Old Malvernians 2 vs 4 Old Tonbridgians

<p>The Old Tonbridgians started the game slowly at the windswept Chelsea Training Centre. Malvern&rsquo;s first goal came in the 5th minute, a corner was whipped in and the referee blew up for Atkinson&rsquo;s push. Ed Bonner guessed the right way and reached the spot kick only for the ball to bobble over his right hand. Tonbridge came back hard at the opposition and made some tidy attacks down the flanks through Spurling and Seymour. Spurling had a shot cleared off the line after beating the keeper. Tonbridge had to be wary of Malvern&rsquo;s counterattacks and Taylorson, who looked composed throughout, stopped a certain goal by flinging himself in front of Malvern&rsquo;s striker and got his head to the ball first to clear. Tonbridge were smothering the opposition in midfield and enjoyed all the momentum before a serious injury to a Malvern player caused the match to be moved to another pitch after 20 minutes. The change couldn&rsquo;t have come at a worse time for the visitors and Malvern scored a second with a well struck volley from the edge of the box from another corner. Two shots &ndash; two goals. Tonbridge went into half time scratching their heads at the scoreline but feeling that the goals would come in the second half, especially now that they were playing with the wind. Changes were made &ndash; Binnie came on for Taylorson and Colley moved to right back.&nbsp;<br />Tonbridge started the second half very strongly, passing the ball across the back four, Jon Atkinson and Brandt looked commanding and reassured in the centre and Colley and Atkinson pushed up and threading the ball to the wide midfielders. When the ball was played down the left with a series of quick passes Tennant beat his marker only to be scythed down by the covering defender. Penalty given, Lockwood raced to claim the second spot kick of the game. He sent it into the bottom right with conviction and a clean strike. 2-1. The comeback was on and the OTs piled on the pressure. Then came the move of the game, on 55 minutes, the ball was passed across midfield from left to right and back, Lockwood received the ball about 30 yards out with a bit of space to dribble into, took it past 2 defenders simultaneously, then a third before sending in a sublime cross past the goalkeeper to Spurling, he made no mistake in putting the ball into the net and levelling the match. Tonbridge were in the ascendancy now, the game looked as though it was only going to go one way, but the OTs needed to be careful lest they lost concentration. It would have been a disaster to go behind again after this comeback.&nbsp;<br />In the 70th minute, Spurling went on another mesmerizing dribble and after going round the keeper decided to use his weaker right and tapped the ball into the left upright, Cook was on hand as ever to level the game. Malvern lost their shape somewhat and reverted to route one football. Brandt and Jon Atkinson headed the ball well and the only time Malvern looked dangerous was with a couple of corners &ndash; but Bonner punched well and made a stunning save. Seymour was replaced on the right flank by Moxon who showed composure on the ball and grit to hassle the opposition off the ball, he linked up with Colley with some outstanding short passing. Then came the insurance goal after 78 minutes, Bonner rolled out to Atkinson on the left, who saw Cook between the two central defenders, lofted the ball over the midfield and Cook with exemplary control took it down and rolled the ball past a helpless goalkeeper.&nbsp;<br /><br />In conclusion, the Old Tonbridgians deserved to win the game, again some sloppy defending and a problem with defending set-pieces almost jeopardised the victory. A big thank you to everyone for showing Tonbridgian resolve and produce an excellent result.&nbsp;