KAV IS KS STAR IN A MOATSIDE REUNION!
TOM KAVANAGH was the ghost of Merstham past as the former Moatsider’s early second-half goal gave Kingstonian their first win of the season.
Ks ended the match with eight ex-Merstham players on the pitch, so it was almost inevitable that one of them would prove decisive.
It was a very scrappy encounter but Ks certainly deserved the three points as their keeper Rob Tolfrey, a rare non-ex-Moatsider hardly had a save to make.
There was little to write home about after the opening quarter.
K’s front two of Dan Thompson and Louie Theophanous were proving a handful but Merstham were making little impression in the final third.
Fabio Saraiva shot from 25 yards went narrowly over the Merstham goal, while Chase Jaquert’s audacious volley from 40 yards wasn’t far wide of Ks goal.
Gradually, Ks midfield took control with Kenny Beaney and Kavanagh to the fore.
A Thompson header on 33 minutes wasn’t far away and moments later Reece Hall tested Merstham keeper Matte Pierson with a fierce drive.
The Moatsiders seemed to be off the pace and by the break, the visitors were looking by far the more likely to take the points.
The goal that won the game epitomized the game.
Theophanous made a nuisance of himself and battled to win a ball which ran loose to the edge of the box, where Kavanagh was waiting and the midfielder drilled it into the bottom corner.
Ex-Ks striker Delano Sam-Yorke was brought on as the Moatsiders went to two up front, but Ollie Cook and Simon Cooper rarely looked troubled in the centre of the Ks defence.
Theophanous had a great chance to extend Ks lead on the hour mark, when a quick counter attack from a Merstham corner put him clean through, but Pierson produced a great block to keep the Moatsiders in the game.
A Sam-Yorke effort on 75 minutes was the closest the home side came, but even that failed to trouble Tolfrey and K’s ran out comfortable winners.
Merstham boss Frank Wilson, who replaced Ks boss Hayden Bird, told
The NLP: “I was disappointed with the lack of intensity from my players. I thought the Ks players showed more desire and just wanted it more.
“We were poor today.”