Kingstonian FC

There are tonnes of theories about the outside variables on Kingstonian performances; one suggests that Ks don't play well both with the wind (we overhit all of our passes) and against the wind (for more obvious reasons). Other theories involve the position of the sun, the angle of rain and whether Tommy Williams was seen wearing his flat cap pre-match.

But one theory stands tall above every other - Ks are a summer side. The Kingsmeadow fans have seen enough August booms and January busts, March runs following December swoons to know that when the pitches get boggy, we're liable to struggle; because for every Harold Odamatey, rampaging through the swamps of Essex, Ks have players like Pico, Bennett and Andre who, quite literally, get bogged down as pitches churn up.

And so, on a glorious March Saturday, Kingstonian's season was reignited with a 5-2 win over Harrow Borough. It took only 23 seconds to banish the winter blues. George Wells (another player who enjoyed a good winter) charged forward, exchanged passes with McCollin and took advantage of the huge hole in Harrow's rearguard to smash home. Minutes later it was two as some neat interplay between Ty Smith and Joe Turner found Pico in the box who made no mistake. And, within ten minutes of kickoff, it was three - Ty Smith ran onto a clever Pico backheel and fired low into the far corner to the delight and bemusement of the home support.

Ten minutes in, and it was game over.

The rest of the game fell into the pattern familiar of games declared over so early. Little in the way of urgency - one team knows the job is done, the other knows a comeback is unlikely. It's not that Ks didn't press- Joe McDonnell in the Harrow goal seemed intent on stopping Andre scoring. The only incident of note in the rest of the first half was a nasty looking injury to Sam Page, which, although not a broken foot as originally feared, could keep the Ks defender out for a while.

The second half did not start with the sheer madness of the first, but within ten minutes, Ks had a fourth, Pico taking advantage of some hilarious attempts at clearances to finish with a clever backheel. A fifth was added when Spencer McCall gave the ball away cheaply and a fine run from Pico down the left set up Reece Beckles, whose shot took a deflection but looped home. Harold had the chance to claim the goal for himself, but he later informed us that "you've got to have some integrity."

Oddly, it took the fifth goal to send Ks to sleep and wake Harrow up. Fejiri Okenabirhie enjoyed an odd 90 seconds as he fired wide with the goal gaping before beating Rob Tolfrey with what the young Harrow fans who livened up the second half would call 'an absolute worldie'. Harry Newman added a second as time wound down but the game was long gone. If the weather holds up, maybe Ks will be ok. Shorts and flip flops for the rest of the season, it is.

Match report by Jamie Cutteridge.