Kingstonian 4-2 Banstead Athletic
Elliott Buchanan's four-fer puts K's into Round Two.
Arguably, Kingstonian matches ought to come with a health warning - what was comfortable in the first half was anything but in the second stanza.
It was the Elliott Buchanan show as he notched all four goals in a stellar individual performance, as K's made hard work of putting away Combined Counties League side Banstead Athletic.
The game started poorly for the home team when a clumsy tackle from Jan Mussington forced Kershaney Samuels from the field, and K's struggled for a while to get into their stride after that unpleasant shock. However, a super cross from Nyren Clunis in the 28th minute allowed Buchanan to score his first of the night. Banstead Athletic then suffered a blow in the 42nd minute when goalkeeper Devon Gordon was forced off through injury and then Elliott Buchanan doubled the lead in the fourth minute of added time.
Banstead Athletic flew out of the blocks in the second half and quickly got a goal back in the 48th minute when Ben Geraghty's shot was deflected and beat K's keeper Mason Whitnell. K's were under the cosh then for much of the second half and it wouldn't have been undeserved had Banstead got themselves an equaliser. But Elliott Buchanan was the class act of the game, putting the game away with two more goals, in the 72nd and 85th minutes, before Ollie Cook scored an own goal when he managed to hook a clearance off his head and into the net in the 87th minute.
It wasn't a classic performance, in the second half it was downright uncomfortable viewing for the K's faithful, but bottom line was that K's got the win, moved into Round Two and when the draw comes around, no-one will care how it was done.
