Steve McKimm has had enough of people knocking Tonbridge after hailing the perfect away performance.

Angels won 2-0 at much-fancied Billericay in their National South opener on Tuesday night thanks to Khale da Costa’s early chip and a late second from Tom Beere.

They finished with 10 men after Arthur Lee picked up a second yellow card but still kept Ricay at bay, and Beere’s strike - his first competitive goal after missing the whole of last season with a knee injury - secured a well-deserved victory.

McKimm feels critics are quick to jump on his side but the visitors showed what they were all about.

He said: “Tuesday night was the perfect away performance.

“We had a plan how to play and the players stuck with it.

“Even when we went down to 10 men we gave them another idea what to do and they did it.

“We always get put down, we’re always favourites for relegation.

“People criticise our style of play, anything they can throw at us.

“The game was streamed and everyone can see that we play to situations and we played very well.

“We caught them on the counter-attack a number of times, defended well and showed quality when we needed to.

“We get lots of stuff thrown at us but it’s old hat now.

“Whatever people say from the outside, it doesn’t affect us.

“We’re a tight-knit group, we know what we’re here to do do and we get on with it.

“We’ll win games, we’ll lose games, but I’m fed up with all the doubters from outside the club.

“Jamie O’Hara, the Billericay manager, was very complimentary after the game, which speaks volumes for my staff and players.

“This is a man who played in the Premier League and understands football and he gave us plenty of credit.

"We’re not a kick and lump team, we’re a team that thinks about how we’re going to do things.

“We try and get the players to buy into it and when they do, the results come along.”

Tonbridge were one of the form teams in the division before last season was cut short by coronavirus and can take plenty of confidence from their performance at Billericay.

McKimm’s priority is to establish Angels in National South.

He said: “That’s what we want to do. Last time the club was at this level it was three years and job done.

“This year the first thing is to stay in the league again but do better than last year.

“Every year the club just wants to improve. We don’t want to run before we can walk and we’re not one of those clubs that lives beyond their means.

“We want to make sure there’s a club here for when fans are allowed back in.

“Some break the bank to get to the next level too soon and too quick and they end up with egg on their face.

“We want a stable club and to be in National South as long as we can and put smiles on people’s faces.”

Angels play their first home game of the season against Hungerford this Saturday.

McKimm said: "They've made a lot of changes so it's going into the unknown a bit."

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