From Portsmouth heartbreak to unlikely prolific scorer: The ex-Blues man bouncing back in remarkable style

Liam Vincent was released in the summer following three years on the south coast, during which he failed to make a single first-team appearance.

The Blues had beaten off a number of Premier League clubs to capture the highly-regarded left-back from Bromley in June 2021, yet his stay was hugely impacted by injury.

Following an inevitable departure in May at the end of his contract, he was snapped up by Tonbridge Angels after a successful loan spell in the second half of last season.

Yet the National South club could never have foreseen the remarkable goal-scoring impact Vincent would subsequently have, establishing himself as their leading scorer.

Operating from left wing-back, the 21-year-old has rattled in six goals in 11 matches so far, of which three have been penalties.

That also includes registering with a second-half free-kick in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Slough Town, which ended the Angels’ impressive 11-game unbeaten run.

With five of his goals arriving in the league, Vincent is presently joint-third top scorer in National South, trailing Weston-super-Mare’s Luke Coulson, who has seven.

It’s an eye-catching haul from a player who failed to net at all in the 2023-24 campaign, during loan spells with Worthing (twice), Chelmsford and, of course, Tonbridge Angels.

Yet he is flourishing with regular first-team football and being injury free, representing a side which also includes Pompey’s Toby Steward.

Goalkeeper Steward was crowned the Supporters’ Player of the Season while on loan at Gosport last term, with the Blues eager to maintain his development by this term stepping up a level.

The outcome was the Angels and, under boss Jay Saunders, they currently occupy ninth spot in National South, after suffering their first defeat of the season on Saturday.

Steward has so far kept five clean sheets in his 11 appearances and continues to impress, having committed his future to Pompey in April on a new two-year deal.

He is thriving alongside former Fratton Park team-mate Vincent, with an FA Cup fourth-qualifying round fixture against Cray Wanderers on Saturday (October 12).