Harrowing times
At what point does a bit of bad luck turn into a slide and then turn into a slump? Perhaps Kingstonian are about to find out.
The side have now taken one point from the twelve available, since scoring nine past Cray Wanderers, following their 1-0 defeat at struggling Harrow Borough.
For all of the Ks’ pressure and hard work the best chances fell to the hosts whose win came courtesy of a first half penalty from Garry Jones following Ian Gayle’s clumsy trip of former-K Charles Ofosu-Hene. Ofosu-Hene was the main threat to Ks for most of the game and brought an uncharacteristically poor performance out of Aaron Gayle who was caught out of position for the penalty after being let off earlier in the half when his slip allowed Simeon Akinola the freedom of the Ks’ half, only to sky his effort over.
At the other end, Ks were limited to efforts from the edge of the Harrow area in the first half. Matt Pattison and Nathan Koranteng forced strong saves out of the home keeper Ross Fitzsimons, while Pattison’s drive hit the outside of the post and Goode’s poked effort was scrambled off the line.
The second half saw fewer chances. Ks best moment came from Lewis Taylor’s shot which flew off the angle of post and bar while both Ofusu-Hene and Akinola were guilty of spurning glorious chances to kill the game off.
The moment of controversy came when Fitzsimons went down after collecting a cross, dropped the ball, and Paul Vines stabbed home. However Fitzsimons claimed he was injured and the referee brought the game back, to the bemusement of Vines and the Ks fans behind the goal.
In truth it would have been an undeserved equaliser, but such a moment of fortune seemed the most likely avenue to an equaliser, with a late chance falling onto the head of Rob Tolfrey of all people.
Something is amiss with Kingstonian at the moment. The squad is good enough to make the playoffs, the question remains whether they will.
Report: Jamie Cutteridge