Kingstonian 0-1 Hampton & Richmond Borough
PLEASE GOD-FREY US FROM THIS MISERY

If Kingstonian's ownership and tax issues are not resolved and this does prove to be the last game of their 117 year history, then it is hard to imagine it ending in more of a low-key manner. In front of a derby crowd of just 307, Hampton beat Kingstonian 1-0 thanks to Elliot Godfrey's 78th minute strike in a game so dull that it rivalled even the 2003 Champions League Final for coma-inducing boredom.

Ian Dickens made his debut on the right of midfield, increasing K's player count for the season to 57. Martyn Lee was not in the match day squad and despite scoring last Saturday Phil Ruggles was dropped to the bench. Many of the players were familiar to each other though as Hampton boasted four former Kingstonian players and K's had a couple that have plied their trade at the Beaveree.

It took ten minutes for the first shot on goal to come but after Mark Torcaso had raced out to tackle Luke Fontana, Godfrey's attempt to finish from twenty-five yards went a long way wide of goal. Seven minutes later Jean-Serge Musungu got a useful cross in, but Dean Wells bravely cleared before Dickens could shoot.

A Ryan Ashe cross on twenty-eight minutes saw Matt Elverson's weak header easily gathered by Torcaso and on the half-hour mark a Mazin Ahmad twenty-yarder was half-blocked by Ashe allowing Kieron Drake to save comfortably at the near post.

Those were the only points of (negligible) interest in the first half, and after the break the second continued in the same vein. Craig Lewington was marshalling the Beavers' midfield well in front of their organised defence to stifle K's creativity, while Rob Paris and Richard Taylor were easily countering the threat of the Hampton front line. The sides were not particularly lacking in spirit but were very effectively cancelling each other out - in many ways a typical derby.

On 58 minutes Ahmad dribbled into the penalty area but Drake came off his line to claim his low cross. Two minutes later Luke Fontana broke down the left and squared for an unmarked Graham Harper but his shot would not have bothered Torcaso as much as anyone using the adjacant athletics track - the shot flew out of the ground.

Ruggles came on for Kenny Ojukwa but had no better luck in being served by K's midfield. On seventy minutes something of interest finally happened as Ashe got goal-side of Dickens from a Godfrey cross and the debutant brought him down for a penalty. Ashe managed to send Torcaso the wrong way but he put too much curl on the ball and it clipped the post on its way wide.

Eight minutes later Hampton did find the net. Lewington, never one to give up, went in hard to win the ball from Jamie Palmer. He found Harper on the right flank and Godfrey converted his low cross from close range. K's never looked like attacking, let alone scoring, and their night got even worse when a long ball sent Fontana through on goal and last man Bashiru Alimi brought him down. The inevitable consequence was a red card and the game fizzled out before eventually the referee put everyone out of their misery by blowing for full time.

With Dave Timothy injured, Alimi's forthcoming suspension will mean K's are once more without a left-sided midfielder to play left-back in the squad. Currently though that is the least of their problems and as the evening felt like everyone had other things on their mind rather than the increasingly desperate relegation situation. Positives are hard to find, though the team did defend well for three quarters of an hour and Jean-Serge Musungu was lively.

It was the sort of performance one may have expected last year when K's had a stingy defence but could not score. K's games have generally been more open this year though and the fans have come to at least expect lots of goals if not lots of points. It was only in the last quarter of the game that Hampton took control but ultimately they deserved their three points - after all, K's did not fire a shot in anger all game.

Attention in Kingston now turns once more to off-field matters. With the threat that Kingstonian could be suspended once more from the League seemingly a very real one, almost everyone at the club will be hoping to see Jimmy Cochrane take over the reigns this week. Once again, the ball is in Rajesh Khosla's court and all eyes are upon him.