Kings entered the promised land of the play-off positions with this win taking them three points
clear of Poole Town with both teams having six games to play. The match itself was
diametrically opposed to the dour home encounter three days previously and was a high
octane display of fast flowing, attacking football played at a ferocious pace from beginning to
end. With Gary Connolly and Mitchell Weiss unavailable, Dean Hitchcock came in at right back
and Stevie Ward returned on the right wing with Andronicos Georgiou partnering Rene Howe
up front. Hartley put Kings under pressure from the off with Callum Adebiyi making an
acrobatic clearance and Alexandro Albert heading just over, while Jorell Johnson threw himself
in to block a goalbound shot. The pace of Salhin Abubakar and the constant pressing of the
whole team kept Kings at full stretch, but they seemed to have weathered the storm when the
visitors took the lead on 35 minutes when Michael Campbell got between two Kings’ defenders
to head home a Mitchell Parker cross.
The half seemed to have passed in a flash, testament to the intriguing contest between the two
village sides, but Kings came out with far more purpose after the break and were level within
five minutes. A routine pass to Andronicos Georgiou on the right saw him seemingly boxed in
with few options for a cross, so he turned inside, ran across and then at the defence and
unleashed a swerving shot into the far corner of the net to stun the visitors and lift the home
crowd. The game continued to flow from end to end as both sides went all out for the winner
and Campbell boke with purpose, put the ball round the outcoming Alex Tokarczyk, only to see
Jorell Johnson surge past him to deflect the ball round the post. It was noticeable that Hartley
were understandably tiring, but Kings, who had of course made the slower start, still seemed
full of running and sealed the three points with another sublime goal five minutes from the end.
A glorious forty yard diagonal cross field pass from Rene Howe fell into the path of Stevie
Ward who took it in his stride to unleash a powerhouse strike into the same top corner. It was
a fitting end to what was probably the best game of football seen at the Sadiku Stadium this
season and commiserations must go to the visitors that their superb contribution to the
spectacle was to see them go home empty handed.