K's Roll Over the Rocks
A familiar pattern for Kingstonian seasons has been to make a flying start with the sunny weather and carpet-like pitches of August and September, only to get bogged down in the Isthmian quagmire once winter arrives.
This season has been quite the opposite, however. The early months of the season were a complete disaster but as the weather has turned for the worse, Ks' form has done the opposite, and they showed they can cope with the toughest of conditions in beating Bognor Regis Town 4-1 despite 90 minutes of torrential rain.
And as well as coping with adversity from the weather, they also coped with conceding an early goal. In just the fourth minute of the game, Dan Smith got in front of his marker to turn a Tommy Scutt cross past Rob Tolfrey.
It augured badly as a bad result would have left Ks three games without a win but the deficit lasted a mere three minutes. Sean Clohessy found James Daly on the right and then rather than crossing, the youngster cut inside and curled the ball around goalkeeper Dan Lincoln from the corner of the penalty box, a goal almost as good as his recent effort at Enfield.
And by the 18th minute Ks had turned the game completely on its head. A Lincoln clearance only reached Shaun McAuley about 35 yards out and he carried the ball forward before powering home from the edge of the box.
Another fine goal saw Ks go 3-1 to the good, a Delano Sam-Yorke header and an Elliott Buchanan backheel setting up Louie Theophanous who drove past Lincoln.
Bognor missed a couple of good chances just after the break but Ks wrapped the game up with a fine free kick from Buchanan, curled into the top corner. Now it seemed as if only the weather could deny them, the rain remaining relentless as Lewes and Whitehawk saw their games called off. But the pitch held up well enough and Ks moved back into a playoff position with a vital win.
Kingstonian: Rob Tolfrey, Sean Clohessy, Jay Gasson, Ben Dempsey, Dean Inman, Tommy Brewer, James Daly, Shaun McAuley, Elliott Buchanan, Delano Sam-Yorke, Louie Theophanous.
Subs: Aaron Lamont (for Shaun McAuley, 56m), Temi Eweka (for Tommy Brewer, 50m), Manolis Gogonas (for Dean Inman, 75m), Josh Kyte.
Bognor Regis Town: Dan Lincoln, Harvey Whyte, Joe Tomlinson, Doug Tuck, Chad Field, Ed Sanders, Tommy Scutt, Tommy Block, Dan Smith, Jimmy Muitt, Bradley Lethbridge.
Subs: Josh McCormick (for Tommy Scutt, 67m), Charlie Osborne (for Bradley Lethbridge, 72m).
Goal scorers: Dan Smith (4m, 0-1), James Daly (7m, 1-1), Shaun McAuley (18m, 2-1), Louie Theophanous (28m, 3-1), Elliott Buchanan (58m, 4-1).
Attendance: 310
