Croydon Athletic 0-4 Kingstonian
K'S HIT CROYDON FOR FOUR

Croydon Athletic's shoestring squad, cobbled together after the departure of many of their high-earning stars, had shown themselves to be a competent opponent in recent weeks. They were no match for Ks though, who brushed them aside to secure their first four-goal margin of victory in a league game for over a year.

A Dean Lodge strike on the counter-attack was all that separated the teams in a tight first half but Ks fully controlled the second, with Bobby Traynor, Lodge and Carl Wilson-Denis each adding another as Ks made it a four-nil rout. All has not been happy at Kingsmeadow in recent weeks but such an emphatic win will be a big boost for the confidence of fans and players alike. Furthermore, draws for Sutton and Lowestoft mean the result returns Ks to the summit of the Ryman League.

Lodge and Traynor missed the target with early headers but Ks had not significantly threatened the Rams' goal before Lodge gave them the lead on eighteen minutes. It came from a chance for the home side, but when a free kick crashed into the wall, Lodge's pace took him clear of the defence on the counter-attack and he casually slotted it past Simon Locke to put Ks one to the good.

The remainder of the first half did not feature many chances, and although Ks had a number of corners, it was Athletic who came closest to scoring. Rob Tolfrey did well to push a driven effort onto the post and made another smart save from ex-Ks man Reggie Savage to ensure that Alan Dowson's men went into the break ahead.

Tolfrey's woodwork was struck again early in the second half but Ks increasingly took control of proceedings to record a convicing victory. Questions have been raised about Traynor's form of late but this is a striker whose blips are always temporary and he scored arguably his best goal of the season to double the visitors' advantage. The lively Sam Clayton found Lodge, who picked Traynor out with a through-ball before the league's golden boot winner fired powerfully into the bottom corner.

Three minutes later, the home side self-destructed when an errant back-pass fell straight to Lodge, who calmly beat Locke from close range to make the result safe. Tobi Jinadu headed narrowly wide as he sought his first goal for the club before Wilson-Denis completed the rout twelve minutes from time. Lodge was played through on goal and had the chance to complete his hat-trick, but unselfishly squared for the tall striker who found the back of the net for the first time since August. Locke saved well from the returning Simon Huckle late on but Ks were nonetheless delighted with the four goal win.