By Lloyd Hassell
Hampton & Richmond are back at Beveree Stadium as Alan Julian’s side host Tonbridge Angels this weekend. The Beavers will be looking to make it back-to-back league wins and could rise to tenth if results go their way.
Who Are They:
Tonbridge Angels were formed in October 1947 and were placed in the Southern League for the 1948/49 campaign. The Angels lifted their first trophy a few seasons later as they won the Kent Senior Shield in the 1951/52 season. In the 1970’s the club faced financial issues as Tonbridge Angels went into liquidation. Furthermore, the Angels also ended up moving stadium to its present ground, Longmead, as the local council and landlords wanted the Angel Ground for development.
The club had many years in the Southern League divisions but eventually was relegated to the Kent League in 1988/89. Success was on the horizon for the team, though, as the team won another Kent League Cup and promotion back to Southern League Football in the space of a few years.
Tonbridge was eventually promoted in the 2003/04 season after finishing third and winning promotion to the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division, however, the team was relegated back down in the first season. After being promoted back to the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division the club stayed there until 2010/11 when the Angels won the play-off final 4-3 to book their place in the Football Conference South, which is the level of football that the club currently resides in.
The Form Guide:
The visitors have picked up five points in their last five National League South matches, with their victory coming against Weston Super Mare in a two-nil home victory. The Beavers come into this one unbeaten in their last six National League South games, while during that time have beaten Welling United and Chelmsford City.
A midweek victory for Hampton & Richmond occurred as they got all three points DA16 against Welling United with a goal from Ibrahim Jalloh to level the scoring and two from Mauro Vilhete to help The Beavers come from two-one down to win the game. The Angels were defeated at home by Eastbourne Borough as Kai Woollard and Michael Shamalo got the goals for the away team, with Garrett Kelly and Gianluca Botti both seeing red for Tonbridge.
Danger Men:
Fan favourite Sean Shields will be the one to watch out for, as Shields has scored nine goals in all competitions so far this season, which makes him their top goal scorer. Hampton & Richmond will be without their top goal scorer James Roberts, but Mauro Vilhete has scored seven times and provided six assists so far this season, with two of them coming in the last match for Alan Julian’s team.
Historic Encounters:
These two sides have faced each other on twenty-one occasions with Tonbridge Angels winning six as the Beavers have triumphed against the Angels five times. This fixture has ended in a draw the most, though, with ten games ending level. Earlier on in the season, Hampton & Richmond were denied the three points late on as Liam Vincent scored a last-minute equaliser from the spot to make it two-two and get a late point for the home team.
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