Kingstonian win 8-7 on penalties
K's go through on penalties
match report by Jamie Cutteridge.
Penalties provided drama that the 90 minutes scarcely deserved, as Kingstonian squeaked past Knaphill in the Surrey Senior Cup. A few injuries, a postponed first attempt at playing and ‘draconian’ (not my words!) regulations led to Ks blooding a few youngsters, and thus, coupled with a (*checks the football cliché handbook*) spirited performance from the hosts led to an even (at times, boring) 90 minutes.
In fact, practically nothing of note happened for the first 75 minutes. Actually, it’s not true to say practically nothing happened, literally nothing happened until Knaphill nabbed the ball in midfield, broke and eventually the ball made its way to Felix Ahorlu at the back post who fired past Rob Tolfrey to move ‘shock’ from ‘possible’ to ‘very much on the cards.
Unfortunately for the hosts, this prodded Kingstonian into action. A brilliant Elliot Buchanan free kick struck the frame of the goal nudged the game into ‘one of those nights’ territory before Mr Dependable, Tommy Brewer, popped up at the opposite end to normal to poke the ball into the net to send the game to penalties.
Doughty, McAuley and Brewer got Ks off to a good start in the shootout, while Tolfs kept up his end of the bargain by keeping out Knaphill’s second kick. Sadly, Elliot Buchanan was denied and despite Theophanous scoring, we headed to sudden death. Eweka, Lamont, Gogonas and youngster Owen Coleman all remained cool enough to score, and eventually the pressure told on the hosts, as Tolfrey, who had earlier bundled a penalty into his net it looked easier to save, blocked Knaphill’s 9th effort to send Ks through to the next round.
Knaphill: Kevin Wheller, Carl Bower, Jack Leighton, Yosof el-Aramani, Matthew Kellett-Smith, George Rowley, Felix Arhorlu, George Frise, Sheridan Campbell, Jacob McDonald, Eugene Hagan Morgan.
Subs: Luke Whiddett, Aaron Holt, Jordan Hector Smith, Hamid Kanu, Josh Barry (for Eugene Hagan Morgan, 85m).
Kingstonian: Rob Tolfrey, Manolis Gogonas, Jay Gasson, Aaron Lamont, Temi Eweka, Tommy Brewer, Jay Hawkins, Shaun McAuley, Elliott Buchanan, Alfie Doughty, Owen Coleman.
Subs: Alex Vickers, Alfie Freeman, Louie Theophanous (for Jay Hawkins, 55m), Josh Kyte.
Goal scorers: Felix Ahorlu (75m, 1-0), Tommy Brewer (80m, 1-1)
Penalty shoot-out: Alfie Doughty scored (1-0), Sheridan Campbell scored (1-1), Tommy Brewer scored (2-1), Jack Leighton saved, Shaun McAuley scored (3-1), Felix Ahorlu scored (3-2), Elliott Buchanan saved, Yosof el-Aramani scored (3-3), Louie Theophanous scored (4-3), Carl Bower scored (4-4), Aaron Lamont scored (5-4), Jacob McDonald scored (5-5), Temi Eweka scored (6-5), Josh Barry scored (6-6), Manolis Gogonas scored (7-6), George Frise scored (7-7), Owen Coleman scored (8-7), George Rowley saved.
Attendance: 94
