Kingstonian 2-0 Stamford
TROPHY SUCCESS
A throwback to recent history, and K's found themselves as a leading name in the FA Trophy. This time, being a First Round tie, Kingstonian, Hednesford and Marine entered the competition as the top non-exemption sides.
Craig Lewington started the game following a strong finish to his previous outing and Scott Steele made a welcome start after recent injury worries.
The opening minutes saw K's take the game to their Dr Martens league visitors. Stephen Broad crossed for Mark Beard only to see his flying header finger-tipped onto the angle of the woodwork by visiting 'keeper Ludek Michalik.
Michalik was called into action again just a minute later when Matt Elverson, up for a corner, saw his header brilliantly tipped around the post by the Czech goalkeeper.
There were further attempts on the Stamford goal by Stafford Browne and Scott Steele before the visitors started causing their own problems.
Photo: kingstonian.net
Dave Rainford had an effort blocked in a melee following a Lance Key save and the frantic action continued. Key's parry from Robbie Blowers' driving shot was cleared by Max Hustwick just as it looked as though Kevin Byrne might sneak in.
Midway through the half, a Kevin Ainslie corner was met by early substitute Richard Thompson before Key touched Gareth Pritchard's close range strike onto the post.
Kevin Byrne broke down the left and, ignoring his man in the middle, decided to take a strike on goal himself, only managing to hit the ball into the side netting.
A the other end, a casual Scott Smith cross was dealt with in equally casual manner by Michalik - the 'keeper almost spilling the ball behind him into his own net.
As it was, and after a half filled with goalmouth action, the sides somehow went in to the break level at half time.
The second period saw another bright start for K's, though with significant reward this time. A quick free kick on the right seemed poorly aimed until Scott Steele, falling off balance, managed to sneak a toe-end on to the ball to direct it into the path of Grant Payne. Fresh off his first of the season Payne calmly rolled the ball past Michalik to open the scoring.
Photo: kingstonian.net
Payne then found Liam Collins with a measured cross-field ball but the winger's ball was just intercepted on its way to Bashiru Alimi at the far post by Robbie Blowers.
Grant Payne was again at the heart of a move in the sixty fourth minute when he linked with Scott Smith, whose cross was bundled in by a combination of Liam Collins and Kevin Ainslie.
The result now confirmed, the pace of the match fell considerably and the chances dried up. Bar for one further opening the game was effectively over...
A casually taken free kick at the back by Matt Elverson and Max Hustwick saw a Stamford player steal in and break through on goal, only to be dispossessed by a last-ditch Max Hustwick recovery tackle.
An exciting game for both sides, with Stamford doing well to compose themselves after an early barrage to put together a good attacking spell of their own later in the first half. The second half was the difference, however, with Kingstonian securing their passage into the next round of the FA Trophy with relative comfort.
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Sat 1st Nov 2003 |
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Kingsmeadow Stadium |
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381 |
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FA Trophy 1st round |
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Kingstonian | 2 |
Payne, Collins |
Stamford | 0 |
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1 | Lance Key | | |
2 | Stephen Broad | | |
3 | Scott Smith | | |
4 | Matt Elverson | | |
5 | Max Hustwick | | |
6 | Bashiru Alimi | | |
7 | Craig Lewington | | 12 |
8 | Mark Beard | | |
9 | Grant Payne | | |
10 | Stafford Browne | | 17 |
11 | Scott Steele | | 14 |
12 | Billy Mead | | 7 |
14 | Liam Collins | | 11 |
15 | Mark Jones | | |
16 | Dave Timothy | | |
17 | Josh Francois | | 10 |
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Ali Kazemi |
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