CAUGHT!

Kings’ first ever visit to Lowestoft’s Crown Meadow ground proved to be anything but a regal affair as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of their hosts, who started the match in the relegation zone. Kings began brightly enough with some slick interchanges producing a brace of opportunities for Mitchell Weiss, which the predatory striker could not quite capitalise on. The hosts were industrious with their own attacking endeavours and the tricky Jake Reed caused occasional anxiety in the Kings defence, but generally the exchanges were devoid of any quality in the opening period as both teams foraged for a breakthrough. Things quickly livened up in the second half as a Kings free kick on the right was only partially cleared to Steve Ward and his blistering first time effort rocketed into the corner past a despairing Luis Tibbles in the home goal. The advantage could have been doubled just a minute later, as Mitchell Weiss fired just over from a good position. Alas, that was as good as it got for Kings, as it was Lowestoft who struck next when a deft through ball found the lurking Reed, who coolly clipped the ball past the advancing Melvin Minter to draw the hosts level. Kings responded with a surging run by Harry Crawford that ended with the experienced forward firing just over. Just seven minutes later Kings’ penchant for conceding cheap free kicks with fateful consequences once again reared its ugly head. This time it was the Trawlerboys’ skipper Travis Cole who was the beneficiary when he was on hand to steer the ball home after a penetrating delivery caused panic in the Kings’ defence. Langley tried manfully to respond and pressed hard for parity, but the task was made doubly difficult with the dismissal of the normally imperturbable Stevie Ward, who responded aggressively to a crude challenge and suffered the ultimate sanction. That allowed the hosts to see out the remaining minutes in relative comfort and left Kings to reflect on what might have been if even a modicum of the quality and application that had been apparent in recent games had been evident in this encounter.

By Derry Edgar