Aveley match report
match report by Jamie Cutteridge
The first week of the World Cup featured a sprinkling of 0-0s in which both sides threatened to create chances and probably left feeling somewhat happy with a point. And so it was fitting that in, presumably, Kingstonian's first ever league game to clash with a World Cup fixture, that they got in on the '0-0 in which both sides threatened to create chances and probably left feeling somewhat happy with a point' act.
It's not that the game was boring, it had its ebbs and its flows, but it wasn't a game of clear cut chances, more of occasional moments when a goal might appear out of the ether.
Perhaps, for Kingston, this was enough. Hosts Aveley's good start to the season saw them lying third in the table, while Ks hadn't kept an Isthmian clean sheet on their travels since January, and so it looked like a tough start to the league life for Spencer Knight on paper (though he's clearly not a manager who cares what things look like on paper, as Corey Parchment dropped to the bench).
Despite the new man at the helm, it was mostly a familiar Ks lineup that took to Aveley's plastic pitch. Debutant Jason Bancroft was the only fresh face in the XI and did his best to put some shine on proceedings, with fleeting glimpses of magic, and consistent endeavour down the right.
As for the details, Sam Jackson made a couple of tidy first half saves without ever looking majorly threatened. Kieron Cadogan and Tyrese Owen both failed to get enough on ambitious volleyed efforts. The real moment of quality was a delightfully whipped cross from Michael Abnett which found the diving head of Declan Skura, who could only head over. A late Aveley chance was well dealt with by Jackson.
Aveley: Jonathan North, Jon Nzengo, Tom Stephen, Connor Witherspoon, Ryan Scott, Harry Gibbs, Ben Allen, Blaise Riley-Snow, George Sykes, Garrett Kelly, Kenny Aileru.
Subs: Emmanuel Dasho, Brendon Shabani, Benas Vaivada, Bryan Ifeanyi (for Kenny Aileru, 82m), Jamie Dicks (for Garrett Kelly, 80m).
Kingstonian: Sam Jackson, Declan Skura, Dwight Pascal, Jack Strange, Michael Abnett, Tyrese Owen, Kwesi Ntim, Lee Lewis, Kieron Cadogan, Jacob Bancroft, Sean Bonnett-Johnson.
Subs: Nodirbek Bobomurodov (for Jacob Bancroft, 80m), Corey Parchment (for Kwesi Ntim, 62m), Amine Sassi, Iker Noguera Leon, Finlay Johnson (for Kieron Cadogan, 83m).
Attendance: 323
