Simply put, we were shit. We had very little to offer against a limited Tonbridge side who came and played for a draw which ultimately they deserved. Apart from a couple of wayward shots from Purcell we offered absolutely nothing going forward. Our third disjointed performance in a rown that has seen us yield 2 points. Not good enough if we want to be challenging for promotion, simple as.
It doesn't help that Martin Hayes has been tinkering with the side more than Claudio Ranieri would. James Walker came out of the wilderness to start the game, whilst Simmonds and Watt were dropped out of the squad completely. Cogan found himself on the bench too, but I'm not going to complain over that. The lack of coherency in the side showed as we struggled to string two passed together the entire game.
While my stella-fuelled ramblings of 'Hayes out' were probably too premature and perhaps a little fickle, the concerns over his management are already surfacing after only 5 games. Despite stringing together a very strong squad this summer he doesn't seem to have a clue how to use it. After the game he admitted to Radio Kent that he still doesn't know what his strongest starting eleven is and that he is still testing out different sides. Then what the fuck was pre-season for?
I have to be honest but this inconsistent and weak leadership is not inspiring me at all and I'm already fearing that this season is going to be a write off. I've already heard rumours of dressing room unrest unfolding and judging by the moods of Simmonds, I'anson and Watt it seems that these claims are not completely fabricated.
The crowd was given out as 1003, and being completely honest, seemed inflated at that. True, Tonbridge support was very shallow in numbers with less than a hundred of them making the trip for their big day out, but I think in August we will continue to suffer with people still away and/or playing/watching that terribly boring sport that is cricket. It certainly did not have the feel of a localish Kent derby and the game itself totally lacked the punch too.
Anyway, onto Sutton tomorrow. I'm actually really looking forward to it but we need to vastly improve if we hope to get anything out of the game. We really need to get 3 points against an inconsistent Sutton side to kick-start our season and put ourselves back into the mix. Its the first train journey of the season and without our leader Phil Smith, a journey that should mainly consist of younger lads (except you Adrian ;-)). Also another ground for me to tick off which is always exciting, even if I've been warned by many that it is a shithole.
For now, my I've forced my chin to be up and hopefully it will still be that way come 5PM tomorrow. Just please stick out the strongest possible line-up Martin!
And on a final note; stella artois. I'm going to have to lay-off of this stuff. On the train back to Herne Bay last night this evil yet beautiful drink had given me an excruciating headache and I was fortunate enough not to wake up in Bromley South like I did last season.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Welling United | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 2 | | Woking | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 11 |
| 3 |  | Dartford | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 11 |
| 4 | | Bromley | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 5 | | Weston-S-Mare | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 6 | | Truro City | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 9 |
| 7 | | Sutton United | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 9 |
| 8 | | Dover | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | | Tonbridge Angels | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| 10 | | Eastbourne Borough | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 11 | | Basingstoke Town | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| 12 | | Salisbury City | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 13 | | Maidenhead United | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 7 |
| 14 | | Havant and Waterlooville | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| 15 | | Chelmsford | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 16 | | Farnborough | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 5 |
| 17 | | Boreham Wood | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 5 |
| 18 | | Eastleigh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 4 |
| 19 | | Hampton & Richmond | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
| 20 | | Dorchester | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 3 |
| 21 | | Staines Town | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 2 |
| 22 | | Thurrock | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 14 | -12 | 1 |
| Saturday 27 Aug 2011 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boreham Wood | 2 | - | 1 | Thurrock | |
 Wilkinson (26) Bryant (43) | Osbourne (04) |  162 | |||
| Bromley | 3 | - | 0 | Sutton Utd | |
| Harding (23) Waldren (27) Arava (28) | 509 | ||||
| Chelmsford | 0 | - | 0 | Dartford | |
| 1,013 | |||||
| Dover | 0 | - | 0 | Tonbridge Angels | |
| 1,003 | |||||
| Hampton & Richmond | 1 | - | 1 | Farnborough | |
| Tarpey (20) | Murphy (80) | | |||
| Havant and W | 4 | - | 1 | Truro City | |
| Jones (36) Fogden (03) Jones (72) Ryan (83) |  Walker (91) | 502 | |||
| Maidenhead Utd | 1 | - | 1 | Staines Town | |
| Williams (22) | Butler (26) | 305 | |||
| Welling | 3 | - | 0 | Eastbourne Borough | |
| Pugh (05) Pires (61) Fazakerley (68) | 541 | ||||
| Weston-S-Mare | 2 | - | 0 | Salisbury | |
| Pepperell (60) Kabba (91) | 390 | ||||
| Woking | 1 | - | 0 | Basingstoke | |
| Hammond (04) | 1,207 | ||||
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