Truro City recorded back-to-back victories on the road with a gritty single goal triumph over mid-table Tonbridge Angels.
Will Dean’s 15th minute strike proved to be the match winning moment when he struck for the third time this season, after a Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain long-throw wasn’t cleared by the hosts.
City dominated the rest of the opening stanza, with Tonbridge perhaps shading possession and territory after the turnaround, although Jay Saunders’ side never fully pressed visiting custodian Dan Lavercombe in action.
Truro boss John Askey made two changes from the team which shared the spoils at home to Farnbrough on Tuesday.
In attack, Luke Jephcott replaced Tyler Harvey as City’s leading scorer dropped to the bench. Dean, who started in defence against Farnborough, moved back into a more familiar midfield role as Billy Palfrey joined Harvey amongst the replacements.
Dean’s place in a central defensive three was taken by Ryan Law, making his first appearance since the 2-1 win over Aveley on January 18.
It was an emotional afternoon for Tonbridge, who, before kick-off, paid tribute to their former player Devonte Aransibia, after he tragically lost his life earlier in the week.
After an impeccably observed period of silence, Tonbridge started brightly with striker Trevan Robinson looking lively and threatening down the right hand side.
At the other end, Jaze Kabia had a long-range sighted deflected, before the game changed when Dean struck.
A trademark Oxlade-Chamberlain missile was fired into the box and after the ball was only half cleared, it was picked up by Dean on the edge of the box. The former Exeter City man composed himself to fire in the bottom corner with his right foot, past the despairing dive of home custodian Matt Rowley.
Almost immediately, this deadlock breaking goal saw the momentum of play shift towards City as Oxlade-Chamberlain’s deflected cross almost doubled the visitors’ advantage, with the woodwork coming to Tonbridge’s rescue.
Just before the half hour mark, with City on the front foot, Kabia’s persistence found Jephcott in the box and the Newport County loanee fed Connor Riley-Lowe. The Truro captain had the ball on his right foot, squaring to Tom Harrison who shot narrowly wide.
And then, with the interval approaching, Jephcott again combined with his strike partner Kabia, as the latter, forced wide, could only find the side netting from a tight angle.
After the interval, clear-cut chances were few and far between, with Tonbridge’s best moment coming in the 58th minute through Sean Shields.
The home captain danced his way through the City defence but had to shoot on his weaker left foot, with Lavercombe gathering with relative ease.
Almost straight up the other end, Kabia could have made the points safe when he broke clear, only to be denied by Rowley’s legs.
The rest of the half saw Tonbridge huff and puff in search of a leveller, whilst City defended well and once again, looked the likelier to net.
Eight minutes from time, Dean crossed into the box and found Harrison’s head, with the ball whistling just a whisker over Rowley’s crossbar.
That was the last goalmouth action of note and five minutes of stoppage time came and went with City now extending their unbeaten run to four games, having shipped just two goals in the process.
Match Facts
City: Lavercombe, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Harrison, Law, Bell (Palfrey, 70), Rooney, En-Neyah, Dean, Riley-Lowe, Jephcott (Harvey, 65), Kabia (Johnson-Fisher, 76).
Tonbridge Angels: Rowley, Sutcliffe, Nelson, Shields, Akehurst, Robinson, Berry, Ward, Shields, Maloney (Bakrin, 61), Ottaway (Lema, 73). Subs not used: Parkinson, Noburn, Richardson.
Referee: Charles Martland
Attendance: 1,085
