It was the curse of the former K last Saturday as Joe Turner inspired Tonbridge Angels to a thrilling 3-2 win over Kingstonian.

The winger left K’s in controversial circumstances in the summer of 2017, having initially committed to stay at the club for the following season. The prospect of a middling campaign playing at Fetcham Grove, with attendant budget restrictions, meant he was ultimately enticed to join the Angels, much to the chagrin of some supporters who promptly forgot his crucial role in keeping the team from relegation just three months earlier.

How times have changed – as of the weekend, Angels had one win in their last 10 matches and languished in midtable, while K’s are now challenging for promotion.

The irony wasn’t lost on the 26-year-old. “The circumstances surrounding us [the run of form] meant we really needed that win” he said after the game. “I was delighted to score against my old club of course. A lot’s changed there, some of the players K's got, you could say they’re very similarly set up to Billericay last year, financially, and their ability to bring people in. We’ve got a thin squad in comparison.”

Turner remains a devastating threat down the left and was at the heart of Tonbridge’s fine display, scoring with his left foot in the first half and assisting the winner late on.

Ks fell behind just the tenth minute when Rob Tolfrey could only clear a high ball from under his crossbar as far as Chinedu McKenzie on the corner of the box. McKenzie crossed low and top scorer Alex Read turned in from close range. Then, with half an hour gone, Turner picked the ball up on the corner of the box before cutting inside and finding the bottom corner with a precision finish.

Leigh Dynan must have been preparing a tough half-time team talk after watching his re-jigged line-up largely struggle. Debutant Joe Wicks, on loan from Millwall, struggled to impose himself in a midfield three, while new signing Rhys Murrell-Williamson, who was in the Vanarama South team of the season for 2017/18, only occasionally showed his quality.

But then, quite incredibly, Ks not only pulled one back in first half injury time but then found an equaliser too. First, Dean Inman stooped at the far post to head home a Murrell-Williamson cross-shot and then Shaun McAuley volleyed into the top corner from the edge of the box to send the sizeable away support into raptures.

But it was Angels who grabbed the game's crucial fifth goal after the break, Tolfrey unable to hold a Turner free-kick that bounced awkwardly in front of him and McKenzie reacted first to poke home the rebound.

Their manager, Steve McKimm, also a former K’s player, felt his team deserved the three points. “K's had a big miss today. Elliott Buchanan was out and that’s a big miss for any team. And they changed their shape but I felt we were a bit hungrier than them in the first-half.”

With leaders Haringey losing, the gap to the top remains at eight points. On Wednesday evening, K's advanced to the Surrey Senior Cup quarter-finals, beating Carshalton Athletic 3-2, Murrell-Williamson curling the decisive strike in the second half.

K’s host Whitehawk on Saturday at King George’s Field.