Suburban League Shield Semi-Final,
Short Lane Stadium
1st April 2009

Ashford gave their all, but were ultimately edged out by the Angels, who will now face AFC Wimbledon in the Final of the Suburban League Shield.  However, the Tangerines can feel hard done by, as they played a full part in an even contest.  The first half saw lots of effort and attacking intent from both sides, but few chances.  Matt Crane did force a fine save from Ashford 'keeper Dane Buss after twenty-six minutes while at the other end, Jon Palmer hit a shot that went wide.  Five minutes before half time, a Marcelo Graca free kick was flicked on towards Teddy Kimpamboudi, who headed wide.

Twenty two seconds in the second half, Tonbridge were awarded a penalty when Nick Hardy was adjudged to have committed a foul inside the penalty area.  Mike Shin sent Buss the wrong way to open the scoring.

That spurred Tonbridge on and Steve Cox went one-on-one with Buss, only for the young stopper to come up with a fine save.  Ashford survived the visitors surge and regained a foothold in the match, with a Jon Palmer cross narrowly eluding Kimpamboudi.  Ashford enjoyed a good spell of pressure and secured an equaliser in the 68th minute when a right sided cross from Jimmy Brazil was met by Jimmy Stanford, who had come on as a substitute just seconds earlier.  Stanford's shot was an emphatic one, and beat Angels keeper Martin Grant.

After that, the match flowed from end to end, with both sides having chances to score.  Brazil and Kimpamboudi both went close for Ashford, while Angels had strong pressure of their own, only to find Buss in impressive form, which helped to take the match into extra time.

Charlie Burgess had a good chance to put the Angels in front three minutes into extra time, but his shot went closer to the corner flag than the goal.  The game continued to flow, with Stanford going close for Ashford before Crane was denied by Buss from point blank range.  Just before half-time in extra time, Brazil sprung the offside trap and squared for Kimpamboudi, who should have scored.

With a penalty shootout just ten minutes away, the visitors made the breakthrough when Micky Collins, who had come off the bench, hit a shot that Buss saved, only for the rebound to land at the feet of Luke Blewdon, who was left with an easy finish.

The Tangerines were unable to trouble their visitors in the time remaining and so miss out on reaching a Final for the third successive season, while Tonbridge maintain their hoodoo over Ashford.