K’s Slump to Disappointing Defeat
"Sometimes football is hard to explain", I wrote last week after the 7-0 win over Met Police. And it certainly doesn't seem any easier seven days down the line, with an unchanged team barely showing up at the Harry Abrahams stadium. Make no mistake, the mere 2-1 scoreline flattered Ks.
It was a hot day and both sides struggled badly for energy. Richard Jolly headed wide early on but then the game went incredibly quiet, neither side making much of an impact. And then, quite out of the blue Wingate scored midway through the half, and it never looked like Ks would get back into the game.
A cross came in from Ks' left flank, Billy Healey stole in to get there first and with Elvijs Putnins in no-man's land the finish was a simple one. Heaney came close again before the break, heading narrowly over.
Whatever Tommy Williams said at half time went in one ear and out the other, as almost immediately on the resumption of play Ks went missing and the ball was squared to give Healey a simple tap-in.
Wingate continued to look the better side, and Putnins saved well from a Rob Laney free kick and then from Karl Oliyide.
Williams replaced Jolly and Peter Dean with Ricky Sappleton and Malachi Hudson, a change which led only to a slight improvement but eleven minutes from time, quite against the run of play, Ks pulled one back. Hudson was instrumental, making a strong run into the box and then steering the ball low across the box for Dan Bennett to finish with confidence.
Putnins saved well again from Meshach Williams before Ks tried to grab what would have been a barely-deserved winner in injury time. Bobby Smith did well to push out a free kick from his Ks namesake Ty, and Bennett drilled the rebound into the box only for the hosts to clear.
Match report by Simon Grier.
