Kingstonian 0-0 Boston United
SLIGHTLY MIGHTY BOSTONS

It used to be an amazing thing to make the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, but these days it seems to be about as exciting a prospect as a Surrey Senior Cup first round game with Molesey. In the cold. But it still managed to capture the imagination of the Bostonians who brought four coach loads of supporters with them. Whisper it quietly, but they weren't far away from out-numbering the home fans. The K's team which took to the field was similar to the team defeated by Yeovil a few days ago, apart from the return of Phil Wingfield, in for the on-loan Richard Thompson.

And it was Wingfield who caused the first real excitement of the game. His left-wing cross was dropped by goalkeeper Bastock and Junior Kadi wasn't far away from connecting. Colin Luckett's shot shortly after was met with cries of derision from the masses behind the goal as it sped high, wide and ugly. Boston's first real chance came from a left-wing cross by Noteman, but was placed very wide by Rawle.

What turned out to be Boston's best chance of the game came and went moments later. Matt Crossley had headed a left-wing cross off for a corner, and the resultant cross was flicked on at the near post. The ball flew across the face of the goal, with at least seven players attempting, and failing, to connect. Any touch at all would have bulged the net, but as it was the ball carried on. It reached Noteman whose shot was blocked, then yet another shot was aimed at goal - this time it was Farrelly who cleared for a corner.

Wingfield soon linked up with Tarkan Mustafa, who was having another fine game, but a defender got to the ball just ahead of the wing-back to give K's another corner. Two minutes later, and Mustafa had yet another chance. Dwight Marshall was played through on the left and his cross-cum-shot reached Mustafa about four yards out. Inexplicably his shot went over. From four yards out. In front of goal. From four yards out.

The final chance of the half fell to Marshall, via Patterson, but his shot was tipped over for a corner. But nobody was really all that concerned. Boston hadn't looked threatening very often, and K's had produced enough chances to convince everybody that we'd be in the hat come 5.30. But it must have slightly concerned Chapple that nobody had yet managed to finish one off.

The half-time break provided the K's subs with a chance to play "hit the K's fan" as they hit all but one of their shots over the bar at the Kingston Road End. Junior Kadi, clearly wishing he could still be a sub and join in their games, joined in a few minutes later when he blasted the first chance of the second half over. Dwight Marshall managed a similarly poor effort just after when he connected with Colin Luckett's cross from the left. His right foot connected boot to ball, unfortunately it was the very edge of his boot which connected, sending the ball spinning twenty yards wide.

Referee Mr.D.Postles had been attempting to draw attention to himself by finding as many reasons as possible to blow his whistle. Then, with everybody standing waiting for K's to take a free-kick, he blew a loud blast, produced a yellow card and sprinted over to Geoff Pitcher and Gary Childs. Geoff's face was a pitcher as he pleaded innocence, it then turned to a slight smile when he saw that Childs was the recipient. Nobody knows why.

After K's had introduced Johnny Walker, Derek Allan crossed from the right to Dwight Marshall. Obviously fed up with shooting wide, this time the striker palmed the ball wide. Nothing like a bit of variety. Tarkan ran into the advert-wall as fast as he could and, contradicting the "great team spirit at K's" rumour, Farrelly took one look and got on with the game. It was left to Boston to kick the ball out and left Tarkan receive treatment. But he recovered quite quickly, and was involved in another chance to secure the win. He set Dwight Marshall free on the right, and his cross just cleared the far post. But with both Pitcher and Wingfield in the area a cross might have been a better choice.

The last of Boston's real chances fell to Rawle, possibly their best player on the day. His shot from the left skimmed across the goal with Farrelly diving. And then it was that K's realised that they still hadn't scored and that they really should do soon.

Wingfield was played through on the left, and had his shirt almost taken off his back. The referee put his whistle to his lips but, with Wingfield still on the ball decided to let the play continue. Whether having the ball out on the left with your back to goal is an advantage over having a free-kick on the edge of the area is debatable. Whatever, Wingfield managed to cross but saw Pitcher just clear the bar. Wingfield then had another chance, this time deep into injury time. Luckett's cross from the right met him 8 yards out, but his header went straight into Bastock's chest.

The final whistle was met with huge cheers from the Boston end, and with loud groans from the opposite one. K's had yet again played well enough to win but had failed to take their chances. Just out of interest, the record during Leworthy's suspension? Played 3, drew 1, lost 2, scored 0. Lack of strength in depth? Most definitely. Still, at least he'll be back for the replay.