Thursday 16th February
Woking 0 Kingston 4

Kingston made the journey to Brookwood Sports & Country Club for their first match against Woking in the Sidney Black Cup (Surrey League), despite the heavy rain and wet conditions. It had been some time since the squad's last game against Croydon (a 2-0 defeat). But a training session the previous evening was designed to focus the lads back onto 'Borough' duties again. The game started briskly in slippery but bright conditions. New central midfielder Brendan Murphy soon made his presence known with good close contol and a number of good through balls creating early chances, assisted by the hard work of Oliver Robinson. Unlike Kingston's two previous games the lads looked more eager and took early control of the game from defence through to attack and with a five man midfield of Mattiocco, Robinson, Murphy, Skea and Nightingale all winning good possession and creating good opportunities, a goal looked imminent. However the first came not from good build-up play, but from a poor goal kick from the Woking keeper on 15 minutes. The kick went straight to Brendan Murphy who cooly notched up his first Borough goal by advancing and slotting the ball past the Woking keeper. Just 8 minutes later, further neat passing resulted in William Nightingale being released down the right flank to cross for Keelan O'Connor who got a touch to wrong-foot the keeper, forcing an acrobatic backward save. However, the ball had already crossed the line for Kingston's second goal. The whistle blew for halftime with Kingston in a deserved 2-0 lead. Second half changes saw Kingston switch to a 4-4-2 formation, moving Shervin Mohajeri from defence into attack and Matthew Murphy adding to the solid defence of Jamie Hutton, Kane Alboni and Jack Coughlan. Woking came out fighting and their early pressure gave the Kingston defence a few problems down the widths of the pitch, but none of this seriously troubled the Kingston keeper. In a further tactical change,Patrick Corcoran came on in midfield with Lucca Mattiocco switching to the right. With the Kingston midfield now having two stikers to aim for, some excellent through balls turned the tide in favour of the visitors and had Woking on the back foot again. William Nightingale returned to the pitch up front for Keelan O'Connor and before long the pressure paid off when Brendan Murphy scored his second with a well placed shot - 3-0 to Kingston. Now the tireless Robinson dropped back into defence, to allow Jack Coughlan a spell in midfield. Before long a loose ball from a Kingston corner, not well cleared by the Woking defence, was put over the line by the sliding Coughlan to complete a first convincing Surrey League win for the Kingston team. A good all-round performance from Kingston, but they will be expecting a tougher test when they face Woking again in the forthcoming semi-final of the Lancaster Cup.
Team: Henderson, Hutton, Coughlan(1), Alboni, Mohajeri, Nightingale, Skea, Robinson (capt), Murphy B(2), Mattioco, O'Connor(1). Subs: Murphy M, Corcoran.

Sat 19th November
Kingston 1 Croydon 4 Surrey League

Sat 22nd October
Surrey Schools FA Inter District 7-a-side Tournament
Kingston’s first competitive matches of the season started with a seven a side tournament in Woking involving the Borough Football Teams from Godalming, Croydon Woking and Kingston. Each borough entered two teams. Kingston entered teams split equally but named ‘A’ and ‘B’ who played against each of the other Borough sides. Competing in one league, the team that gained the most points from their six games was the overall winner and went on to represent Surrey in the South East Regional Finals. Kingston A got off to a good start with a win against Godalming A , while Kingston B were slower getting off the mark, narrowly losing their first game to Woking A. By the end of the tournament both teams were receiving compliments on the quality of their football and had picked up enough points to finish in very creditable third and fourth positions behind Croydon A and Croydon B. The tournament was an excellent opportunity for the lads to get to know each other and all enjoyed their first experience of District Football. We wish Croydon the best of luck representing Surrey in the next stages of the competition. Thanks to all parents and supporters for supporting the teams and to Sam Robinson for Managing the A team on the day.

Sat 29th October
Croydon 5 v Kingston 2 Sydney Black Cup
Following on from a good display in the previous Saturday’s seven a side tournament, Kingston arrived at Mill Lane with high hopes for their very first eleven a side game together. But the new squad were soon about to receive a sobering introduction to District Football. On a sunny and calm morning the game started with good early possession from Kingston. Some neat passing moves through midfield showed early promise. Just as Kingston were working towards scoring the opening goal, Sutton broke away and with a fierce shot, the slippery ball eluded the clutches of the Kingston ‘keeper for Sutton’s first goal. With the benefit of an early lead and already having played several games together Sutton were into their stride and started to attack down the Kingston flanks with devastating effect giving no chance for the visitors to settle. The Kingston defence looked rattled as crosses rained in. Soon a second goal came from a superb cross and headed finish leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. The shell shocked Kingston side worked hard to combat Sutton’s domination, but while trying to deal with constant pressure were unable to mount an attack that troubled the Sutton ‘keeper. By the end of the first half a further two goals were netted by the rampant Sutton. Their fourth, a free kick that saw the luckless Kingston keeper injured, as a loose ball was bundled over the line. Four nil down at the break and ‘all to do’ for Kingston! The second half started with several team changes in an attempt to cut out the threat from Suttons attack and soon a more solid look about Kingston allowed for some good possession and attacking play. As confidence began to return to the side a good attacking move resulted in a well deserved goal from Jack Coughlan, lifting the teams spirits. The defence now looked more settled and with the midfield now being dominated by the hard work of Lucca Mattiocco, Kingston took control of the game. A second goal soon came from more Kingston pressure with Coughlan on target again and Kingston sensed that the game was not yet lost. Kingston then went to three in defence, putting on a left winger in search of the goals needed to salvage the game which increased the pressure still more. But just as a third goal looked possible, a high Sutton ball just into the Kingston half was not cleared and the lethal Sutton striker advanced to the edge of the penalty box to score again for Suttons fifth. Kingston continued the pressure in search of some deserved consolation until the seemingly premature refs final whistle ended the game with the score at Sutton 5 Kingston 2. The Kingston team can take heart from a great turnaround in performance, effectively winning the second half 2-1 and although the damage had already been done in the first half, showed great character and potential for good performances in the future. The next game will be a tough encounter at home to Croydon on 19th November.