Aldershot Town match report
It can be argued that this writer is in constant need of therapy, but after Saturday's first team loss against Bishop's Stortford, this was definitely the case. So, on Monday night therapy took the form of a trip to River Lane at Leatherhead Youth FC's excellent facility on a freezing night to watch Kingstonian's Under 18s face hosts Aldershot Town in an Isthmian Youth League Central Division fixture.
And what transpired was a terrific game with 28 players (11 starters and 3 substitutes per team) giving everything they had to try and win the points, with the result in doubt right up until the final whistle.
Kingstonian took the lead in the seventh minute when a defensive pass-back was intercepted by Lewis Gould, who coolly moved into the penalty area before firing his shot home. However, the lead lasted less than two minutes when Aldershot gained a quick equaliser as K's didn't clear a corner, allowing the ball to be poked home by one of a number of Shots that queued up to apply the finishing touch.
After the manic first nine minutes of the game came the next 83 manic minutes as the teams flew at each other at full speed in search of goals. It was Aldershot who took the lead in the 36th minute with a free kick from outside the area that was smashed in by Toby Nelson - K's will have been disappointed at once again not dealing with the danger but it was a fine shot from dtstance by the Shots man.
Just as it looked like Aldershot would reach half time with a lead, Kingstonian struck back when a through ball found Freddie Bailey down the left wing - the K's number four was allowed to move down the wing to the byline, crossed superbly and was hit first time (the ball, that is) in the six yard box by Lewis Gould, giving the unfortunate Aldershot keeper no chance.
K's flew out of the traps in the second half and led after just four minutes with this time Lewis Gould turning provider with a run and cross from the right - the ball was cleared only to Deniz Ozer on the edge of the area, who took one touch and buried an unstoppable shot.
K's poured forward looking for a fourth goal to seal the contest for most of the second half, but either were found lacking with the final ball into the box or came up against brave Aldershot goalkeeping and defending, which meant that the one-goal lead was always a slender one. With five or so minutes to go, the Shots got a second wind and pressed hard for an equaliser, but the K's defence was too strong and finally after about four minutes of added time, in which this writer had descended even further into the madness he already possesses, the referee blew the final whistle to end a superb contest.
With these three points, K's moved to the top of the Central Division, and now look forward to returning to River Lane next Monday to face Leatherhead. In the meantime, the K's have a Combined Counties League match with a change of opponent, instead of Westside visiting Alwyns Lane in Chertsey for a West Division match, Kingstonian will now play PFC Victoria - kick-off at Chertsey will be 7.45pm.
