Hornchurch match report
With Operation Miraculous Survival unexpectedly completed, K's could go into this match with promotion chasing Hornchurch in a relaxed mood. The Urchins, on the other hand, having seen Bishop's Stortford claim the championship in midweek, needed to better or equal Canvey Island's result in order to claim home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
K's welcomed Corey Parchment into the team after his awful shoulder injury from December, whilst Iker Noguera Leon still hadn't stopped floating after his part in Thursday's Isthmian Youth League practically-title-deciding win over Woking two days previously and having been voted as K's Supporters Club Player of the Year.
K's took an early 7th minute lead in the contest from the spot when Nathan Bertram-Cooper was adjudged to have fouled Tom Collins in the penalty area. the K's number nine picking himself up and converting the kick
The lead didn't last long, seven minutes to be precise, and whilst it was an outstanding finish, K's will have disappointed at having allowed defender Jamie Mascoll to advance so far and so quickly down the left before the full back slammed the ball under Rob Tolfrey for a stunning equaliser.
Hornchurch had more of the game from then on, but K's were definitely holding their own against one of the best squads in the division. Quite typically for Ks' season, the goal that defeated them was a severely weird one when in the 65th minute a cross from the left from Mascoll found Ade Yusuff at the far post. His close-range effort towards goal was seemingly cleared off the line, but the assistant referee immediately gave a goal, which left most people in the ground thoroughly dumbfounded.
The game finally took on that end-of-season-thankfully-the-pain-is-over feel - Rob Tolfrey continued to do Rob Tolfrey things and make some impossible saves, Hornchurch pressed for a third goal but it never came. The win ensured Hornchurch's second place in the table so it didn't matter, whilst K's were already guaranteed what seemed to be an impossibly-high-at-one-stage 18th place.
18th place is something that shouldn't really be celebrated, it means that things went wrong and mistakes were made, but K's got away with it, and we have the opportunity to rebuild a level higher than was feared for much of this campaign. Meanwhile, thanks have to go to our current management team and current squad of new players, old players, loanees, youngsters, oldsters, the job they did was sensational.
Kingstonian: Rob Tolfrey, Corey Parchment, Ibrahim Bangura, Emmanuel Adebiyi, Matt Drage, Alex Solomon, Lee Lewis, Charlie Greenwood, Tom Collins, David Nyarko, Darnell Goather-Braithwaite.
Subs: Sean Bonnett-Johnson, Keane Anderson (for Charlie Greenwood, 72m), Alex MacAllister (for David Nyarko, 59m), Michael Abnett (for Corey Parchment, 55m), Iker Noguera Leon
Hornchurch: Lamar Joseph-Johnson, Mickey Parcell, Jamie Mascoll, Nathan Bertram-Cooper, Jordan Clark, Tom Wraight, Ellis Brown, Lewwis Spence, Sam Higgins, Ollie Muldoon, Ola Ogunwamide.
Subs: Joe Wright, Charlie Stimson (for Sam Higgins, 66m), Ade Yusuff (for Ellis Brown, 60m), Joe Christou, Chris Dickson (for Ola Ogunwamide, 60m).
Goal scorers: Sam Collins (7m pen, 1-0), Jamie Mascoll (13m, 1-1), Ade Yusuff (65m, 1-2)
Attendance: 260
