Goals flow in after rocket

Kennington players responded to a half-time rocket to score seven for the second successive game, writes Craig Tucker.

They followed last weekend’s FA Vase romp against Shoreham with a 7-1 victory over Elmstead in Southern Counties East Division 1 on Saturday.

But that doesn’t tell the full story, with manager Dan Scorer laying into his league leaders after a lacklustre start.

“In all honesty the first half wasn’t great,” said Scorer. “We went in 2-0 up but it was against the run of play and Elmstead certainly showed why they will upset a few teams this year.

“I made my disappointment known at half-time, that we weren’t being very clever, that our ball retention wasn’t great.

“We went out and scored four in the first 10 minutes of the second half so it’s good in the sense that if we’re not 100 per cent we can still score goals and when we turn it on, we put teams to bed.

“We had the same sort of thing against Stansfeld when they controlled the early stages and we went in 1-0 up. “I wasn’t overly impressed, and gave them a rocket, and we came out and scored three in the second half. “Hopefully there aren’t too many repeats but it’s nice to know the players will respond.”

Gary Clarke and Callum Peck gave Kennington a half-time lead.

Clarke completed his hattrick after the break, with two goals for Gary Lockyer and a second for Peck.

Javlon Campbell’s late strike denied them a clean sheet but it’s five wins out of five for the Ton, scoring 25 goals in the process.

Scorer said: “I’m pleased for Gary to get the hat-trick - he’s been tremendous in every game this season. “We’ve adapted our shape this season, pressing with a front three instead of a single centre-forward.

“He’s got to be aware of his defensive duties, and he’s got more comfortable with that, and he took his goals superbly.”

Kennington host Croydon at Homelands this Saturday. Scorer said: “They come with great support, which helps the atmosphere, and the players will thrive off that. “They were unbeaten until last weekend, when they lost to Thamesmead, but they had a man sent off quite early which would have played a big part.”