Kings Hill FC vs Bexley | Charlie Hatton Penalty Goal Secures 1-0 Win
Kings Hill FC 1 v 0 Bexley
Bank Holiday Monday saw our Men’s 1st Team take on Bexley in what was a tight affair. Playing their second game in 48 hours, it was evident that Kings Hill were struggling, with passes going array, passes not picked up and multiple offsides in the early goings. Bexley on the other hand started brightly and found themselves through on goal multiple times through their second centre forward, but fortunately for Kings Hill they couldn’t convert.
Joe Lawrence, who was available as his ban has not come into effect yet, came off for George Ellis midway through the first half as Joe was struggling with a knee issue after a big challenge, but not before Bexley went through on goal in a 3-on-1, with Ryan Young doing brilliantly well to slow down the attack before Harvey Mills was forced into a strong save down to his right.
The drinks break saw a reset for Kings Hill, and not long after, Charlie Hatton went through and was taken down by a strong challenge from the Bexley CB and the referee pointed to the spot. Hatton stepped up and took the penalty, which was saved, but Hatton was on hand to place the rebound into the corner of the net, giving Kings Hill the 1-0 half time lead.
The second half saw a much improved Kings Hill performance as they looked to secure the 3 points, despite substitute Keaton Courtman finding himself on the sideline for 10 minutes via a sin bin. In the early goings some great runs from Hatton and Aston saw Kings Hill go through on goal but unfortunately that was as far as it went. Kings Hill piled on the pressure and this told when good work down the left from Aston and Croucher saw a blocked shot come out to Hatton who rifled a half volley onto the crossbar. Kings Hill were knocking, but it was in fact Bexley who had the next big chance with Harvey Mills once again saving a low shot to his right from close range.
As the game started to open up, the pace of Hatton and Aston proved too much for Bexley to handle, with Hatton going through on the right and flashing the ball across the goal line and Aston hitting over from a couple of yards out. Aston then turned provider putting a ball across the box for youngster, Will Seage, who snatched at a shot with his left foot.
The game remained end to end until its conclusion as Kings Hill were unable to bag another but able to hold Bexley scoreless to secure their third win of the season.
Speaking about the team’s performance, Team Manager Patrick Lee said:
“To be fair its probably our most needed result with really, one of tehnically poorest performances so far this season, but take nothing away from the boys regarding their determination & grit throughout the game and the aftermath of their determination from the weekend, as that definitely showed with some tired legs and minds.
In those moments you get frustrated as a manager but also so proud of them for the effort they put in on Saturday and then Monday to get the results, its been a hard ask on them all and i’m proud of all of them.
It was great to see some of the boys get their debuts and credit to all the players who came off the bench also, it was a real team effort this weekend and they contributed massively in their efforts.
We’ll have to plan out our training this week carefully to manage all of their loads and to also work in their recovery period but we know we have a tough game this weekend to finish the month off in August.”
