Kingstonian 1-1 Hednesford Town
HARRIS PERFORMS FOR DANCING GIRLS

Kingstonian managed to avoid making it four losses in a row yesterday when they snatched a late equaliser to claim a much needed point. Presumably, the eleven who started the match were Chapple's first choice, as Simon Stewart returned from injury, and Gary Patterson's suspension was for just one match. Simon Brown was again in goal, with Jerome John watching from the sidelines, as he continues to await his next chance.

For the first time this season, the home side ran out to the cheers of the new K's Cheerleaders. We were promised this spectacle back in the Summer, but it seems to have taken some time to organise. What a shame it didn't take even longer.....

Hednesford, who had lost their last two games, looked impressive at first, and indeed, should really have taken the lead on 10 minutes. Neil Davis was sent through a hole in the K's defence and, with just Simon Brown to beat, looked likely to give the Midlanders a one goal advantage. A goal that early could well have dented K's confidence, but Brown stood up well, and managed to force Davis wide, narrowing the angle, and finally forcing him into a weak shot.

The first shot of note at the Athletics End was soon afterwards. David Leworthy received the ball from Geoff Pitcher on the edge of the area. With his back to goal, most people expected him to lay it off, but he somehow managed to turn and shoot, producing a good save by Scott Cooksey in the Town goal, who played for England's semi-pro side along with Dean Hooper at Crawley last season.

The Kingston defence was looking more solid with the return of Stewart, but the ball was still being hoisted forward far too often. Leworthy and Eddie Akuamoah were left to attempt to win headers against people far taller than themselves, and the outcome was, more often than not, either a throw-in to K's, or another attack from the away side. Whilst there was a definite improvement over the last few games, there were few "clear-cut" chances to talk of.

Hednesford had another fine chance just before the half-hour mark. A corner was sent into the K's area and Paul Carty rose unchallenged to meet it. His header was directed downwards, and bounced up again. When it came back down, Brown just managed to tip it over the bar to prevent what would have been one of the strangest goals this season.

K's did create some chances for themselves - Leworthy, once more from the edge of the box, attempted a lob into the top-right hand corner, but somehow got his angles wrong. Then, as the rain came down harder, a Joe Francis shot, seemingly destined for the bottom corner, struck Eddie on the arm and bounced harmlessly away. Akuamoah was again playing well, and once more found himself the victim of some callous defending. He was put into space on the left and attempted to skip past Gary Fitzpatrick. The defender was determined to stop him in his tracks using any means possible. However, his crunching challenge was obviously not enough to earn K's a free-kick, as play was waved on with Eddie lying in pain on the turf.

Eight minutes remained in the half when the somewhat-inevitable happened. A cross from Paul Carty from the by-line was met by Joe O'Connor who was totally unmarked. His low shot beat the diving Brown and Hednesford had the lead. K's tried to respond before half-time, but a Colin Luckett free-kick which just cleared the bar was the closest that they came.

After the half-time "entertainment" provided by the cheerleaders, the K's team seemed determined to provide some proper excitement of their own. After just 5 minutes, Geoff Pitcher had a chance, but managed to spoon his shot well wide. A while later, after a foul on Colin Luckett, Pitcher again had a chance. This time, his quick free-kick just cleared the bar, but K's were putting pressure on the Town defence, who looked unlikely to add to their lead.

Joe Francis, who hasn't scored since the opening day of the season, came close on two occasions. A cross from Tarkan Mustafa was deflected to the edge of the box by Fitzpatrick, who then managed to block the follow up shot from Francis as well. Then, a cross from Eddie went behind Leworthy, and Francis was just a few inches away from connecting.

The introduction of the three substitutes caused a change in formation. Stewart was removed, meaning that Gavin Holligan was now playing up front alongside Leworthy. A pass from Scott Corbett to Holligan ended with another free-kick to K's - this time just outside the box. Colin Luckett sent the ball flying across the face of goal, only to see it elude everybody. However, the deserved equaliser finally came on 83 minutes. A Corbett cross from the right landed near the penalty spot. The goalkeeper, who had looked nervy on many occasions, was caught in no man's land, and Mark Harris, who had stayed forward after a corner, managed to get a touch to lift the ball over Cooksey and just under the bar. Both teams went all out for the three points. Chris Brindley went close for Hednesford with a header from a free-kick, whilst K's had more than one opportunity.

The referee, Mr. M.Thorpe from Woodbridge, who up until now had had a good game, certainly missed one incident late on and misread another. Firstly, Gary Patterson seemed to punch Fitzpatrick in the face, leaving the number two sprawled on the ground, but received no punishment. Revenge was taken on Patterson just a few minutes later, when Carty landed a clear head-butt on the K's midfielder which resulted in a yellow card.

But there was no more excitement for the crowd - the level of which must cause some concern amongst the Kingstonian management. 1,293 is the lowest so far this season, but hopefully this will pick up when performances improve. And after yesterday's display, it seems possible that this will happen. It was imperative that the losing streak was ended, and it may signal the start of another run towards the top of the table. It is pleasing to note that, although only one point has been picked up from the last possible 12, K's still sit just two points behind Stevenage in third place.