Banstead Athletic 0-4 Kingstonian
SECONDS PLEASE

The last time Kingstonian travelled to play Banstead - back in 2004 - the club was in the gutters, and the issue of being able to raise a team to fulfil the fixture was an all too serious one. This return to Merland Rise this season proved all the more pleasant - not quite as cold (despite a brief snow shower) and more than enough players wanting to take to the field.

Bashiru Alimi remained the one constant in the two games, whilst the hunger of the current side saw a number of frustrated players not taking to the starting eleven. The creative forced of Mazin Ahmad and Martyn Lee were benched whilst Tony Reid and Paul Wetherall joined the ranks on the terraces. Steve Symes returned at left back and Jon Coke took to the right, whilst recent signing Charley Side was given his full debut alongside James Rose and Kenny Ojukwa.

Ojukwa and Rose combined in the early stages, only for the latter to scoop his shot into the clutches of home goalkeeper Andrew Parkinson. Ojukwa saw an effort of his own - a header - sail harmless wide of goal. Meanwhile, at the other end Alan Hughes was quick off his line to deny Bobby George a sight on goal.

A deep free kick from Richard Taylor was well brought down by Rose on the quarter hour mark, from where the ball broke to Side inside the box. The striker was denied at close range as Parkinson parried his snapshot away for a corner.

A couple of potentially dangerous moments passed at either end, first with Joe Garner clearing from underneath his crossbar before Alan Hughes escaped unpunished when missing a high ball delivered down the middle.

James Rose saw a shot blocked at point blank range by an opponent's arms in the box, but having been turned down, K's got the penalty at the second time of asking when a Bashiru Alimi corner was handled by Kwabena Agyei. Rose saw his kick saved, but Alifie Bonso was adjudged to have encroached and so the striker put away the spot kick to open the scoring. Bonso was in the process booked for his lively protestations.

Only minutes later, Charley Side wriggled through a sandwich of opposing players to poke a clever strike into the bottom corner of the net. The home players had little chance to react as the margin suddenly widened to two goals.

Bobby George had a chance to pull a goal back just before the break when carving out some space for a shot on the edge of a box, but flashed a disappointing effort past the target.

George was again in the midst on the other side of the interval when squaring a dangerous ball back across goal for Agyei, but his effort was even worse than his teammate's a quarter of an hour earlier.

With the sting being taken out of the game, some of the A's players got increasingly frustrated and George was involved in a collision which infuriated Scott Corbett. Having been cautioned for this misdemeanour, the lively forward took what the referee adjudged to be a hopeful tumble in the box and walked for his troubles.

Alifie Bonso joined his with just over ten minutes remaining after hacking down substitute Martyn Lee on the touchline to receive his second caution of the game too.

The nine men might have fancied their chances of keeping the score down to two, given that a pair of flashed efforts from Rose and Corbett were all that Kingstonian had shown in front of goal in the second half. It was not to remain so, as Lee charged down the left again to deliver a telling cross for Rose to power into the back of the net for his second goal of the game.

Having seen Lee's involvement, fellow substitute Mazin Ahmad marked his appearance on the scene with a speciality corner that flew straight in to make the score four-nil with the final kick of the game.

K's have established themselves as the most potent side on their travels in the league this season, yet this was still a tough test given their record against struggling sides. Having struck in quick succession towards the end of the first half, the game was theirs to control, and whilst no more goals seemed coming, the second half sending offs may have given them an extra impetus to get the late goals. Maybe just as well, too, as the division is a tight one and the goal difference looks a lot better following the biggest league win of the season.