Kingstonian 1-0 Stevenage Borough
EDDIE AKUA-POACHER STEALS THE POINTS

Kingstonian rose to third in the Conference table tonight by inflicting Stevenage's first defeat of the season. A crowd of only 1,745 turned out to see the return of captain Matt Crossley, and also the re-appearance of Jerome John in goal, who has returned much earlier than expected - perhaps due to an injury to Scott Barrett.

It didn't take K's long to pick up where they had left off at Northwich, and they put the Stevenage defence under immediate pressure. A good ball from Gary Patterson led to Eddie Akuamoah earning a corner, and a typically surging run from Tarkan Mustafa set up another, after his cross had eluded David Leworthy. The 14th minute corner was sent deep by Geoff Pitcher, and it came to ground just inside the far post. There was a contest between Crossley and Akuamoah to see who had the longest toe - Eddie won, and scored his second of the season, despite many of the crowd singing Crossley's praises. It is (perhaps) interesting to note that this was the first goal of the season at the Kingston Road end.

Stevenage didn't start as well as had been expected, and K's tried their best to take advantage. A Colin Luckett long shot just cleared the bar, and a superb piece of inter-play between Eddie and Leworthy allowed the latter to give the ball-boys more work.

Just before the half hour mark, the first female referee at Kingsmeadow, Mrs Wendy Toms, made her mark. A cross from Mustafa was aimed towards the far post, where Leworthy was waiting to meet it. A Stevenage defender placed one arm on his back, and allowed the other to wave somewhere near the ball. Half-hearted appeals for a penalty were made, and to everybody's shock, the referee's finger pointed to the spot. Some of the defenders disputed the decision, and they were clearly told that the penalty had been given for a push. K's weren't complaining, and Colin Luckett stepped up to take his third penalty of the season. After doing a spot of gardening work to let the ball settle, he shot in his usual place. Chris Taylor in the Stevenage goal guessed right, and turned the ball away. Leworthy was quick to pounce on the rebound, but Taylor was quicker still to turn the ball aside for a corner.

This seemed to inspire the travelling side, and for the next fifteen or so minutes, they piled the pressure onto K's. They seemed to feel that the left-hand side of the home defence was a weak point, and they attacked it almost continuously. Just five minutes before half time, Stevenage had a decent appeal for a penalty of their own turned down, but a corner was all that they were given. The K's defence was looking fairly secure with Crossley back in charge. Jerome John was never really tested before the break, while K's had quite a few chances. Colin Luckett seemed to lose some direction after his penalty miss, but improved during the second half.

This started on a sour note for K's when Mustafa picked up a yellow card for a foul on Stevenage's Michael Love, while Scott Corbett also went into the book after complaining about a Gary Patterson foul. Stevenage again looked to attack the K's down their left, and one cross ended with a fine save from Jerome.

With just 15 minutes remaining, Stevenage's task became harder still. An Eddie run down the right wing was ended abruptly by Michael Love, who had already been booked. This foul was certainly worthy of a yellow card, and so Love took the long walk back to the dressing room. Much like Patterson at Northwich, there was no real malice in either challenge, but the referee was left with no real alternative. However, Borough didn't seem too daunted by this disadvantage in numbers. It seemed to make them even more determined to grab a point, and K's had to work very hard to hang on to the lead.

Yet another cross from the Stevenage right was knocked back to Beevor, whose header deflected over for a corner. At one point, Mark Harris had to hack the ball away from the goal-line, while Jerome did his best to remind Chapple what he's been missing. However, the pressure from Stevenage was leaving some gaps at the back. A Colin Luckett shot seemed to come off an arm, before the introduction of Rattray. Within a minute, the substitute had come close to extending Kingston's lead with a header. Taylor, who had just come back after going up for a corner, made another superb save, diving to his right, to keep Stevenage in with a shout. 'Ratters' had another chance just after, when an extremely fast run by Mustafa down the right flank ended with a cross which Rattray attempted to volley home. Sadly it didn't happen, and Stevenage went straight on the attack again.

The final whistle sounded, to leave K's equal on points with second placed Cheltenham. More was expected from Borough, and perhaps K's were lucky to catch them on an off night, but this should not detract from another fine performance from Chapple's men. Crossley showed his worth on his return, and it was good to see Jerome back between 'the sticks'.