Kingstonian FC

Kingstonian's blip may have become a bleep after a horrid afternoon at the Camping World Community Stadium as Horsham strolled to a well-deserved 4-0 victory against a visiting team who looked devoid of any positive energy.

With Elliott Buchanan out with a broken nose and Gus Sow suspended, the joke that a game starts out badly and dips away from there actually began to come true in pre-game warm-ups when Jerry Puemo had to pull out due to injury. When the game did start, a Horsham attack ended with K's goalkeeper Rob Tolfrey on the deck in severe pain holding his arm, his game over.

It's understandable that it would take a while for a team to recover from the loss of such a talismanic player as the club's leading appearance maker, but K's behaved and played like a thoroughly beaten team from that moment as the Hornets swarmed at them for most of the remainder of the game.

There is an oft-mentioned tradition in the land of Kingstonia where it's almost obligatory that a former K's player comes back to haunt the men in hoops. Once again, Tom Kavanagh stepped up to honour the tradition, and he did so twice with spectacular goals with a 15th minute free-kick and a 37th minute howitzer from way outside the penalty area to help his team to a 2-0 lead that flattered the visitors.

Kingstonian needed a quick start to the second half to try and haul themselves back into the game and make a contest of it. It didn't happen. When Horsham weren't seeking more goals, they held K's at arm's length and were very rarely troubled. Walter Figueira did manage to hit the post with a long range effort but that was the sum total of the positive aura that Kingstonian managed to exude all afternoon. At the other end, Horsham doubled their tally when Tom Day was left alone to tap in a Harvey Sparks free kick in the 67th minute before Sparks himself finished the scoring with a fine shot from a quick breakaway.

There have been a number of bad days at the office this season, but this was a very bad one indeed against a Horsham team that were more than good enough to accept the presents that they were offered. The play-offs will be for other teams to worry about with any more performances like this. Worthing away next, something to fear or something to be inspired by? Only the players can answer that.