Kingston climbed to third after they beat Sussex 2-0 in a scrappy hockey game.
Sam Mcevoy
Kingston moved up to third in the table after securing a win and all three points against a gritty Sussex side with vice-captain, Ollie Varney scoring both of Kingston’s goals.
After returning from the Christmas break and the majority of players lacking match fitness, the result was just what the team needed. They replaced Sussex in the table moving up to third.
Both Kingston’s goals came from penalty corners with Rob Field providing stylish assists, leaving Varney to finish off the set plays.
A modest Varney felt the need to improve and to get back to match fitness quickly.
“Personally, I was pretty rusty today but so were the team on the whole as we haven’t played for two months.
“It’s good we got the result today as that puts us above them by two points. We played them not too long ago and they beat us 3-2 then so it was nice to beat them this time round.”
Kingston quick out of the blocks
Kingston made the perfect start with Varney’s opener coming in the first 10 minutes after Field bamboozled the Sussex defence with a spin, perfectly setting up Varney to smash home with ease.
Sussex reacted and immediately put Kingston under immense pressure with a flurry of penalty corners themselves, bringing masterly saves from Kingston shot-stopper Barney Christopher.
With such high pressure, Kingston struggled to get out of their own half for periods, with Sussex making it difficult for them to string passes together.
However, Sussex failed to capitalise on the pressure and struggled in front of goal with Peter Bailie putting in a strong defensive performance, shutting out any attack made from Sussex.
Set play glory
Kingston’s half-time team-talk seemed to have spurred on Field and he made his signature mazy runs, gaining several penalty corners for the home team.
Kingston capitalised again from the penalty corner with what was almost a carbon copy of the first goal – Sussex just couldn’t handle Kingston’s set plays.
The visitors had the chance to claw one back but yet again, the finishing wasn’t up to standard and Kingston held out for the three points.
Kingston will be looking to improve on their performance when they face University College London in the quarter finals of the South Eastern Conference Cup on February 6.