HOT on the heels of a great run against the top three contenders for the league, the leaders felt in confident taking on local rivals Sevenoaks at Hollybush Lane.
But they were made to pay for their lack of intensity in the second half as the home side hit back with three goals.
Wells applied early pressure and soon forced a mistake. Callum Hunter-Wood’s pass across the face of the goal evaded the defenders and Kyle Mathieson slotted home at the back post – one up within three minutes.
Good movement in the middle from Simon Hare and James Beck, combined with clinical passing from David Judge and David Hemsley at the back, meant Wells continually broke into the Sevenoaks D.
One sublime passage of play lead to Ben Allberry having space in the D for a strike that found the backboard and increased Wells’ lead.
Then Jack Garwood broke into the D and won a short corner. A well-worked routine led to Beck slotting the ball into the bottom right of the goal.
With a 3-0 lead at the interval, Wells slowed and their marking was slack. Eventually Sevenoaks broke through and scored via a deflection at the back post.
The sloppiness continued, and through several short corners Sevenoaks brought the game back to 3-3 with 10 minutes left.
The equaliser seemed to spur Wells back into action, and they began to play with a similar intensity to the dominant first half.
On a breakaway, a quick crossfield pass from Ben Brandt gave man of the match Mathieson space to run into the D and win another short corner.
A different routine saw Player-coach Allberry round the number one runner, then slot it between the keeper’s legs to steal the winner.
Tunbridge Wells now sit six points clear at the top of South League Kent & Sussex Regional Division One with only a handful of matches to play.
