Kings Langley

Kings Langley v St Ives Town

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 03-12-2022

A game, otherwise lacking in real quality, was settled in favour of Ives inside the first ten minutes by the combination of two sublime touches that brightened up an overcast day in this strange lunch time kick off which came courtesy of a “possible” England World Cup fixture that did not even take place. The quality combination came from a perfectly weighted clip into the box from Myles Cowling which picked out a run in from the left by Enoch Andoh. The Ives winger took the ball on his chest with his first touch and deftly lifted it over the advancing Hafed Al-Droubi in the Kings goal with his second. The touch was so perfect that the ball barely had the momentum to reach the back of the net although crucially it had got the legs to get over the goal line.

Ives manager Ricky Marheineke made only one change from last weeks winning team and that was Andoh coming in on the left in place of Tyrone Baker who dropped to the bench. Their hosts had a new man in charge for the first time as Chris Winton had come in as an interim manager during the week to replace Chris Cummings who had departed with Kings sitting in the relegation zone with only one win in their last thirteen games and on a run of four defeats in a row. After only one training session to assess his charges the new man made only two changes from the side that were perhaps a little unlucky to fall to Nuneaton on Monday evening.

The visitors started the game looking like the more confident side with the hosts looking a little nervy and struggling to keep possession even inside their own half. But the first real effort on goal was that well crafted opening goal in ninth minute. Despite enjoying most of the early possession Ives struggled to threaten Al-Droubi’s goal any further in the opening twenty minutes. The only real save that the athletic stopper had to make during that period came in 20^th minute as Michael Richens fed in Kieran Higgs cutting in from the right and the Ives man hit a left footed effort from the corner of the box that Al-Droubi held well.

Having now settled into the game the hosts carved out two chances inside sixty seconds in 25^th minute both falling to centre forward James Ewington. Initially he got between Ives keeper James Goff and centre back Charlie Johnson to get on the end of a long ball into the box by Jacob Gardiner-Smith but his touch let him down and the ball ran out for a goal kick. Kings should really have been level only seconds later as a swift move down the right saw Wilson De Carvalho feed the ball on to overlapping full back Samuel Okoye-Ahaneku his first time cross picked out an unmarked Ewington at the back post where it looked like he only had to side foot the ball home but instead he went for power and much to Ives relief rattled the ball against the underside of the crossbar from where it rebounded to safety.

Having had that massive let off the visitors went straight down the other end and almost doubled their advantage. Stand in left back Callum Milne galloped past Andoh on the overlap and got fed in to the bye line before cutting inside and going for power from a narrow angle. Al-Droubi got his body in the way on the shot but the ball ballooned up into the air and was dropping into the net until Kings skipper Jorell Johnson came to their rescue leaping above the crowd to head the ball off the goal line with a little bit of help from the crossbar.

After that burst of activity at both ends around the 25 minute mark the game settled down again with Ives enjoying the majority of possession but neither side really able to carve out a decent opportunity as both defences got on top. The only other noteworthy efforts before the break were one at either end as Jonny Edwards was almost put clear by Dylan Williams in 30^th minute. But the big Ives striker’s route to goal was quickly extinguished by a brilliant recovery tackle by James Kaloczi to take the ball off his toe. A 25 yarder from Cain Keller in last minute before the interval that required a routine save from Goff was the Kings only effort on target in the first half.

There was a blow for the visitors at the interval as Richens limped out of the game to be replaced by Ed Hottor. The Ives skipper had been on the end of a few heavy tackles from opponents in the first period two of which had picked up yellow cards for Gardiner-Smith and Finlay Macnab and was clearly feeling the after effects of those.

No doubt with the wise words of their new boss ringing in their ears the hosts lifted themselves a little from the start of the second half and began to enjoy good spells of possession but without really creating much against Ives well drilled back line excellently lead as ever by Jordan Williams. One route where there did look to be some possibilities for the hosts was down the right where Milne and Andoh were working hard but at times being stretched by the pace of Keller. It was the Kings number seven who got in their first real shot of the second period as he cut inside Milne and fired a screamer across the face of goal just before the hour.

Milne was however still causing problems in the Kings box when he had the chance to get forward and he got on the end of Charlie Johnson’s flick on from Hottor’s free kick two minutes later but his attempt to find Edwards at the back post was well claimed by Al-Droubi bravely flinging himself low to his left.

Ives suffered another injury blow as they lost their second central midfielder of the day with Cowling limping off with a muscle injury in 67^th minute. The busy midfield man was replaced by Nabil Shariff who slotted in up front alongside Edwards with Dylan Williams dropping back into the centre.

Kings manager Winton also made a couple of changes two minutes later but in spite of his best efforts the hosts continued to struggle to find a route through that resolute Ives back line and as the time ticked down their efforts became more desperate but still without really testing keeper Goff. Their day was probably best summed up by two efforts in the closing stages. Substitute Bradley Wadkins held the ball up well to feed in overlapping full back Alex Lafleur down the left. His low cross was just to far in front of Macnab who tried his best to direct his effort on goal but the stretching striker only succeeded in putting the ball into the adjacent playing fields. The hosts final effort in the last minute of the ninety was no better as substitute Deago Dunbar-Bonnie picked out Keller at the near post with a low cross from the right. But the Kings winger got his feet in a mess and did not even manage to get his shot away before man of the match Williams cleared it to safety.

Ives first double of the season moves them up to tenth, and, dare we say it, only six points off the play off places with games in hand. However their small squad is now getting stretched as injuries begin to bite but two wins and two clean sheets in the last two games with both first choice full backs missing is a big plus. It looks like Mr Winton has got a job to do with struggling Kings to lift them away from the dreaded drop zone but with more than half the season left to go there is still everything to play for.

Final Score: Kings Langley 0 St Ives Town 1

Goals:

KINGS LANGLEY

ST IVES: Andoh 9,

Team Line Ups:

KINGS LANGLEY: Al-Droubi, Okoye-Ahaneku, Lafleur, Taylor (Wadkins 69), Kaloczi, Johnson (capt), Keller, Macnab, Ewington, Gardiner-Smith (Dunbar-Bonnie 83), De Carvalho, (Chima 69) Unused subs: Berman, Case

ST IVES: Goff, Milne, Casey, Richens (capt) (Hottor 46), J. Williams, Johnson, Higgs, Cowling (Shariff 67), Edwards, D. Williams, Andoh (Baker 76), Unused subs: Lembikisa,

Cards: Yellow: KINGS LANGLEY: Gardiner-Smith (13), Mcnab (28) ST IVES: J. Williams (45)

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jordan Williams

Attendance: 152

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video Highlights by Ollie Jones.

Kings Langley v St Ives Town

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central 29-09-20

This game was a brilliant advert for step three football as the two sides slugged it out at break neck speed almost from start to finish. The only thing lacking was a grandstand finish to the game from either side but that was probably as much down to both sides simply running out of energy in the closing stages as the exertions of the crowded early season fixture list caught up with them.

With manager Ricky Marheineke awaiting the result of a coronavirus test Mitchell Austin took charge of the team for the first time. Even though Marheineke was not at the Orbital Fasteners Stadium he was very much to the fore in the changes to Ives line up from their gallant defeat on Saturday. Hard work by he and the club secretary earlier in the day ensured that experienced right back Liam Bateman was signed from Tamworth in time to replace stand in full back Jarvis Wilson. Nabil Shariff had completed his three match ban to take the number eight shirt vacated by injured skipper Robbie Parker with Marc Richards taking the armband. Austin’s first decision came his way before the game even started as Northampton loanee Jacob Ballinger pulled up in the warm-up with a muscle injury, Ben Toseland taking his place in the starting eleven.

The game may not have had an exciting finish but it certainly had an explosive start. There were only sixty seconds on the stop watch when Marc Richards caught Callum Adebiyi dallying just outside his own box. The ball was knocked sideways to Michael Gyasi who took a touch before rifling in a powerful left footed effort that keeper Alex Tokarczyk got a hand to be could not keep out of the net.

Ives high pressing game was causing the Kings defenders problems early on, two minutes later it was again Adebiyi who made the mistake. This time his hurried clearance went straight to Dylan Williams thirty yards from goal. His threaded pass picked out the well judged run of Gyasi but this time the young striker’s touch let him down allowing Tokarczyk to claim the ball.

The hosts first really threatening foray came in 14^th minute when full back Kyle Connolly was allowed space to roam forward and took the opportunity to try his luck from fully thirty yards. His low drive skimmed off the wet surface forcing keeper Martin Conway into a diving save low to his right.

Captain Richards was very much leading by example and his harrying tactics almost brought further reward half way through the first period as he robbed Rod Collins inside the centre circle before feeding in Gyasi cutting in from the left. This time the speedy striker fired his effort harmlessly across the face of goal from a narrow angle.

By this point the game had become very much an end to end affair with Richards, Gyasi and Shariff all causing problems for the visitors and to counter that the equally mobile strike force of Brad Wadkins, Harrison Crawford and Jack Wood were stretching the Ives defence. Crawford got away down the left in 27^th minute before delivering a pin-point cross to the near post where Wadkins managed to get in front of Oran Jackson but could not steer his effort on target.

Ten minutes later Collins combined well with Wood who did well to turn Brett Solkhon on the edge of the box but Jackson was covering and slid in to bravely block the striker’s effort at point blank range. With half time approaching the hosts continued to press forward in search of an equaliser Jordan Parkes had a long range effort well held by Conway four minutes from the break but the Ives keeper had no chance when the leveller did arrive ninety seconds before the break. Parkes delivered a long free kick was into Ives box a couple of attempts to get it clear were unsuccessful and the ball eventually fell to Crawford by the penalty spot who slammed home a low right footed effort to take the two teams in at the break at one goal each.

The second half started exactly as the first had with Richards forcing Adebiyi into an early mistake, this time needlessly conceding a corner. The flag kick was the first touch for Dan Clifton, who had replaced the limping Williams at the break. It was delivered to the centre of the box where Richards was again prominent. The ball ricocheted off a defender and fell to Gyasi just inside the box. He finished like a true striker spinning and lashing home the ball with such ferocity that Tokarczyk did not move a muscle as it flashed past him and billowed the net.

Ives now back in front only ninety seconds after the re-start but this time the lead did not last long as Wood was allowed to pick up a loose ball 25 yards from goal. He cleverly side stepped a defender before beating Conway low to his right with a well struck effort.

The game continued at the same unrelenting pace as both sides went in search of a winner. The next couple of attempts both came from the home side, in 56^th minute Wood cut inside Toseland down the right before firing in a low drive that keeper Conway held cleanly at his near post. Four minutes later the same player combined well with overlapping full back Gary Connolly before again lining up a fierce drive from the edge of the box but this time he was thwarted by Solkhon bravely hurling himself across the line of the shot.

Ives next noteworthy attempt arrived in 67^th minute when Richards added to Adebiyi’s tough night by forcing him into a poor header as the pair challenged for a long punt from keeper Conway just outside the box. The ball fell to Gyasi who was only denied his hat trick by Tokarczyk plunging to his left to keep out his toe poked effort. Gyasi’s pace continued to trouble the Kings back line and six minutes later he showed just how quick he can be as he picked up the ball on the half way line before showing Gary Connolly a clean pair of heels thene cutting inside and firing off a rising drive that was unfortunately straight at keeper Tokarczyk who held on well.

Opportunities continued to come the way of Ives front three and the next trio of chances all fell to Shariff. In 76^th minute he managed to almost get clear onto a clever Richards flick to a Conway punt only to be denied by a brilliantly timed covering tackle from Jorell Johnson. With just six minutes of the ninety left he got even closer as he intercepted a poor cross field pass just inside Kings half and bore down on goal. But the fact that this was his first full ninety minutes of the season began to show and he was forced into an early shot from the edge of the box as defenders began to close. His shot was still sufficient to force Tokarczyk into a diving save low to his right. The resulting corner by substitute Ben Seymour-Shove saw Shariff cleverly lose his marker but he was not able to get sufficient contact on the ball to trouble the keeper.

Referee Michael Smith added an extra six minutes to take into account time lost during two lengthy periods of treatment to keeper Conway who fortunately made it to the end and a number of periods when inexplicably there were no footballs to allow the game to continued and a wait ensued whilst someone had to go and collect one from an adjacent field. But whilst Kings enjoyed most of the possession during this period both sides were looking a bit leggy and neither were able to create a clear opportunity for a winner.

Overall conclusion was a very entertaining game where the stats suggested that a draw was probably a fair result. With the strength and guile of Richards and the speed and finishing ability of Gyasi and Shariff Ives look dangerous every time they go forward and with the inclusion of Bateman’s experience the back line now looks a lot more solid. The midfield perhaps lacked a little in this game but with captain Parker hopefully soon to return and Seth Patrick expected to get his international clearance in the near future the competition for places is hotting up which hopefully bodes well for a good season.

Final Score : Kings Langley 2 St Ives Town 2

Goals : Gyasi 2 & 47

Team : Conway, Bateman, Toseland, Hottor, Oran Jackson, Solkhon, Gyasi (Seymour-Shove 82), Shariff, Richards (capt) (Lincoln 88), Williams (Clifton 46), Hicks

Unused subs : Ballinger, Patrick

Supporters man of the match : Michael Gyasi

Attendance : 293

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video by Dave Hook. Photos by Louise Thompson.