Kingstonian FC

Reasons to be cheerful/hopeful/entertained/intrigued after this 1-0 defeat to Thurrock:

1. Andre is back. He chased, he harried, he worked the channels, he drifted inside, he linked with midfield, he executed two first-time layoffs with the outside of his left foot, he cajoled, he encouraged, he directed, he clapped, he waved his arms, he made runs, he grimaced, he scored (converting a low cross in the first-half, diving into the fans to celebrate until the lineman’s flag waved to signal offside), he bundled, he believed, he loved.
2. Sean Francis, a new centre-back signed from Welling, shored up the defence. He’s 33, he’s gnarled, he’s tall, he shouts, he’s obviously pretty good. Thurrock barely had a sniff.
3. When we last saw Noel Mbo, he was banging in a world-class rasper against Thurrock in the Trophy in October. He then returned to his club Gillingham, scored in the Checkatrade and has since been kicking his heels. He is good. He will score goals. We might need him for more than a month though.
4. Full disclosure: I’ve been away for 4 weeks so have not witnessed the sorry series of defeats and postponements that have led to K’s languishing in 21st so this was my first sight of Dennis Oli, who looked like a link-man, a tryer, a presence, a selfless worker. He’ll do things, possibly in a way that helps others do things too.
5. Kevin Maclaren and Marvin Elliott are a solid base from which to build – maybe when Andre, Mbo, Fiddes and Hunte are in tandem as a front four, we’ll see the plan come to fruition.
6. The fans. We still have fans. They were few but they were loud, including an entertaining Main Stand roar in the second-half which reminded me of the infamous Kingsmeadow Main Stand Moan.
7. The programme was good. All hail Bob Reed, whose editorship had coincided with three consecutive home postponements but kept the faith and produced a cracking read. I particularly enjoyed an article about a Ks Supporters Team in the 80s, a photo of Mark Murphy and secretary Phil Whatling explaining postponements.
8. Rob Tolfrey – amid all the comings and the goings, he is our rock, our saviour, our hero. Twice in the second half he wanted to come up and contest K’s corners. He can’t be blamed for the Joe Christou free-kick which found the net on the half-hour. He will save us again.
9. Burgess Hill Town lost again so the gap to the bottom place is still 5 points. It’s OK. It’s one-down. We’ll be fine.
10. Freddie Yao came on as a substitute to become the 58th player K’s have used this season.

Match list by Taimour Lay.