Kingstonian 0-2 Hednesford Town
TOWN NEIL IN HOMAGE TO DAVIS

Before the game, studying the Conference Form Guide was a bit worrying for the home side. The last three league games had seen no points collected for K's, with no goals being scored either (the last one was on November 6th - don't tell anyone will you?!). Hednesford though, hadn't had the best of times either, with just one win in their last three. So it looked like being a case of whoever was worse would lose, rather than the better side winning and all that.

Joe O'Connor had obviously impressed Chapple with his brace against Portfield in midweek as he immediately took over from the suspended Gary Patterson to give K's better looking (in numbers) attacking options. Alongside him were Eddie, Leworthy and Wingfield, so there looked to be no way that K's would sit back for this one, and an exciting match should have been in prospect. But still not exciting enough to encourage more than 903 soles to leave their Christmas shopping until a few days later.

The early signs were good though when Tarkan had a shot which flew not far wide. He then played a quick one-two with Kenny Brown - seemingly playing in a central midfield role - and crossed to Phil Wingfield. His header was well placed to the bottom right of goal, but Phil Morgan did well to palm away for a corner. Derek Allan then almost broke the deadlock when he headed a left-wing Hednesford corner just inches over the K's bar.

Neil Davis did manage to score though when, on 22 minutes he collected a Stuart Lake pass. His shot from the right-hand corner of the box wasn't the best, but it was good enough to beat Farrelly and Hednesford had the lead. This was followed shortly after by a sustained period of Kingstonian pressure. Firstly Matt Crossley found himself 6 yards out with the ball at his feet and with the Hednesford defence AWOL. Unfortunately Kimmins (who had played the entire K's attack onside) was still somewhat out of position on the goal-line, and Crossley's shot went straight at him. He should have done better, but then he is a centre-half.

O'Connor, playing against his old team, then headed a good Mustafa cross wide at the far-post when he really might have been expected to have dope better. But he was given the perfect chance to make amends just after. A poor back header from Lake fell well short of the goalkeeper and O'Connor darted in. His lob looked good. That is, it looked good until it hit the bar and bounced back into Morgan's grateful grasp.

In between these efforts Farrelly was forced to make another impressive save when Davis headed perfectly into the top-right hand corner. Yet at the break it was still just one-nil. With most of the possession K's must have been a mite-upset to be behind. But then they're probably getting used to it by now.

Wingfield headed the first chance of the second period over when he connected with another Mustafa cross. Then a few moments later he managed to set up the second goal of the game. A poor pass to Leworthy was cut out by Brindley, who then played a long hoof/accurate pass (delete as applicable) down the line. Davis collected and was clean through on goal. He made no mistake as his shot went across Farrelly's diving body to give Hednesford a clear lead.

Luke Basford came on for the injured Phil Wingfield, yet the winger managed to cause problems for K's even while hobbling along the touchline. Pitcher had collected the ball in the centre of the pitch and looked up to see Wingfield totally free on the left. The pass was a good one, yet Wingfield was clearly off the pitch when it was made, and he (quite rightly) could only stand and watch the ball go out for a throw. Oops.

O'Connor almost made amends for his two earlier efforts when he struck a good shot after a Junior Kadi pass. The shot was powerful, but went straight into Morgan's stomach. Yet there were still chances at the other end, most notably when Kelly struck a sweet volley from 20 yards which struck the K's upright.

And so the whistle ended yet another disappointing performance from K's. They probably had most of the possession, and maybe even the most chances, yet they once again couldn't find the target. Joe O'Connor did nothing wrong on his debut, but didn't look overly impressive, yet it is still early days. Put simply, K's lost to the better team. They might have been thinking of promotion just a few weeks ago, yet those thoughts must now be a million miles away.