Wingate claim crucial Kingstonian win
Ryman League Premier Division
Wingate & Finchley 3 Kingstonian
Saturday, 13 April, 2013
The first chance of the game came in the 15th minute when Reece Hall, in on goal for Kingstonian, beat Wingate keeper Bobby Smith, only to have his shot blocked off the line by Daniel Nielsen.
However, after that Wingate started dominating possession, and on 16 minutes this culminated in Spencer McCall feeding on a cross ball from Anthony Thomas and scoring with an excellent side footed shot from 25 yards out which gave the Kingstonian keeper no chance. Just a minute later, Wingate’s Leon Smith had a shot from outside the box deflected, and the keeper did well to turn it past the post.
The next few minutes were a lot cagier, until Wingate had a goal questionably disallowed after 37 minutes. Leon Smith crossed across goal, and Spencer Bellotti tapped the ball into the net, only to see the flag up for offside. This disappointment did not dampen the resolve of the home team.
At the other end, Matt Pattison had Bobby Smith beaten from just outside the box, and hit the outside of the post. For Wingate just before the break Anthony Thomas skipped past a Kingstonian defender, only to blaze over from 20 yards out.
After just eight minutes of the second half, Wingate’s Scott Shulton ran down the line, cut into the box and shot over. However, he was brought down just after he shot, and the referee awarded a penalty. It was a rash and unnecessary tackle from the defender but gave Wingate the opportunity to build their lead and Leon Smith converted emphatically into the top left corner.
After the goal, Kingstonian attacked desperately, however, Wingate defended well, and the first real chance of this period came when Wade Small’s header from 10 yards out was saved by Smith, after 78 minutes.
In a rare Wingate attack a few minutes later, Hector Mackie played a mercurial back heel to Scott Shulton, whose powerful shot from the left of the area was tipped past the post by Louis Brace. Back at the other end Kingstonian’s Wade Small went past Bobby Smith, but he was put under pressure by the Wingate defenders and ended up hitting the inside of the post when it seemed easier to score.
Kingstonian continued to press to get a foothold in the game, but in the 90th minute the ball was played out to Leon Smith on the half-way line. He held the ball up superbly, knocked it onto Hector Mackie who powered past a couple of defenders before squaring it to John Christian who hit it from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
After the game, Wingate manager Gary Meakin had this to say about the Wingate performance and chances of staying up: “I was very pleased with the performance today. We’ve been playing well in the last few weeks and haven’t always had the rub of the green. We should need two more wins to stay up, or maybe one with the skin of our teeth.”
Wingate & Finchley Team:
B Smith, D Nielsen (capt), D Braithwaite, A Rifat, M Weatherstone, J Christian (D McGonigle 85), S Shulton, S McCall, A Thomas (J Hutchinson 73), L Smith, S Bellotti (H Mackie 68).
Subs: W Gondwe, G Suddell.
Att:
212
Referee:
Michael Webb
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
