K’s Turn On The Style to Defeat Hendon
Kingstonian went some way to easing the pressure of the league table with perhaps their best performance of the season – certainly their most dominant – in recording a 4-1 win away to Hendon.
With a tidy new ground of their own and a 3G pitch Hendon offered a glimpse into what Ks might aspire to for their own off-field future – albeit overlooked by a large temple brightly lit up for Diwali, rather than by the Vampire Ride.
On the pitch though, the home side found Ks tough to contain, especially in the first half. Ryan Moss had an early sight of goal but couldn’t lob Billy Collings but it was the combination of Youssef Bamba and Joe Turner that Hendon were really unable to handle.
Three times in the first half Bamba whipped in crosses from the right towards Turner, drifting in to the far post. The first bounced awkwardly and Turner could only direct it wide, the second time he headed on to the bar but at the third time of asking he got it right, beating Collings with a downward header before getting himself soaked with beer as he celebrated with the fans.
Then on the half hour mark Ks added a quite extraordinary second, when Aaron Lamont looked up from thirty yards out and saw Collings off his line. He beat him with a fine long-range shot, perhaps the equal of his goal at VCD in September.
Ks fans had barely even registered the two goal lead when their team added a third a minute later. Bamba was felled, Turner whipped a free kick in and Lee O’Leary stole in to glance a header past Collings.
The second half was never going to live up to the first (at least not on the pitch; off it the delirious Ks fans went through the full repertoire of songs along with a new one taught by three new fans from Canada). Nonetheless Moss forced a good save from Collings and Bamba volleyed a fourth when Hendon failed to properly clear a corner, a deserved reward for a fine performance.
A late consolation from Niko Muir did little to dampen the mood from an impressive Kingstonian performance that should do much to boost their confidence.
Match report by Simon Grier.
