Tonbridge Angels 1-2 Bishop's Stortford - I apologise to everyone that came here tonight - Warrilow

TONBRIDGE ANGELS  1-2  BISHOP’S STORTFORD
The FA Carlsberg Trophy Third Qualifying Round Replay
Tuesday 29^th November 2011
Stephen McCartney reports from Longmead Stadium

TONBRIDGE ANGELS boss Tommy Warrilow issued an apology to supporters' after an awful performance sent them crashing out of The FA Carlsberg Trophy to struggling Bishop’s Stortford.

The Angels, who went into the game sitting in tenth place in Blue Square Bet South, came away from Woodside Park with a 1-1 draw at the weekend and all seemed to be going well when Lee Browning headed home his fifth goal of the season inside the opening eight minutes of tonight's game, but the Angels went downhill after 20 minutes and Bishop’s Stortford dominated the rest of this Third Qualifying Round replay.

Ian Walker’s side booked a deserved First Round trip to Ryman Premier Leaguers Carshalton Athletic on 10 December, courtesy of goals from strikers’ Daniel Subuola and Dwight Gayle.

Warrilow was first out of the home dressing room and was quick to apologise to the home fans.

He said:  “We got what we deserved!  Rubbish!  Nowhere near it! I apologise to everyone that came here tonight!

“They’ve all come here and paid good money to watch us tonight and that was woeful!   We’re better than that!”

He added: “We started well first 20 minutes then I thought everyone thought it would be easy and we completely lost everything, shape, discipline, organisation.

“I just said to them in (the dressing room), ‘come and see me if you think you had a good game tonight’.  I couldn’t pick one player out.  I could’ve took eleven players’ off tonight.  I just thought we were awful and unfortunately we’ve picked a game like The FA Trophy to put a performance in like that!”

Warrilow relegated the Olorunda brothers, Tim and Ade to the bench and brought in Anthony Storey and big-target man Mikel Suarez against their third-from-bottom Blue Square Bet (Conference) North opponents.

And Tonbridge got off to a flying start, taking the lead with 7:01 on the clock.

Storey spread the ball out wide to right-back Michael Boateng, who played the ball inside to midfield general Scott Kinch, who chipped the ball into the Bishop’s Stortford penalty area. 

Frannie Collin appeared to be offside but his pace and skill took him past central defender Sean Francis and the striker chipped the ball across the penalty area to Browning, who headed down and across visiting keeper Jordan Archer to head into the bottom far corner from eight-yards.

Warrilow added: “That was it!  The first twenty minutes we were fine.  Then after that it was all them.  Counter-attacks and pace, we weren’t first to second balls, just basics, passing was poor.  When we got in good areas we just didn’t make things count. It was just flat.  The whole thing was flat tonight!

“I was looking for my boys’ to grow up a little bit tonight, they didn’t!

“I just said myself, everyone, we owe all the people that came down an apology tonight because that was probably the worst performance that we’ve put in this season!”

Bishop’s Stortford, who had won just one league game on their extensive travels up north this season, issued the Kent side a warning when right-winger David Adepipe played a cross-field pass to left-winger Junior Dadson, whose left-footed angled drive was pushed away by Lee Worgan, diving to his left.

The Hertfordshire side took a stranglehold of the game after 20 minutes and Tonbridge Angels struggled from then on.

Worgan comfortably gathered Reece Prestedge’s low left-footed free-kick from 30-yards at the near post and was untroubled when Gayle released Dadson wide but the winger dragged his left-footed shot across the keeper and wide of the far post.

However, it was no surprise when Bishop’s Stortford deservedly levelled in the 29^th minute.

Adepipe picked up the ball and cut in from the right before laying the ball off to Subuola, who cracked a left-footed angled drive across Worgan into the bottom far corner from 22-yards.

Warrilow added: “It was a shot that just swerved and caught Worgs but it was on the cards so we thought get them in at half-time.  I had a go at them at half-time, try and get them a reaction.  We started the second half fairly well, first five minutes, but then we got back into our mode.”

Things started to swiftly go downhill for poor Tonbridge Angels in front of their smallest crowd of the season.

Dadson swung in a corner from the left and found Francis at the far post, who powered a header against the crossbar in the 32^nd minute and the ball was hacked away from the goal-line and Jack Jefferies lashed the rebound wide.

Bishop’s Stortford went route-one towards the end of the first half when Archer launched a kick up field and Gayle picked up the pieces and clipped a right-footed lob over Worgan from 30-yards after seeing the Tonbridge keeper off his line.

With Warrilow’s words still ringing in their ears, the Angels finally called the visiting keeper into action when Boateng’s speculative effort from distance was punched away by the eighteen-year-old, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur and is a Scottish Under 21 goalkeeper.

You could sense it wasn’t going to be Tonbridge’s night in the 52^nd minute.

Left-winger Kayne McLaggon picked up the ball from Storey and cut the ball back to Danny Waldren, whose right-footed drive was spilt at the near post by Archer and Kinch had a couple of efforts blocked in the resulting goal-mouth scramble.

The Angels boss added: “We’re grasping at straws at the end.  Alright, there’s been some blocks, some deflections, goalmouth scrambles but we didn’t deserve nothing tonight.  I’m not going to sit here and gloss over it. We got what we deserved!”

Browning appeared to not be in any hurry – an example of Tonbridge Angels’ lack of urgency throughout the game – when he took a right-wing corner on the hour mark, but he found Collin at the near post and his flick from the corner of the six-yard box was cleared off the line.

Bishop’s Stortford were lively on the counter-attack and Gayle called Worgan into making a comfortable low save at his near post at the halfway point.

Boateng, who scored Tonbridge Angels’ equaliser on Saturday, cut in from the right in the 71^st minute and carved open a chance for Storey, who rolled a weak left-footed shot past the foot of the near post.

Bishop’s Stortford clinched a deserved victory when they scored in the final fifteen minutes – a case of third time lucky for Gayle following three successive right-wing corners from skipper Prestedge.

Gayle’s first effort, a flick, was cleared off the line at the near post.  His second effort, a downward header from four-yards forced a smart reaction save out of Worgan down at his near-post, but Gayle wasn’t to be thwarted a third time as he scored the winner, sending a bullet header into the roof of the net, just underneath the crossbar, from six-yards.

Warrilow bemoaned: “They’ve had three corners on the spin.  That (goal) was coming as well.  How many chances are we going to give them?”

Tonbridge rallied during the final ten minutes as they tried to force extra time.

Collin stepped up and bent a right-footed 25-yard free-kick around the wall and agonisingly wide of the far post, before Ade Olorunda found fellow substitute with a fine pass and Henry’s cross was punched away by Archer but Boateng’s stabbed effort was saved on the line by the visiting keeper.

Tonbridge Angels almost snatched a last-gasp leveller when Archer made his best save of the game.

Ade Olorunda pass found Collin, who turned and cracked a right-footed shot from sixteen-yards, which was destined to find the back of the net but the teenage goalkeeper stuck out his right arm to make a fine block.

Warrilow added: “We were just poor tonight!  There’s no excuses.  It all stops with me.  I just said to them from what we’ve been playing I thought we turned a corner a little bit and tonight we took a massive step back because that performance isn’t acceptable and there will be changes Saturday (at home to Welling United).

“Like I said if they (my players’) think they’re hard done by for being left out, I’m not putting up with performances like that!

“They’ve let everyone down tonight! Themselves, me, the fans’, the club, because it’s The FA Trophy.  I’m fuming with them and they know that.   I’m not accepting that at all.  I’m absolutely livid with them!

“I’m just gutted for the club and the fans’.  The players’, their career goes quickly.  We had a chance to have a go here tonight and at Carshalton (in the next round) and they’ve just thrown that away by turning up with the wrong attitude and the complacency that we can’t have.  You can’t have it at any level of football.

“If someone beats you, then fair enough, but when I look at my performance and our shape, it was just all over the place.  We’ve played that system on numerous occasions in the last six or seven games and took our just rewards but today I just think a few key players we’re just sloppy and lazy all over the pitch.   I can’t pick a player that had a good game.

“If we lose and we’ve given our all and done our best, I haven’t got an issue with that – but I ain’t losing like that!”

Tonbridge Angels: Lee Worgan, Michael Boateng, Danny Walder (Jake Beecroft 81), Scott Kinch, Ben Judge, Sonny Miles, Lee Browning, Anthony Storey, Mikel Suarez (Ade Olorunda 67), Frannie Collin, Kayne McLaggon (Chris Henry 83).
Subs: Robbie Kember, Tim Olorunda

Goal:  Lee Browning 8

Bishop’s Stortford: Jordan Archer, Bai Mas Lette Jallow, Phil Anderson, Paco Craig (Scott Schulton 58), Sean Francis, Jack Jeffries, David Adepipe (Alli Abdullahi 84), Reece Prestedge, Dwight Gayle, Daniel Subuola (Steffan Gaisie 84), Junior Dadson.
Sub: Richie Jones

Goals: Daniel Subuola 29, Dwight Gayle 75

Booked: Bai Mas Lette Jallow 79, David Adepipe 81

Attendance: 274
Referee: Mr Colin Lymer (Basingstoke, Hampshire)
Assistants: Mr Paul Yates (Maidstone) & Mr Rob Baker (Maidstone)