Jay Saunders felt the occasion may have got to his players as a new era at Tonbridge started with a defeat.

Angels lost 4-1 to Hampton on the day the club opened their new 3G pitch at Longmead, in front of more than a thousand fans.

Boss Saunders stressed in the build-up the need to play the game and not the occasion but his worst fears came true as the Beavers punished mistakes to lead 3-0 by half-time.

On-loan Charlton forward Dylan Gavin provided some cheer on his debut by pulling a goal back before Hampton broke from a Tonbridge corner to add their fourth in injury time.

“I was big on play the game and not the occasion and I think we probably played the occasion,” said Saunders, after his side’s first defeat of the National South season.

“I thought three or four looked leggy and three or four went hiding.

“At the end of the day, football isn’t a complicated game.

“If nine or 10 of your side turn up and play well, you’ve got a chance of winning.

“Unfortunately, I think, especially first half, we probably only had two or three that turned up.

“I’m gutted for the supporters and, to a degree, the players because I wanted them to show what they’re about.

“We’ve got some good players here, good young players.

“Let’s have it right, with Doug Loft and Tom Parkinson out, we’ve lost some massive experience and with James Taylor out from Dover, all of a sudden we’re going with a new midfield again.

“Probably the team I had in my head that I thought would start the season, I’m nowhere near it, but I’m not going to be hard on them, we’ve got to pick them up, learn from it and go again."

Tonbridge went into the game on the back of two wins and a draw from three away fixtures but hopes of crowning a day of celebration with another victory quickly unravelled as Hampton built on their fourth-minute opener.

“I’m just disappointed,” said Saunders. “We’ve been good the last three games.

“What disappointed me is all the goals can be avoided.

“There’s not one you look at and go, ‘wow, what a goal’.

• Report: Tonbridge 1-4 Hampton

“The first is poor marking from a corner, the second, Manny Maja gets caught and they break.

“You regroup at 2-0 down and try and kick on but unfortunately we’ve gone hiding a bit.

“The third goal, Tommie Fagg, he’s been outstanding at centre-half but he’s not really a centre-half and he’s got drawn in to win a header he probably didn’t need to, Sonny Miles is too deep and they break and score.

“I don’t know how far apart the goals were but in that spell but we showed our youthfulness and our inexperience, rather than going, ‘right, get together, boys, let’s be sensible’.

“I’ll take the blame for the fourth goal. I told Jamie Fielding to go and attack the corner, there’s six minutes left and if we score from that it’s a nervy last few minutes for Hampton but they were able to break.

“The long and short of it is we weren’t good enough today.

“If you look at the stats we probably had a lot of possession but if you don’t do anything with it and and don’t ask questions, there’s not much purpose to it.

“Second half, we moved the ball quicker, got it wider quicker, asked a few questions and Dylan got his goal.

“It’s our 11th game together, if we put some perspective on it, and our fourth in the league.

“To have seven points on the board is great.

“I’ve been here before. At Maidstone, when the stadium opened, we lost our first game 5-4 to Walton & Hersham.

“It’s hard, and I’m disappointed for everyone associated with the club, I’m gutted.

“If you flip it and go if we’d lost one of the away games and won here today, everyone’s positive but all of a sudden it look likes a negative.

“Take nothing away from Hampton, they were good, but we’ve come up short and our squad depth was maybe found out, but I’ve got to look at the positives.”