K’s Given A Dose of the Blues by Leiston
Watch the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy in full. Fly to New York City, make it through customs and check into your hotel. Play two and a half rounds of golf at a fairly steady pace. There are many things you could do with nine hours of your Saturday, but for the five hardy Ks fans who made the trip to Leiston, they spent it travelling to Suffolk and seeing their side threaten early before succumbing to a comfortable 2-0 defeat.
With Leigh Dynan finally able to pick a settled side, Ks fielded just one new face as former Hendon captain Kevin Maclaren made his Kingstonian debut in midfield in an experienced partnership with Marvin Elliot. As the game got underway (if you’re trying to timeline the day, this is around the time SPOILER Gandalf return from the dead in The Two Towers), Dynan’s side made a bright start. A neat passing move found Daniel Ajakaiye in the area; the striker created himself some space and got the shot away, only to see it bounce off the post and wide. That was to be as close as Ks game to beating longtime Suffolk-based custodian Marcus Garnham, in fact it was about the only threat the visitors posed for the entire first half as Marcus was just as much of a spectator as Ks’ famous five fans.
As Leiston began to control the deadline they broke the deadline after about one and a half holes of golf (19 minutes) as a good cross from the right found left winger Patrick Brothers who volleyed past Rob Tolfrey. While Tolfrey’s goal was hardly bombarded for the rest of the half, Ks certainly struggled to make it out of their own half, so it wasn’t a shock when Leiston doubled their lead just before the half time break. Daniel Ajakaiye was sloppy in possession, but even then there seemed little on when his pass was intercepted by Byron Lawrence. However just seconds later the Leiston midfielder had taken a touch and curled the ball into the far corner to all but end the contest.
Immediately after the restart, Leiston had the ball in the net again, but after the goal was ruled out for offside, Ks began to take control as the hosts were content to sit deep and let Ks knock the ball around in front of them. Despite heaps of possession, Ks were still relying on scraps and half-chances. Taylor Miles had a shot from distance comfortably saved by Garnham before Ks were somehow denied after a goalmouth scramble. Ajakaiye’s pace saw him find space down the left channel, his initial effort was blocked by Garnham and bounced inches away from the waiting Tom Derry; once the ball eventually fell to Ambrose Gnahore, his route to goal was blocked and effort deflected away. Similarly minutes later, a good run by Manu Gogonas caused problems in the Leiston box, and after another game of pinball, Ajakaiye fired over.
It was cold. It was long. And it was still much, much better than two rounds of golf.
Match report by Jamie Cutteridge.
