Kingstonian 1-5 Folkestone Invicta
GOOD FOUR DRYDEN

Kingstonian said farewell to the Ryman Premier with another crushing home defeat against a mid-table side. That K's home form has been so poor this year - they have won just twice at Kingsmeadow compared to six times on the road in all competitions - is something of a mystery but today lack of support was certainly not a factor. With tickets given to all the children from the impressive Kingstonian Youth setup there was a noisy crowd of 486, comfortably the biggest of the season.

Kingsmeadow's final visitors of the season were Folkestone Invicta, a club still in mourning after the sudden and tragic death of striker Paul Sykes a mere fortnight ago. Both sets of supporters showed their generosity, with a bucket collection raising over £400 which was split equally between a memorial fund for Sykes and charities chosen by Kingston Mayor Ed Naylor.

Twice previously this season K's had made a bright start against the team who can count Michael Howard among their part-time supporters only to end up on the receiving end of a thrashing. Unfortunately for K's this game would prove to be no exception as K's hit the woodwork twice early on only for Invicta to run out five-one winners.

Unusually, K's made just one change to their line-up - injured centre-back Richard Taylor being replaced by Rob Paris. Just two minutes in K's fans must have been wondering if their team really is the unluckiest in football - in almost a mirror image of the closing moments of last weeks defeat at Chelmsford, a thirty yard Martyn Lee chip sailed over the goalkeepers head only to rebound off the inside of the upright.

Lee has been a consistent creative force all year and a splendid corner a minute later gave goalkeeper Tony Kessell more problems. Kenny Ojukwa met Lee's set piece and mountainous defender Rob Paris beat Kessell in the air. Luckily for Invicta, John Guest was able to clear off the line.

Dave Timothy also managed a useful shot on goal but rarely this term have K's looked solid at the back and it was only a splendid reaction save from shaggy-haired stopper Alan Hughes on thirteen minutes that stopped Stuart Myall's powerful header from putting the visitors into the lead. The resulting corner was missed by Hughes but Guest rushed at his shot and pulled it wide of the goal.

Set pieces have rarely been a source of much joy for K's in recent seasons but another Lee corner on 22 minutes almost saw the deadlock broken. Reid headed the ball right into the danger-zone and Kessell leapt well to tip Paris' header onto the crossbar. Four minutes later Lee went for goal with a free-kick and it deflected only narrowly wide.

One aspect of Hughes' play that has improved in recent weeks is his kicking. Shortly before the half-hour mark his enormous clearance caught Folkestone napping and Tony Reid's strength took him in on goal. Adam Flanagan's last-ditch tackle put him off enough to force his shot wide of the near post although Kingstonian had a reasonable shout for a penalty.

A glancing header which went just wide gave K's their first glimpse of James Dryden's attacking prowess - and by the time he had scored four goals an hour later, they were all too familiar with Folkestone's number 9.

The first of his quartet came just before half-time and was a killer blow for K's. Simon Glover fired the ball into the box, Dryden somehow got a head to it and it looped over Hughes' head into the back of the net leaving K's to curse their luck.

Luck had nothing to do with K's second half performance though, as the defensive floodgates opened for one last time in 2004/5. A big kick from Kessell bounced in behind the back four and Dryden calmly finished from a slight angle. Dryden's hat-trick was completed on fifty-seven minutes with an unmarked tap-in after an excellent run down the right by Myall and a pinpoint low cross.

The gloom was briefly lifted for K's on 75 minutes, when Lee curled a free kick into the far corner which would have graced the Premiership. Mazin Ahmad terrorised Invicta with some positive and creative running but defensively K's were too shaky and after a long throw-in was not cleared Joe Neilsen slammed the ball home from close range to put Folkestone 4-1 up.

Glover might have made it five when he rounded Hughes but instead he was felled by Jon Coke and it was Dryden who had the honour from the spot-kick. It marked an inglorious end to an abysmal season at Kingsmeadow but there is clear talent in the squad and Ian McDonald must now spend the summer moulding it into a unit that can bounce straight back from whichever division K's are relegated to.