Kingstonian 1-3 Harrow Borough
HARROWING HALF

In a disjointed first half display Kingstonian found themselves three-nil down at half time having failed to come to terms with a lively Harrow attacking display. The deficit proved too much to surmount although they did pull one goal back before finally losing 3-1.

Kingstonian started the match with a back four featuring Joe Dolan, making his debut at centre half alongside Adam Thompson. In a scrappy opening to the match the only highlight in the early minutes was a looping Bird cross which landed on the top of the cross bar.

However it was not long before Harrow took the lead as Kingstonian failed to clear a corner properly in the 9th minute. As the ball was crossed back in the Harrow centre half, Dean Marney, bundled the ball in at the far post, managing to squeeze a header past Tolfrey.

Having conceded the opening goal Kingstonian managed to create a couple of half chances as Hall shot straight at the keeper and Sogbanmu shot high over the bar. Bird then drew a good save from the keeper with a well struck free kick from just outside the area. Quarm then brought an even better save from Jupp as he just managed to push a dipping shot round the post.

Notwithstanding these chances, Kingstonian were struggling to retain the ball and Harrow looked increasingly lively as an attacking force. With pace on both wings and good movement upfront they continued to cause problems and extended their lead in the 34th minute as Watts ran on to a misplaced pass from Quarm and severely punished this error by burying a 25 yard strike in the top left hand corner. Two minutes later a counter attack quickly developed into a three-on-one before the lone defender was cleverly taken out of the equation by an early ball in from the right which allowed Nakashima to finish cooly past Tolfrey.

With Harrow now playing with great confidence the half time whistle couldn't come soon enough for the home side.

Seizing the bull by the horns, Dowson made three changes at the start of the second half as Bird, Hamlin and Hall were replaced by MacDonanld, Clayton and Bolarinwa as Kingstonian moved back to their more familiar shape with three centre halves. They immediately started to look better balanced and more purposeful, no doubt also well motivated by some firm words at half time.

Kingstonian soon managed to pull a goal back as a long free kick into the Harrow area in the 52nd minute was met with a powerful header from Huckle whose goal-bound effort found the target via a deflection from the Borough left back, King.

The goal spurred the home side on and it now became Harrow who had trouble retaining the ball, as they started to defend deeper, not least because Bolarinwa was causing them trouble down both flanks. However, although they enjoyed much greater possession Kingstonian failed to make many chances as the muscular Harrow midfielder Leech in particular did well in protecting his back four. Infact the closest the K's came to scoring was again courtesy of a Borough defender as a cross cannoned off Walters drawing a very smart save from Jupp.

Following a succession of Harrow substitutions and the fact that Huckle looked like he was carrying an injury for the last 20 minutes of the game and had to soldier on with no further substitutions permissible, the game petered out as the away side comfortably held out for the final few minutes.