A Williams header in the opening minute was to prove Kings’ sole threat on the City goal for the next quarter, as the visitors dominated, culminating in a penalty award in the twentieth minute when Juud Farrant tripped Ryan Kirwin in the box. Bailey Stevenson, who was Kings’ nemesis in this fixture last season, stepped forward and crashed his spot kick against the bar.

He almost atoned soon after, beating Cian Moore but seeing Kalan Lisbie clear off the line and it was Lisbie's defensive partner Charne Lemba who capped an all-round display by giving Kings the lead in the thirty fifth minute. A Bradley Smith effort from a corner was deflected onto the bar by a defender and in the ensuing scramble Lemba forced the ball home.

Knowing that they had ridden their luck a little, Kings stepped up a gear in the second half and almost doubled their advantage when a Tami Ogunnowo cross was met with a glancing header from Jake Anthony, only to see a superb reaction from Joe Welch to tip it onto the junction of post and crossbar. However, the Citizens were back on terms just past the hour when a free kick from their right was swung into the box and
Kings missed their chance to clear, allowing Eddie Corbit to rifle home via a deflection.

When Lewis Jones put the visitors ahead ten minutes from time after a move on the left, the turnaround looked complete, but Kings battled to the end and were rewarded in the last minute of normal time when substitute Qasim Khan received the ball in a crowded box and did well to get a shot away which Joe Welch did equally well to block. Undeterred, Khan seized upon the ball again and the action was repeated
before a jubilant Lewis Duberry slammed the ball into the net from the ensuing melee.

So, both sides had to be satisfied with a point in an absorbing and feisty encounter that saw Kings’ young side stand up well to probably the most physically testing challenges they have met so far, although the referee’s distribution ratio of cautions was questionable to say the least.

Roy Mitchard