Tonbridge Angels 0 Wealdstone 1

TONBRIDGE Angels’ season took a sharp nosedive as they were beaten by bottom side Wealdstone in a match in which the referee handed out 11 yellow and two red cards.

This was unquestionably one of the Tonbridge's worst performances of the season and player-manager Tony Dolby described it as "awful".

He added: "I feel justification in saying there were too many players out there who under-performed. They (Wealdstone) are right down there in the league and I’d like to think a team I manage would seize the opportunity to make that their advantage but we looked sluggish."

He added: "I really can’t put my finger on why we put in such a below par performance."

Wealdstone had no warm up after being caught in traffic and arriving late, and the first half saw little in the way of inspiration. Two sides in the bottom four produced an ordinary 45 minutes, where Wealdstone created more chances, though Luke Piscina had the best opening, Andy Carter making a good one-on-one save.

The second half was incident filled, beginning with Richard Jolly’s goal in the 53rd minute. Jolly latched onto a through ball and finished with the confidence one would expect from a man who scored 34 goals last season, skipping past Turner and slotting home before Beales could cover the goal line.

Four minutes later, a game that had seen little malicious action suddenly erupted. Brian Jones bundled Danny Lye to the ground and then aimed a kick at the head of the prostrate Angels captain.

The referee had little option but to give Jones his marching orders, his trip to the tunnel extended by a verbal exchange with the home fans.

Looking to take advantage of the extra man, Steve Searle and Tony Dolby came on to add experience to the Angels midfield. Yet Dolby lasted only eight minutes before seeing red for an elbow on the dreadlocked Ben Alexander, a decision that left the Angles player-boss mystified.

He said: "There was contact but not in the way the referee perceived it. The guy’s coming at me and as I’ve cleared the ball I’ve raised my hand to avoid a collision, I’ve not lashed out at all. He’s said I’ve swung my elbow round but I think it’s plain to see if the guy’s coming at me it’s impossible to make contact by swinging my elbow round."

One yellow card was issued to Wealdstone centre half Dave Ryan after he pulled back Luke Piscina who looked to be through on goal. This decision also left Dolby bemused by the referee’s interpretation.

"The referee’s justification was that there were other players around but at the end of the day, if the guy didn’t pull him back, Luke’s about to get a shot off," he said.

"A clear goal-scoring opportunity warrants a red card. He's the last man and that’s that. There’s nothing he can say to justify those decisions in my eyes."

Tonbridge: Turner, Heath, Wilson, Larkin, Humphrey (Dolby 63), Beales, Street (Searle 59), Lye (c), Piscina, Cass, Hogg (Reeves 88).