On a very lively pitch in really pleasant conditions, we entertained Stockton in a must win game, if we were going to harbour any realistic thoughts of winning the league. We started with real purpose and we scored from our first corner. A superb delivery from Richie saw Ste unmarked at the back post with an almost embarrassing amount of time on his hands. He headed it back across goal, where Matty B headed it goal-wards and Jamie finally headed it in. Stockton looked shocked and we were well in control of the game leading to a fine, strongly hit effort from Wayne after some coruscating play, involving some excellent inter-passing and movement.

There were times in the first half, where we were playing excellent football: triangles, passing and moving and from the touchline, you could see the effect it was having on the Stockton team, who were chasing shadows. But how fickle the footballing gods are: two mis-kicks brought about by an incredibly bouncy surface gave Stockton a rare foray into our half, from which they gained a corner, from which they scored.

1 – 1 at half-time flattered Stockton, but it has to be equally stated that too many of our players were having a serious off-day and it was our errors that were offering Stockton a life-line. We were naïve at times when dealing with the bounce of the ball and it was almost farcical how many times we allowed balls to bounce over our heads putting us into enormous pressure that was self-induced. Tim and Rog talked about this at half-time and we started the second half with much more purpose.

We were still putting some seriously attractive moves together without getting the breakthrough our play deserved. That changed almost the minute Ben went onto the field. Ben, who wastes much of his time playing a girls’ game called hockey, was put up front, with Jamie switching to midfield. The first touch Ben had was to flick the ball beyond the Stockton keeper and into the net. That is to put it simply, because the football leading up to the goal was excellent and something that brings enormous satisfaction to anyone associated with a team from the management or coaching perspective.

More excellent play saw Matty H grab our third and Ben signed, sealed and delivered the points, when he netted our fourth. Game over. Well not quite: we don’t do things that easily at Kings; we became goal greedy, over-committed to attack and switched off at the back, leading to a hopeful long-range cross into our box being skilfully headed home by John. It should’ve been a wake-up call, but we then switched off in the dying minutes at another corner, and suddenly Stockton were back to 4 – 3. This was a long way off their captain shouting to his team at 4 -1: “Come on lads, we’re playing for our pride now!”

The referee blew for full-time and possibly spared us our blushes. It was a win, and despite Stockton’s late rally, it was a comfortable win. We played some very encouraging football at times and it was good to see Kevin confidently bringing the ball out of defence and looking to play positive passes. Matty B was extremely combative in midfield and Matty H deserved his goal for his hard work and skill. Ben made a huge difference and his brace was just the tonic we needed. Jamie had his best game for us with everyone else displaying a great deal of effort and commitment.
What Have We Learnt:

We have nothing to fear from Stockton when we play them again.
When we put together some of the play that we did in this game, it has a huge debilitating effect on the opposition.
We need to be a little more street-wise: when we are winning comfortably, we need to stay focused and not be so gung-ho.
Football is a 90 minute game at least and we need to be still playing in the final second of each game.
Use the time before we kick off to get a true idea of the pitch’s surface.

Quote of the Week:

“Victory belongs to the most persevering.” - Napoleon (presumably before Waterloo!)