Telford United 1-1 Kingstonian
FOR BUCK'S SAKE

Kingstonian travelled north without captain Matt Crossley and leading scorer David Leworthy, who was missing with the 'flu. Gary Patterson played despite carrying a thigh injury as the cracks in K's thin squad started to appear, meaning a start for midfielder Scott Corbett as replacement for Leworthy, and a substitute place for local lad Russ Watkinson.

K's made a promising start with a Geoff Pitcher free-kick being headed over by stand-in skipper Mark Harris. But K's didn't have to wait long to open the scoring. Geoff Pitcher and Eddie Akuamoah combined well on the right to set up Mustafa. His low cross was met by a stooping Scott Corbett, who managed to head under the Telford goalkeeper to give K's the lead, and then posed in front of the travelling K's contingent macho-style.

After a mix up in the home defence, Corbett's pass allowed Eddie a shot, which was saved to give K's a corner, and by this time, the K's-ites were starting to expect a goal avalanche. Telford, who were yet to score a home goal, had started poorly, and it seemed only a matter of time before K's scored again. The flow of the game was interrupted moments after when a corner flag fell to the ground, and everybody had to wait for a ten year old boy to run around the edge of the pitch with his hammer. The game re-started with the youngster holding the flag up, and Telford on the attack for the first time.

Tarkan Mustafa was again looking impressive at right-back. He looked secure in defence, and combined well with Eddie on the attack. Akuamoah was again in good form, and after 22 minutes, a long-ball put ex-K's player Marcus Jones under pressure. The defender attempted to head back to his goalkeeper, but the ball fell short. Eddie darted in, and looked set to extend K's lead, until Jones grabbed a handful of his shirt to send him tumbling. Many referees would have been intimidated into just showing a yellow card, even though a red one was totally deserved. But Mr. M.Cooper from Walsall stood firm, and gave Jones his marching orders. This reduction in Telford's numbers seemed to confirm everybody's view that the K's would leave the Buck's Head ground with all three points, and an improved goal difference. From the free-kick Geoff Pitcher's shot took a slight deflection off the wall, and struck the side of the post. Just before half-time Telford again went close. A deep corner from their right wing was sent across the face of the goal, with neither defenders nor attackers managing to get a touch.

The half-time entertainment was provided by seven Telford retards youths running across the pitch to join the K's fans behind their goal. Stewards were not best pleased with their actions, and told them to "go away". They joined another group of their fans, who had just mooned the Kingstonian fans, in the main stand.

Telford came out for the second half in a more determined mood, and went close when their number 10 was sent through a gap in the K's defence, but Scott Barrett again proved his worth with a tremendous save. Kingstonian seemed to believe that there wasn't much for them to worry about during the second half. Even though they only had a one goal lead, there seemed to be no urgency in the team to extend this. The lack of a recognised centre-forward in the team was a certain disadvantage, as chances were being created, but there seemed to be nobody around to add the finishing touch. Although Corbett played to the best of his ability, he is clearly not a striker, and is certainly not good enough to lead the attack of a top Conference side.

As the game continued, it seemed more and more likely that Telford would come back and, as K's hadn't extended their lead, one mistake would prove enough to take away two points. Frustration began to show as both Colin Luckett and Joe Francis went into the book needlessly. And just three minutes before the final whistle, the inevitable happened. A high ball landed on the edge of the Kingston box and Simon Stewart attempted to head back to Barrett. The ball fell short as it had for the earlier sending off, and Telford's Bentley nipped in to hook the ball home with his left foot, much to the frustration of the Kingston faithful.

Chapple's reply was to bring on Saturday's winning goalscorer Gavin Holligan, but he surely needs more than two minutes to get into a game. Why he wasn't introduced at an earlier stage is a mystery to most people, perhaps this is another sign that the manager is yet to accept the 18 year old as a fully fledged part of the K's squad. A winner was almost claimed by Simon Stewart from a corner at the death, but a goal at that time would not have been deserved. K's were below their best in most areas, with only Mustafa and Akuamoah able to walk off the pitch with their heads held high. The decision to start without a centre-forward when a seemingly able one is sat on the bench was perhaps a contributing factor to the poor performance. When considering that K's were playing against a fairly poor team, who played for most of the game with ten men, this must be considered two points dropped rather than one gained. The chance was there for K's to end the opening month in third place in the table, but seventh will have to do for now.