Kingstonian 5-1 Sittingbourne - We gifted them five goals, admits Lovell - EXCLUSIVE

KINGSTONIAN 5-1 SITTINGBOURNE
Ryman League Division One South
Sunday 14^th October 2007
Stephen McCartney reports from Kingsmeadow

Sittingbourne boss Steve Lovell criticised defender James Campbell for his costly 67^th minute blunder, which changed the course of today’s top-six clash at Kingstonian.

With the score at 1-1, the central defender tripped some 30-yards from goal and completely missed his header.

And as the ball dropped over him, clinical striker Bobby Traynor latched onto the clearance from his goalkeeper Luke Garrard to score the second of his four goals.

Kingstonian, a side that hasn’t dropped any league points on their bowling green of a pitch at Kingsmeadow so far this season, scored their last four goals in the last 23 minutes as Sittingbourne capitulated for the second time this season.

It brought back bad memories of their FA Cup exit when Dartford netted four of their five goals in a devastating 21 minute spell towards the end of the first half, in the first qualifying round replay at Bourne Park last month.

Lovell was without Lee Hockey (broken bone in foot), Anthony Allman (hamstring), Toby Ashmore (holiday), Sabeur Trabelsi (Tunisia), and goalkeepers Josh Willis (knee) and Jamie Reily (work).

Kingstonian bounced back following their FA Trophy exit at Chatham Town eight days ago and following today’s win, leapfrog over Dover Athletic into second place in the Ryman League Division One South table.

And they got off to a flying start, taking the lead after just seven minutes and 29 seconds on a warm October Sunday afternoon.

Cue the first piece of slapdash defending from the Brickies, when they failed to track Traynor making a dash into the six-yard box, and the striker side-footed his fifth goal of the season past Steve Williams following a low cross from left-back Nick Rundell.

Sittingbourne’s first chance arrived after 12 minutes when Garrard made a comfortable low save to deny Bradley Spice scoring with a right-footed free-kick in a central position, from thirty-yards.

Traynor carved open a chance for his strike partner Saheed Sankoh, who drilled his right-footed shot just past the foot of the near-post.

But Traynor, who plays wide on the left, brought a smart save from Williams in the 17^th minute.

After cutting in from the right, the striker unleashed a right-footed drive, which Williams dived low to his right to tip around his near-post.

Sittingbourne were fortunate not to go two goals down in the 21^st minute, when they committed more woeful defending.

Sankoh latched onto a ball over the top and sent over a cross to the unmarked Dean Lodge, whose stretching volley screamed past the near post.

Sittingbourne called Garrard into action in the 24^th minute when he tipped Kieran Marsh’s half-volley over the bar from eighteen-yards, after the goalkeeper punched away crosses from both Mitchell Sherwood and Steve Hafner.

Kingstonian, back where they should be, gunning for honours, missed a gilt-edged chance to double their lead, as Sittingbourne’s defence once again went missing with seven minutes to go before the break.

Neil Lampton’s right-footed corner flashed across the face of goal and found right-back Aaron Goode unmarked at the far-post but he drilled his right-footed shot back across goal.

Lampton, unmarked at the far-post, lashed a right-footed curling shot into the K’s fans behind the goal, after Sankoh sprayed the ball over to him on the right-hand side.

But Sittingbourne were always in the game, with just one goal separating the two sides at the break.

Sittingbourne had Hafner to thank for getting in the way of a bullet header from Gavin Cartwright, who came up from his defensive duties to plant his towering header towards the left-post, following Rundell’s corner inside the opening three minutes of the second half.

Despite the onslaught, Sittingbourne clawed themselves back into the game, from the penalty spot after 52 minutes.

Goode was adjudged to have nudged Sherwood just inside the penalty area in an aerial challenge on the left-hand side of the penalty area.

And Spice netted his fifth goal of the season when his right-footed penalty went over the diving Garrard and into the left-hand corner of the net.

A cross from Jon Coke found Traynor on the edge of the penalty area, and after turning, the striker drove a deflected right-footed shot just past the near-post from 20-yards.

Williams made an acrobatic - but comfortable - flying save in the 65^th minute to prevent Lodge’s left-footed shot flying into the far corner.

But from that moment, Sittingbourne embarrassingly capitulated.

Kingstonian took the lead through route-one football in the 67^th minute.

Garrard kicked the ball into the Sittingbourne half and Campbell slipped and allowed the ball to drop over him.

Traynor latched onto the ball, controlled the ball and then drilled a right-footed shot past the diving Williams, into the bottom left-hand corner from 18-yards.

Sittingbourne did, however, have a chance to draw level when substitute Anthony Hogg won possession in midfield, sprayed the ball to Sherwood on the right-hand side and Spice’s header was comfortably saved following a knock down by his strike partner, Stuart Vahid.

But another blunder, this time from goalkeeper Williams, gifted Kingstonian a third goal in the 78^th minute.

Williams was heard shouting for the ball but lost the flight of Lodge’s whipped in free-kick from the left-touchline.

He failed to catch the ball, which dropped into Sankoh's path, one of two players at the far-post, and he had the task of stabbing the ball over the line from just one-yard out to net his seventh of the season.

Things got worse for the Kent side as Kingstonian added a fourth - just 53 seconds later.

Lodge’s low cross from the left was dummied by Sankoh and Traynor completed his hat-trick when his low right-footed shot zipped off the lush turf and under Williams’ body to find the bottom right-hand corner.

After squirming Sankoh’s drilled angled shot, Williams was relieved to see the ball roll just past the foot of the near-post, but Sittingbourne’s miserable day in south-west London was completed in the last five minutes when Traynor’s sixteen-yard drive screamed into the net after a cross from returning substitute, David Shin.

Sittingbourne have yet won a competitive game against the K’s, and Lovell was fuming when he spoke EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk afterwards.

“Well, for 65 minutes we were in with a shout but when you give goals away, like the first one, their second one to be honest, it was farcical,” he fumed.

“You’re centre half falling over the ball and giving him (Traynor) a chance, 2-1, you can’t give any team at any level goals and that one, and the next two, we’re just really awful defending goals - just basic defensive errors.”

Lovell felt his side’s poor defending allowed Traynor to scoop the man-of-the-match award - and four goals.

“All of them were avoidable, all the goals were avoidable. If you defend properly you avoid goals,” said the Welshman.

“The first goal the fellas just gone through on his own, no-one’s picked up the runner, second goal’s a mistake by the centre half, James Campbell, fell over.

“You can’t have centre halves falling over when you’ve got to try and head the ball.

“The third goal, I think, it was one to the far-post with Willo. Willo’s missed the cross and there’s two of them (that) could have stuck it in.

“The next one, open goals, no marking and the last was shots outside the box, no-ones closing down.”

Lovell, meanwhile, felt his side didn’t deserve to lose 5-1.

He said: “And the game doesn’t suggest it was 5-1. For long periods of the game we done really well.

“We passed it well, got forward, had some good opportunities but against anybody, when a team (whose) at the top of the league, you can’t give them chances. You can’t give them opportunities and that’s what they did.”

Lovell believes Kingstonian will be fighting it out for the Ryman League Division One South title on this performance, but admitted they won’t come across many teams that defend so badly.

“They'll be (up there), or there's abouts without a doubt,” said Lovell. “Especially if they come up against teams like that who defend like we did. It makes it easier for them don’t it?

“They were no different than us on the day, the only difference is, they defended properly. We didn’t. Simple as that!”

Kingstonian: Luke Garrard, Aaron Goode, Nick Rundell, Simon Sobihy, Gavin Cartwright, Jon Coke, Neil Lampton (David Shin 63), Jason Turley, Bobby Traynor, Saheed Sankoh, Dean Lodge.
Subs: Danny Summers, Wes Goggin, Craig Wilson, Luke Naughton.

Goals: Bobby Traynor 8, 67, 79, 85, Saheed Sankoh 78

Sittingbourne: Steve Williams, James Gregory (Colin Richmond 45), Joe Dowley, Paul Ainsworth, James Campbell, Kieran Marsh, Steve Hafner (Anthony Hogg 69), Tristan Knowles, Bradley Spice, Stuart Vahid (Hicham Akhazan 82), Mitchell Sherwood.
Subs: Dave Norris, Bradley Ashmore.

Goal: Bradley Spice 52 (pen)

Attendance: 359
Referee: Mr Robert Smith
Assistants: Mr Stephen Earl & Roger Wells