Kew Association 5 - 1 Old Parkonians (Southern Amateur League)

First of all a serious note, Old Parkonians send their condolences to the family and friends of the Kew 1st team player who died last week and was buried on Friday.

After an enforced 4 week lay off, the 1st XI travelled to Kew defending their unbeaten league record, only needing a win to take them to the top of the table. This proved beyond them, as an upbeat Kew side gave Parks a lesson in commitment and determination. Parks started brightly, and with the pitch giving both sides no real chance to get the ball under control, traded chances with Kew in a scrappy first 15 minutes. The long lay off seemed to have affected Parks a lot more and soon they were finding it difficult to clear their ranks against a strong Kew midfield. A long ball which Hamilton seemed to have under control until he kneed his backpass short of keeper Macullum, gave the Kew centre forward a chance to round him and finish into the empty net. Parks responded well, with both Parmenter and Goodhew carving out chances for themselves and going close, but halftime came with Parks still trailing the home side by the only goal.

The second half was a much more eventful affair, Kew again starting well and putting the visitors under pressure Ë and with Parks finding it difficult to keep possession for any length of time, the inevitable soon arrived. A clear penalty was not given by the ref (Ally trying to clear the half way line with the forward…s legs), and the more dubious decision 5 minutes later was given, to ease his conscience. Celotto making the ref…s life a lot easier, having attended the Phil Neville school of tackling for the past four weeks. Mason tried to spark a recovery by scoring the goal of the game from 25 yards with half an hour remaining, but this only served to drive Kew to greater heights, maybe we should have left it at 2-0. 5-1 was probably a bit harsh in the end, (Hamilton claiming three Ë is that a jug?), but after a performance like this, it…s best to look to the future. Bluewater away next Saturday.

Scorers: Mason
Man of the Match: Trevor Nicholls Ë 500th game for the first team Ë hopefully most a lot more memorable than this.
Team: Macullum, Keogh, Celotto, Hamilton, Nicholls, Mason, Bernstein, Jamieson, Goodhew, Parmenter (Brent), Pascoe.

Report by Tim Cross