Kingston seconds overcame a spirited Kingston thirds side 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon to move themselves away from bottom place of the table.
The two Kingston sides, who both play in the South Eastern 5C league, were evenly matched until the seconds quality started to show in the second half.
In fact it was the third side that took the lead after a 10th minute corner was met by imposing centre half Alfred Folarin, who nodded into an open goal after keeper Nicolai Collins was caught out.
The seconds pushed forward after falling behind and could have equalised moments later from a corner of their own, however full back Alex Hughes’ header came back off the woodwork.
The equaliser did come for the seconds with half an hour of the game gone after thirds’ keeper Simeon Ziegeler found striker Nathan Doble’sa free kick too hot to handle and left midfielder Dan Hutch with an easy tap in from five yards out.
The second side then started to take more control of the game and should have had a man advantage after the third side’s centre half Omar Khalid brought down Nathan Doble in the penalty area leaving the referee pointing to the spot.
Khalid, who was booked for a handball earlier on in the half, was fortunate to not receive a second yellow for the tackle.
Josh Blake Hayes hit the 33rd minute penalty to the goalkeeper’s right only for it to be well saved, unfortunately for the third side, Will Rainford was quickest to react and tapped in from Ziegeler’s penalty save, to give the second’s a 2-1 lead at half time.
The thirds tried to find a way back into the match in the second half but in doing so left gaps in their defence which the second side couldn’t take advantage of.
It took a moment of quality from Sam Guest to make it 3-1. Guest controlled a high ball with one touch and then sent a 25 yard volley into the top right hand corner from 25 yards out, leaving thirds keeper Simeon Ziegeler with no chance.
The second side continued to push forward and after midfielder Will Rainford broke through on goal thirds defender Omar Khalid decided to bring Rainford down. Despite him being the last man and being on a yellow card, the referee decided not to give Khalid a second yellow and instead awarded the seconds a penalty, despite the foul taking place 15 yards outside the area.
Josh Blake Hayes stepped up again and this time managed to beat the keeper to his left, putting the second side 4-1 up and sealing the points.
Kingston thirds’ captain Josh Paul Everest was critical of the referee. “I think the referee was awful and very weak. I admit we should have had a man sent off but the foul was about 20 yards outside of the box and the referee has given a penalty for it.”
Everest felt the better side had not won: “I personally feel cheated, I don’t think they deserved to win and the way they won was with no style or class, it was by default.”
Jamie Feek, Kingston seconds’ captain said: “It was a really scrappy game but we are delighted with the win. I thought we were a lot more clinical than in recent games.”
The second side entertain Roehampton next Wednesday while the thirds will have to wait until March 19 for their next match, also against Roehampton.
Konstantinos Patas