Wingate claim crucial Kingstonian win

Ryman League Premier Division
Wingate & Finchley 3 Kingstonian
Saturday, 13 April, 2013

The first chance of the game came in the 15th minute when Reece Hall, in on goal for Kingstonian, beat Wingate keeper Bobby Smith, only to have his shot blocked off the line by Daniel Nielsen.

However, after that Wingate started dominating possession, and on 16 minutes this culminated in Spencer McCall feeding on a cross ball from Anthony Thomas and scoring with an excellent side footed shot from 25 yards out which gave the Kingstonian keeper no chance. Just a minute later, Wingate’s Leon Smith had a shot from outside the box deflected, and the keeper did well to turn it past the post.

The next few minutes were a lot cagier, until Wingate had a goal questionably disallowed after 37 minutes. Leon Smith crossed across goal, and Spencer Bellotti tapped the ball into the net, only to see the flag up for offside. This disappointment did not dampen the resolve of the home team.

At the other end, Matt Pattison had Bobby Smith beaten from just outside the box, and hit the outside of the post. For Wingate just before the break Anthony Thomas skipped past a Kingstonian defender, only to blaze over from 20 yards out.

After just eight minutes of the second half, Wingate’s Scott Shulton ran down the line, cut into the box and shot over. However, he was brought down just after he shot, and the referee awarded a penalty. It was a rash and unnecessary tackle from the defender but gave Wingate the opportunity to build their lead and Leon Smith converted emphatically into the top left corner.

After the goal, Kingstonian attacked desperately, however, Wingate defended well, and the first real chance of this period came when Wade Small’s header from 10 yards out was saved by Smith, after 78 minutes.

In a rare Wingate attack a few minutes later, Hector Mackie played a mercurial back heel to Scott Shulton, whose powerful shot from the left of the area was tipped past the post by Louis Brace. Back at the other end Kingstonian’s Wade Small went past Bobby Smith, but he was put under pressure by the Wingate defenders and ended up hitting the inside of the post when it seemed easier to score.

Kingstonian continued to press to get a foothold in the game, but in the 90th minute the ball was played out to Leon Smith on the half-way line. He held the ball up superbly, knocked it onto Hector Mackie who powered past a couple of defenders before squaring it to John Christian who hit it from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.

After the game, Wingate manager Gary Meakin had this to say about the Wingate performance and chances of staying up: “I was very pleased with the performance today. We’ve been playing well in the last few weeks and haven’t always had the rub of the green. We should need two more wins to stay up, or maybe one with the skin of our teeth.”

Wingate & Finchley Team:
B Smith, D Nielsen (capt), D Braithwaite, A Rifat, M Weatherstone, J Christian (D McGonigle 85), S Shulton, S McCall, A Thomas (J Hutchinson 73), L Smith, S Bellotti (H Mackie 68).
Subs: W Gondwe, G Suddell.

Att:
212

Referee:
Michael Webb