Kensington 1 Frimley Green 3

Kensington Borough vs Frimley Green – 24th November 2018
The home side came into this game on the back of a creditable draw away to improving Epsom & Ewell last weekend but their midweek County Cup against Hanwell Town game was postponed. Frimley however had come into this on the back of four wins in a row, in league and cup and all at home, but were looking to get back to winning ways away from home having lost their last two league games away from home – the last being at Epsom & Ewell.

There was one change in the Frimley line-up from the previous weeks 3-0 win over Ash Utd, Leo Medrado replacing Louis Hibbert on the right and it was the forward who had the first effort of the game in the first minute picking up a cross from James Vass at the far post before shooting towards goal, his shot being blocked by the Kensington defence. The home side started to take control of the game and had their first effort in the 5th minute.

Rose picked up the ball 25 yards out and hit a shot at the Frimley goal but Chris Harris was on hand to make the save. Rose was in the thick of it again soon after, challenging Dan Bone in the midfield and picking up a booking for the foul on the Frimley striker. Kensington continued to press forward early on and were forcing Frimley to be sloppy in possession and a mix up in defence led to Adewuyi picking the ball up on the hosts right hand side – the forwards drilled crossed was too far in front of any Kensington player and went out for a throw for Frimley. From that throw in, the home side won the ball high up the pitch leading to Okrah unleashing a shot from the left corner of the box into the top corner leaving Harris no chance. The hosts now deservedly led 1-0.

Kensington looked to build on this and just a few minutes later broke through the Frimley defence before Vass tripped the attacker on the edge of the box, but with Jim Ward covering Vass was to only receive a yellow card. The resulting free kick hit the wall and the away side were able to clear. Frimley then started to produce some pressure of their own and created numerous openings for the rest of the half.
First, Ed McKinlay got down the left wing and crossed for Medrado whose shot went over.

Next McKinlay, Bowerman and Vass worked the ball well down the left-hand side leading to McKinlay crossing in for Ben Dearlove but his header went wide. A third chance in the space of three minutes saw Vass put a long free kick into the box, the ball landing at Zac Horkan whose stabbed effort at goal went wide. Another chance came and went for Frimley when Bowerman crossed for Bone who saw his header saved well by McDermott in the Kensington goal.

McDermott was busy again before the end of the half, scrambling an effort off the line from Horkan the full back and his teammates were sure the ball had crossed the line. From that clearance Horkan picked up the loose ball and crossed for Bone but the striker’s header went wide under pressure from the Kensington defence. The half time whistle blew and somehow Frimley went in 1-0 behind.

The second half started and Frimley came racing out of the blocks again as Bowerman got down the left and pulled back for McKinlay to shoot wide from the edge of the box. Not long after though, Frimley finally got their reward as Bone got onto the end of a Dearlove ball over the defence before running on and smashing the ball past McDermott to equalise and continue his fine goalscoring form. Bone had another effort after reaching Vass’ flick on, but shot over when through on goal.

Although Frimley were having a lot of the play, the defence were standing strong and forming a great foundation for the midfield and attack to dominate play, not giving Kensington too much in the from of easy chances. One such situation saw Kensington number 9 Cariba forced to shot from an angle with Harris saving well at his near post. A flashpoint occurred in the midfield when Rose went through the back of Bowerman, the Kensington midfielder lucky to escape a further booking and was then replaced soon after by the home side with Humphrey replacing him. Before the substitution, Ward almost found Dearlove with a cross in the box but the midfielder just failed to connect.

Humphrey had a great chance to put the home side back in front after a counter attack led to him being one-on-one with Harris, but the Frimley keeper came out on top with a good save. A goal kick was given though so there was no corner to defend. Another chance came the way of the home side as Okrah found himself through on goal and looking for his second of the game but a great last-ditch tackle by Tony Trinder cleared the danger.

Medrado stood over a free kick 20 yards from goal and saw his effort saved by McDermott with the keeper needing two attempts to claim the ball and keep hold of it. Cumberbatch had come on for Bowerman by now and going into the last ten minutes the striker had bundled his way into the box going down after a defender ran into the back of him with the referee waving away claims for a clear penalty. It was starting to look a frustrating day for Frimley, dominating attacking play and snuffing out the majority of Kensington attacks before they became dangerous.

These frustrations turned to joy as Bone flicked on for Horkan down the right with the full back finding himself in loads of space. Horkan looked up and squared for the on-rushing Sam Hamer who slid the ball home past McDermott giving Frimley the deserved lead at 2-1. Kensington went up the other end and had a penalty appeal of their own turned down by the referee – the claims were probably more out of hope to try and get a chance to level the game once again.

Cumberbatch took one for the team, fouling a Kensington player when tracking back and preventing a counter attack, picking up a booking for his troubles. Dearlove was replaced by Jeff Vasquez Rosero to help bring a bit more energy into the team after every player had given their all up to this point. As the game went into injury time Frimley managed to put a seal on the game.
Bone and Cumberbatch worked the ball together into the box, ending with Cumberbatch drawing the keeper out of his goal before clipping the ball over him from and angle and landing in the empty net. The game ended 3-1 and was the right score line on the balance of play.
Frimley XI

Harris (GK), Horkan, Trinder, Ward, Vass, Medrado, Dearlove (Vasquez Rosero), Hamer (Lacey), McKinlay, Bone, Bowerman (Cumberbatch).

Man of the match was awarded to Tony Trinder who, along with the rest of the back 5, gave the team a good platform to put on another great attacking display and help to provide a deserved win.

Thank you to Match Report Alex Walker