Kingstonian 2-1 Welling United
KINGSMEADOW DROUGHT ENDED BY RATT-RAIN
The crowd for this match against Welling sadly resembled some of last year's attendances, with just 904 brave souls daring to come out in the wind and rain to see fourth placed K's take on the Conference draw-specialists. Steve Farrelly made his home debut, in goalmouths filled with puddles of water, while Alex Willglass - a non-contract player from Scarborough - took Geoff Pitcher's (suspended) number 8 shirt.
It was clear from the outset that this would be a game where skill and precision might not come out on top. There were early moments of madness: a Simon Stewart back header which stopped dead just outside Farrelly's box and a free kick taken from the middle of another puddle, with spray being sent everywhere.
If anything, Welling, who are yet to win away (they've only won twice this season anywhere), probably started the brighter of the two teams. After quarter of an hour, Tarkan Mustafa lost the ball on the edge of Kingston's box, and Steve Farrelly did well diving low to his right to turn a Ray Powell shot wide. From the resulting corner, a flick on by Terry Skiverton went just out of the reach of Mark Hynes in front of the K's goal. Mustafa almost made up for his error when he found David Leworthy on the edge of Welling's area. His right foot shot flew just wide of Glen Knight's left-hand post.
But on 26 minutes, the visitors took the lead. A loose ball from K's right fell to Derek Brown, who wasted no time in dispatching his shot from 20 yards past Farrelly. The goalkeeper had no chance as the ball flew past him. This provided the wake-up call that K's were in need of. Just moments later, after a foul on Gavin Holligan (who kept his place after last week's brace), a Willglass free-kick was sent into the area. Stewart climbed highest to flick the ball past the goalkeeper, and Kevin Rattray was on hand to score his first ever goal at Kingsmeadow. He was standing about two inches from the line, but was still delighted to score - and ran over towards the corner flag to go through his bizarre celebration.
Then, just five minutes later, K's took a two-one lead. A back pass was sent towards Skiverton, who somehow managed to lose his footing. Gavin Holligan got his toe to the ball, and diverted it around the goalkeeper, but was forced very wide. The youngster obviously had enough confidence to shoot, and it was only a fine stop by Knight which deflected the ball onto the post. But Mustafa had had the presence of mind to follow in the shot, and the ball flew to him, this time about three inches out, to allow him to score his third of the season.
There was just time before the break for Watts to make the first of his ugly challenges. Leworthy was sent through on the left, and he attempted to cut back behind the Welling number 4, but was stopped when the defender clearly stamped on his ankle. The infringement was punished with a yellow card - but Watts might have felt lucky not to see red. Still, his time would come...
After the break, some people felt that there was an ugly under-current to the game. There were certainly more fouls, some of which went totally unpunished. For example, Dave McDonald clearly elbowed Colin Luckett in the head, but not even a foul was awarded. There were also times when fouls by K's were missed by the referee, but Gary Patterson, who was having another superb game in the midfield, must feel himself unlucky to have received a caution for a foul which most people would not even have given. It is unfortunate that Patterson finds himself in trouble with referees so often. He showed in this game that he is an essential part of Kingstonian's midfield. His passing was spot-on, and, alongside the impressive Willglass, looked able to stop anything that Welling tried to send through the middle of the park.
If anything, the rain in the second half got worse. Eddie Akuamoah, looking resplendent in his clean white shorts, replaced Leworthy late on, to provide K's with one of the quickest forward lines around. But no more goals would come. Holligan did go close to extending the lead, but his shot was cut out by fine defending. There were also chances at the other end - in fact, just two minutes before the final whistle, a Welling corner fell to Powell, whose shot was blocked by a wall of K's players.
But the real excitement was still to come. Just one minute before the end, a foul on Patterson resulted in the K's midfielder pushing (or elbowing) the offender to the ground. Players rushed in from every angle, and there were more than one personal tussles breaking out. The referee, Mr. D.Spicer from Totten, stood well back and watched what was going on, and decided that a booking for both Rutherford and Watts was sufficient. As Watts had already received a yellow card for his first half foul, he could only walk off down the tunnel to get the bath running for the rest of his team. While the referee was sorting out the punishments, everybody's attention was suddenly diverted to the dug-outs, where words had been exchanged and another scuffle broke out.
The game was ended about a minute later, and K's had won a hard fought game. Whether it was because of an under-par performance, or to keep the two teams apart in the tunnel, Geoff Chapple told the players that a run from one side of the pitch to the other, and back again, was required. It probably wasn't one of the best performances from the team, but a win in terrible conditions, against a very determined team, shouldn't be underestimated. Willglass looked to be a decent acquisition in the midfield, and Kevin Rattray again performed well, justifying his continued selection. It's never been a bad thing to pick up points when not playing well, and if K's can manage to raise their game against the top teams, there should be no end to the club's ambition.
|
Sat 24th Oct 1998 |
|
Kingsmeadow Stadium |
|
904 |
|
Football Conference |
|
Kingstonian | 2 |
Rattray, Mustafa |
Welling United | 1 |
|
|
1 | Steve Farrelly | | |
2 | Tarkan Mustafa | | |
3 | Colin Luckett | | |
4 | Matt Crossley | | |
5 | Simon Stewart | | |
6 | Mark Harris | | |
7 | Gary Patterson | | |
8 | Alex Willgrass | | |
9 | Kevin Rattray | | |
10 | David Leworthy | | 14 |
11 | Gavin Holligan | | |
12 | Scott Corbett | | |
14 | Eddie Akuamoah | | 10 |
15 | Danny Smith | | |
|
|
Gary Patterson |
|
Gary Ekins |
|