NEW signing Tom Derry scored twice on his debut as Tonbridge Angels scored all four goals in the first half and moved up to third place in the Bostik League Premier.
Derry was signed from East Thurrock United thanks to contributions from the fans’ ‘12th Man’ fund and at times the striker seemed unplayable.
His pace and movement constantly confused the Burgess Hill back line and he also set up a profitable partnership with another recent recruit up front, Chinedu McKenzie.
After seven minutes Tom Beere’s corner found Joe Turner and he headed into the net just inside the left-hand post.
McKenzie saw a lobbed effort land on the bar. But in the 17th minute he combined well with Derry, who scored his first goal for his new club.
On 26 minutes it was 3-0 with Derry again outpacing the Burgess Hill defence.
To complete the first-half rout, McKenzie scored from Adem Ramadan’s assist.
The second half could not live up to the heights of the first period. Angels continued to press but the Hillians were better organised at the back.
One downside for the Angels came in the 78th minute when substitute Jared Small was given a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident.
Angels manager Steve McKimm said: “We told them to start with high intensity and it worked.
“I heard a few of our supporters suggesting that we should have scored more goals in the second half.
“But our instructions were to create chances where you can – and we did that – but try to get that clean sheet, which is exactly what we did.
The Angels beat Wingate & Finchley 2-1 away from home in midweek, Small scoring the winner with four minutes remaining.
Reece Beckles-Richards had put the home side in front after 17 minutes but Turner levelled the scores from the penalty spot on 70 minutes.
Tonbridge now take on Merstham at home on Saturday [February 23, kick-off 3pm].
