too early to be honest because he trained once last week.

“He was meant to have 10-15 minutes last night and he ended up having 69 minutes and we’ll have to asses him on Thursday and then see if he can get some more minutes on Saturday.

“It’s about building up his fitness and his sharpness and also his confidence.”

Meanwhile, the club have confirmed that up to two under 16’s can be admitted for £1 each if accompanied by an adult paying full admission for this match and also the home match against Maidenhead United on 10 March.

Visit Tonbridge Angels’ website: www.tonbridgeangels.co.uk & www.tonbridgeangelsonline.co.uk

Tonbridge Angels  v  Boreham Wood
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 4^th February 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Longmead Stadium, Darenth Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN10 3JF