It’s hard to believe that the Keens Park Rangers First Team are rooted to the bottom of the league table having gone on a run of six wins, a draw and two losses in their nine league-based cup games so far this season, but an unfortunate draw means they will remain there for at least another week.
Having comfortably beaten Windlesham 3-0 in the League Cup the week before, a backlash from the same opposition was expected for the league game at Pyrford.
It’s true that Windlesham were a much better outfit this week, but the game was still controlled largely by Keens Park. Vic Hamilton and Michael Woods shared the best of the first-half chances, with Vic rattling the underside of the bar after a slick Golds move and Woodsy snatching at a shot when he looked to be clean on goal, but the score was level at the break.
However, within seconds of the second half, the home side were behind thanks to one of the most bizarre ‘goals’ ever seen at Pyrford.
The scene is set, Keens Park have the kick-off, going down the hill and ready to build on their first-half dominance. The ball is rolled back to Tommy Newell, who is expected to ping the ball straight into the heart of the Windlesham defence, but instead he looks to be living in slow motion as a whole wave of Windlesham players rush to close him down. Tommy finally wakes up, panics and smashes the ball into the nearest man, by this point, the ball has spiralled viscously in the air towards the Keens Park goal. Tom Coles, who has nearly mastered the art of the Sweeper Keeper, rushes off his line to collect the ball, failing to realise the ball is spinning faster than a traction engine, and as the ball hits the ground, it picks up pace and bounces over him. A mad rush ensues and ‘keeper Coles expertly claws the ball off the line at the final second, but not in the referee’s eyes. Miraculously, the referee, located 60 yards from goal, decides the ball crossed the line and was so confident with his decision, that he decides to overrule Chainy the linesman.
Typical of the First Team’s season, they did not shrink after going behind and continued to look the more dangerous side. It wasn’t long before they were level. Vic Hamilton received the ball after a sweeping move to finish from a tight angle to score his second goal in as many home matches.
Keens Park came close through a Ryan Wallis volley and a Ben Wicherek free-kick, but were unable to find the winner. It ought to have been three points, but it was a battling performance with plenty of positives to take and extends the unbeaten run to five games.
Keens Parks Rangers is a Guildford based football club and we are always looking for new players and sponsorship opportunities. Get in touch with us through our website or our social channels.
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