Horsham 0-1 Kingstonian
For the second week in a row, the heroics of Rob Tolfrey helped Ks to hang on to a lead late in the game after his outfield teammates had squandered chances to put it beyond doubt. That it came against his former club would have made it all the more enjoyable for the goalkeeper, whose former manager John Maggs angered many at Kingsmeadow by hinting that the move to Ks was motivated by money.
Ks had had the better of the game, on a pitch that was far from fit for semi-professional football, but squandered opportunities to add to the lead gained by a Carl Wilson-Denis header. In a similar fashion to the previous week's encounter with Margate, Ks were nearly made to pay, as the home side increasingly dominated proceedings the more the game went on. Like the Kent side though, Tolfrey continually frustrated them, while on this occasion the woodwork also came to Ks' rescue.
Alan Dowson was in a jovial mood after the game, with results elsewhere largely going largely Ks' way as they solidified their playoff berth and gained ground on leaders Dartford. The Genial Geordie was happy to laugh off his recent and somewhat bewildering prediction that Ks would do well to finish tenth, and while the tone of his promotion prediction was very much in jest, there has to be a growing confidence in the squad that at the very least a second consecutive promotion is a genuine possibility.
Neither side adapted well to the conditions in the early stages but after a boring first half-hour, the visitors took the lead. Craig Bradshaw parried a powerful Luke Hickie shot wide but Bobby Traynor picked up the resulting set piece on the corner of the box and Wilson-Denis climbed above Steve Sargeant to head home from barely a yard with Bradshaw stranded.
Wilson-Denis had a great chance to double Ks' advantage five minutes later after a ball over the top from Christian Jolley, but on his wrong foot, he skewed a weak effort wide of the goal. Horsham's attempts to pull level before the break proved ill-fated when Claude Seanla fired wide and Sargeant put an effort well over the top from distance.
The second half was more action-packed, though unfortunately for Ks, the majority of the action took place in their half. Horsham saw more of the ball and created more of the pressure, though Ks did remain a threat on the counter-attack and themselves missed a number of good chances. The first of these fell to Simon Huckle, played in by Traynor after an excellent break down the right, but despite being on his weaker left foot he should have done better than to fire wide.
Tolfrey saved well from Sargeant and Sam Tucknott before Ks missed another good counter-attack chance, when Hickie fired over after Traynor had dummied a through ball by substitute Dean Lodge.
The Hornets ramped up the pressure, with John Fletcher deflecting an effort over his own bar, Tolfrey saving well with his legs from Pat Harding and Tucknott coming closer than anyone when he finally beat Tolfrey only to see his effort rebound off the crossbar.
Against Margate, a Dean Lodge goal finally relieved the late barrage of pressure and history nearly repeated itself when the diminutive substitute broke free, only for Bradshaw to thwart his efforts at rounding him. This meant Ks would have to endure further pressure to secure the three points but Tolfrey tipped Tony Nwachuku's effort over and the visitors survived a couple of late goalmouth scrambles to record another vital win on the road.
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Sat 6th Feb 2010 |
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Gorings Mead (Horsham YMCA) |
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424 |
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Isthmian League Premier |
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Horsham | 0 |
Kingstonian | 1 |
Wilson-Denis |
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1 | Rob Tolfrey | | |
2 | Matt Gray | | |
3 | John Fletcher | | |
4 | Adam Thompson | | |
5 | Francis Duku | | |
6 | Simon Huckle | | |
7 | Luke Hickie | | |
8 | Mo Harkin | | 16 |
9 | Bobby Traynor | | 14 |
10 | Carl Wilson-Denis | | 12 |
11 | Christian Jolley | | |
12 | Dean Lodge | | 10 |
14 | Max Hustwick | | 9 |
15 | Rob Sheridan | | |
16 | Lee Hall | | 8 |
17 | Grant Fisher | | |
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Simon Grier |
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