Blues and K's in Six Goal Thriller
Kingstonian visited Imber Court to face the league leaders Metropolitan Police, it would be a night of discovery for the K's to see how far they have come this season. After this fabulous 3-3 draw in which both teams will arguably say that they are disappointed not to win, things look very encouraging for the young hoops.
The game began at a high tempo and just stayed there until the final whistle as two excellent teams battled for the entire length of a memorable contest.
Five goals came in the first half - the first came early in the piece as Metropolitan Police took the lead from a corner in the 7th minute. A corner was flighted into the box, where Alfie Walters was able to guide a header perfectly past Shay Honey, despite the Ks' goalkeeper desperate scramble to keep the ball out. K's were not downhearted by this setback - after Alex Body was denied by a fine double save from Blues' keeper Adam Longman, Kingstonian equalised in the 19th minute. After a sustained period of Ks pressure, the Met couldn't clear the ball properly, with finally K's players were queuing up to shoot, but Alex Body took control of the situation, beat one defender and fired home from about 10 yards out.
Parity didn't last too long as five minutes later another set piece saw Metropolitan Police back in front. This time a free kick was launched into the penalty area, under very little pressure Jayden James headed the ball square to Louis Degand who powered a shot home first time; K's will be disappointed at having been undone again with a dead ball scenario.
Things got worse for the visitors as for an extended period of time they were chasing shadows as the Blues began to pass them almost into submission and were thoroughly deserving of their third goal in the 32nd minute. Jack Jenkins was the creator, threading a fine pass to the onrushing Louis Degand who scored his second goal from about 15 yards out.
That could have been the end of the contest as the Blues had their foot on the accelerator, but K's showed immediately that they are made of stern stuff and got themselves back into the contest in the 35th minute. Callum Stephens battled hard in the middle of the park to keep possession, finally found David Lopes, whose exquisite diagonal through ball found Iker Noguera Leon, the young K's winger scored his side's second goal with a superb finish on the run.
After that stunning first half, the second stanza was equally as hard fought and it was a surprise that the crowd had to wait until the 83rd minute for the next goal, which arrived for the visitors when Kylron Pierre darted in from the right and his low hard shot from an acute angle found itself in the back of the net. Both teams still had chances to win the game, Iker Noguera Leon hit the bar with a curling shot before in the 95th minute Luca Crowfoot forced Shay Honey into a fine save with the last kick of the game.
K's are a much improved team compared to the beginning of this season, and the good news is that there's more to come.
