Lewes 1-5 Kingstonian
DOWN THE PAN

Whilst most people involved in the ongoing soap opera that is the "World of Kingstonian" had their attentions focused on AFC Wimbledon's first appearance on the hallowed (relaid) turf at Kingsmeadow, down on the south coast a K's XI were playing a bit part taking on newly promoted (who weren't from Ryman 3 last season) Lewes at the brilliantly named Dripping Pan. The only recognisable first team faces on show were striker Ronnie Green, goalkeeper Adrian Jones and fringe players Matt Bradford, Mark Royal and David Ocquaye although several of the others in the starting line up have seen pre-season action this year.

It didn't take long for the handful of K's fans who had made the journey in a crowd of barely a hundred (and that being generous) to realise that the reserves' defence is just as likely to have "lapses" as the first team are. In fact the home side could, and probably should, have been two goals up inside 90 seconds. Bradford, central defensive partner Dan Hopkins and Jones got in a mess and ended in a tangle allowing Germaine Emmanuel a chance who couldn't control his effort and seconds later the same player was guilty again. He did however take advantage in the 13th minute when played in by Graham Green, who caused the K's defence problems all night and beat Jones comfortably for the opening goal.

After a shaky start, where the game was played almost constantly in the K's half, the XI began to get in the game a little more but the final ball was always lacking - while Graham Green continued to threaten at the other end. His surging run into the box nearly brought number two after he did all of the hard work and laid the ball into Ross Venables who, with the goal gaping, scuffed his shot and gave Bradford enough time to recover and clear off the line.

Out of nothing and after withstanding a lot of pressure from a well organised and pacey home side K's nearly equalised. Luke Milner put in a peach of a cross and Mark Royal's powerful header looked goal bound until goalkeeper Ross spectacularly tipped it onto the bar and Ocquaye headed the rebound just wide.

But Jones was still by far the busiest keeper. He had to adjust his position to handle a deflected Green shot from distance but dealt with it comfortably. But at the break Lewes were, despite their dominance of possession were only one goal to the good. How things would change...

The second half started in perfect circumstances, slack marking from K's after clearing a set piece saw the ball played back in and captain Mark Cable arrived at the back post to plant a header past the stranded Jones.

K's first real chance was created when Ronnie Green - who was left chasing lost causes all night - finally got a decent ball to latch onto. He got in the box, rounded the keeper and rolled the ball goal wards but there was a defender on the line to clear. Had that gone in then the game could have been a different story but there was only ever going to be one winner when Bradford fouled John Palmer and Chris Dicker put away the resultant penalty.

Suddenly though, still with 20 minutes left, a hopeful punt into the Lewes box from Luke Milner found Carl Dennis' head and he did very well to loop it over the goalkeeper to cut the deficit. Any hopes of a comeback were soon quashed though, when Cable added his second from a left wing corner.

By now Lewes' fitness was beginning to tell and it could have been even worse for K's had a combination of better finishing, last ditch defending and a couple of smart saves from Jones not kept the score down to 4. Darren Gearing was unlucky to see his chip come back off the bar before the final nail in K's coffin came. Gearing had been allowed to run 40 yards before slipping the ball to Mark McBride who completed the rout.

5-1 was probably a fair reflection on the dominance of Lewes who at times played some good football on a bumpy pitch. K's didn't really get going and all too often the forwards were left to plough a lone furrow up front. The final ball was lacking and in the last 15 minutes the home side's superior fitness was a telling factor. Not forgetting that there were several regular reserve players in the first team squad at Kingsmeadow and players such as Tim Sills, Craig Rocastle and Bash Alimi were unavailable, it was in fact an achievement in itself just to be able to get out two "squads" on the same night.