Bognor goalkeeper angry over 'disgraceful' comments and object thrown at him at Tonbridge

The flashpoint came in the second half of the Rocks' 2-1 Trophy third qualifying round defeat to the Angels and overshadowed the afternoon.

Tangara went on Twitter to highlight what happened - and actually apologised to Bognor fans, who were quick to point out he had nothing to say sorry about.

The goalkeeper wrote: "I would like to apologise to all @rocks1883 fans who travelled to the game today. I was very disappointed of some away fans today. (He later clarified to use he was talking about the opposition - ie Tonbridge - fans).

"Some of the stuff said about my family was very disgraceful and unnecessary, it was too much honestly. That's the reason I lost my head with their captain who didn't help with some of the stuff he was doing and saying to me. As fans you can support your team but you do not need to be abusive. I even had a can thrown at me, it was ridiculous.

"Special thanks to the stewards who came to me after the game to ask few questions about the incident, emotionally I was not ready to talk about it, that's the reason I could give a full statement. It is important to keep the notion of respect at every level of the game."

Later, Tangara told the Bognor Observer: "People just need to understand that we don't play football to get abused. I have reported to someone at Tonbridge... I believe that should be enough for them to make sure it doesn't happen again."

A Tonbridge Angels statement said the incident was being probed: "The club is aware that allegations have been made regarding the throwing of an object towards the pitch area during yesterday’s FA Trophy Cup tie versus Bognor Regis Town.

"The club are still in the process of gathering reports from its security team and studying video evidence once this has been fully downloaded.

"On a general note, everyone should be clear that any such incident would be dealt with very severely by the club through its Ground Regulations that can involve a ban on entering the stadium on match days for a defined period of time."

Tangara, who has been a revelation since joining Bognor six weeks ago, helping the team to a run of eight straight wins that the Tonbirdge loss ended, has had a lot of support from Rocks fans since speaking out.