9hsvid

The weather was horrible. The performance was worse.

Keens Park Rangers First Team lost 4-0 in one of their worst performances in recent memory away to Windlesham United on Saturday.

The home side were in front in the opening two minutes, after a lack of communication at the back allowed the Windlesham midfielder a free header from just six yards out. It took Keens Park another 10 minutes to match the intensity of Windlesham’s play, but the Golds did start to grow into the game.

The remainder of the half was an eventful one, with both sides looking capable of scoring. Michael Woods had a glorious chance to level the game, as he impressively broke through the Windlesham defence to get one-on-one, but he could only fire his shot straight at the goalkeeper. The home side’s ‘keeper then made impressive saves against Radu Burlacutu and Rob Partridge, both from Keens Park corners.

The sides went in at the break at 1-0, but it would not have been a surprise if it were 1-2.

Keens Park, seemed to have started where they left off in the first half and dominated the opening five minutes, but that effort was undone by a simple Windlesham long ball and a top class lob from their substitute. Uncharacteristically, the second goal took the wind out of Dave Harris’ side, and they struggled to match the desire and intensity of the home side for the remainder of the game.

Windlesham’s direct approach was causing all sort of problems for Keens Park’s back-line and it was eventually 3-0 with another lobbed finish. As well as struggling to keep the home side out, the Golds were finding it difficult to create any real chances, and this was summed up by Ryan Wallis’ shot that landed outside of Surrey.

The final nail in Keen Park’s coffin was when another straight ball split the defence and the Windlesham forward finished one-on-one.

It’s been a disappointing start to the league season for the First Team, but they now go in to a four-week break to play in the Premier Challenge Cup. A perfect opportunity to hit the reset button and get the confidence back.