Cray Wanderers 5-1 Kingstonian
Excellent Wands crush ordinary K's on opening day of the League season.
Kingstonian's 2020-21 Pitching In Isthmian League season got off to one of the worst possible starts as they were swatted away by a fine Cray Wanderers team.
The pain for the visitors began as early as the 8th minute when the always-threatening Joe Taylor scored the first of his two goals. K's slowly got themselves back into the game after this unpleasant early surprise, and were able to force Cray goalkeeper Lewis Carey into a number of saves. However, the Wands always looked dangerous going forward against an uncertain K's defence and in the 39th minute Jason Banton doubled the lead with a 20 yarder having been given the freedom of Kent to tee up his shot. Initially the goal was not given as the referee thought it went wide when in fact the ball burst through the side of the net, and after consulting with his assistant, the referee pointed to the centre spot.
K's were effectively finished off with a disastrous third Wands' goal in the 51st minute, which came from a breakaway after a Kingstonian corner, the ball eventually arriving at the feet of Rhys Murrell-Williamson, who accepted his gift and put his name on to the scoresheet. Things got even worse in the 59th minute when Freddie Parker's free kick was deflected past Rob Tolfrey and the score was 4-0.
Kingstonian got one back when Elliott Buchanan squared the ball to Corie Andrews to score in the 75th minute, but Joe Taylor added his second in the 81st minute. Nine minutes later the referee put Kingstonian out of their misery, leaving much for Kingstonian manager Hayden Bird to think about before Tuesday's visit to Horsham for an FA Cup First Qualifying Round tie.
