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Tonbridge boss Steve McKimm felt his resolute team deserved the rub of the green in reaching the Bostik Premier play-off final.
Angels held on during the second half at Haringey on Thursday to go through 2-1, with the hosts hitting the crossbar in the 90th minute.
McKimm’s men took control with two first-half goals but they made their own luck with the Tonbridge boss praising substitute Jared Small’s last-gasp challenge on Lyle Della-Verde in injury time which epitomised his side's industry.
Scroll down to hear from Tonbridge boss Steve McKimm
“We had a bit of luck when they hit the bar but Jared Small ran 40 yards to stop their player going through one on one and that’s more important than them hitting the bar,” said McKimm.
“You get that bit of luck with them hitting the bar but if he doesn’t make that tracking run then they score.
“We had our backs to the wall, they threw everything (at us) and have got very good technical players. We got what we deserved in the first half and we just continued it.
“Second half they pushed us and at times they had five up front. It was hard but the boys stuck with it. We were defending for our lives at times and it really was tough, they deserve credit as they’ve come up trumps.
“They showed a mental strength there where they weren’t going to give anything away.
"Our fans were brilliant, and that helped our players massively. When we were down on our luck a bit (they lifted us).
"They seemed to have 13 or 14 players at times, we weren’t sitting deep they just put us under so much pressure and that’s a credit to Tom and his team.
“But the boys stood firm and we’ve come off with a 2-1 win which is all that matters.”
McKimm felt the referee was wrong to award a spot-kick for Joe Turner’s ‘challenge’ on Della-Verde who seemed to have lost control of the ball as he burst into the penalty area.
“You go in at half-time and 2-0 is a dodgy scoreline, and so it proved,” he added.
“Was it a penalty? Everyone’s got their own opinions. I wasn’t happy with it and I said to the player that he dived. He said he didn’t. I said if he didn’t I’ll apologise and he said if he did then he’ll apologise. It’s one of those.”
McKimm also praised the quality of Tonbridge’s goals.
Stunning strikes by Adem Ramadan and Chinedu McKenzie - against his former club - were both worthy of winning any play-off match.
“Adem’s goal was a great finish, I don’t think many keepers would have stopped that one,” added McKimm.
“For Chin’s goal, that’s our energy levels – we were four against one. We were expecting them to do that type of stuff (to us), and that’s what they do do, they catch you on the break and get numbers forward.
“The ball in wasn’t the greatest but when it came to Chin - what a strike. Against his old club, was it written in the stars? I don’t know, but we’re in the final and that’s all that matters.”
It means McKimm ends his personal heartache in play-off matches.
He was also thrilled that his two sons got to share the post-match celebrations with him.
“They wanted to come, they didn’t finish school until late and were here to see it with me,” added McKimm. “I celebrated with them on the pitch and that’s something that will never be taken away from me.
“I was pleased my boys were here, they weren’t going to come but they jumped on the train and got here so to share that moment with them (was special).
“I’m so pleased for the club, the players and the staff. I’ve been in five play-off games in 11 years as a player and a coach and I haven’t won any of them so I’m over the moon.
“I told the players in our huddle at the end that they’ve got to enjoy this. We haven’t won anything yet but you’ve got to enjoy what you do.
“We’ve just won a game of football which might have been against the odds, coming away from home on a work day, everyone had to leave early and they’ve done fantastic.
“The first half performance typified what this team is about. They stick together, they make the right decisions. When they make the right decisions they are hard to beat and first half we made the right decisions more often than not and got our deserved lead.”
Tonbridge host Merstham at Longmead in Monday's final (kick-off 3pm) with the winners going through to a super play-off game where the winners will be promoted to National League South.
