Walton Casuals 1-2 Kingstonian
CASUAL WIN

Kingstonian faced the side of former manager Kim Harris for the third time since his departure from Kingsmeadow. Walton Casuals have started poorly this season, and the odds were certainly in Kingstonian's favour. And indeed, the result went the way of the hoops, but not as comfortably as it could have been. A first half drive from Mazin Ahmed and a 'right-place-at-the-right-time' winner from Scott Corbett were enough to see the visitors take all three points home.

Kingstonian started with Lodge, Ahmad and Lee in midfield, with Rose the lone man up front. Steve Potterill slotted into the defence to replace the injured Asher Hudson. Former K's players Jermaine Hinds and Greg Ball started for Walton, and Dave Ocquaye made a later appearance from the bench.

Walton made a bright start and Greg Ball forced a good save from Garrard just a couple of minutes into the game. Indeed, Kingstonian produced little to write home about in the opening exchanges. A couple of crosses and a tenuous penalty shout for a foul on Ahmad did little to cover the fact that Walton had the best of the first half hour, and it was ten minutes before the break when the home side broke the deadlock. Ball beat Steve Potterill to cross over the head of Garrard to Craig Carley. Unmarked at the far post, Carley found little difficulty slotting into the open net.

K's heads didn't drop and looked like scoring almost immediately from the restart. A few minutes later and Scott Corbett's header hit the post off a Martyn Lee corner. Lee ran in to pick up the rebound and his shot produced a fine diving save from Walton's Matthew Reid.

Photo: kingstonian.net

But it wasn't until stoppage time when K's levelled the scoreline. A Lee cross was headed out but only as far as Ahmad, who picked his spot in the bottom corner and blasted the equaliser in, leaving Reid no chance to get down in time.

The opening exchanges of the second half offered little for any neutrals present. The only real chance Walton had was from K's defender Symes. A well placed cross bounced nastily and rebounded of Symes towards goal, luckily hitting the post. The rebound hit Symes again, this time bouncing into the hands of Garrard.

Walton had most of the possession through most of the second half, but produced little to show for it. A couple of crosses gave Garrard little to worry about and K's looked likely to hold there nerve at the back. At the other end, K's produced a couple of good chances, and Sills had an excellent header tipped over the bar (below). But it was a cross from Ahmad that produced the eventual winner. Rose was nudged in the back going up for the ball, but no penalty was given. Lodge chested the ball back across the box to Corbett, who knocked the winner home.

Photo: kingstonian.net

Overall a strong performance from Kingstonian sends them up the table to 8th place. But it wasn't against the toughest opposition in the league, and it will take more for K's to move further up the league.

Photo: kingstonian.net