Kingstonian 4-1 Lydd Town - To come up against these players, it's sort of given our players an insight into what they need to do to get to the level they want to get to, says Lydd Town joint-manager James Rogers

Kingstonian 4 – 1 Lydd Town
Location	Imperial Fields, Bishopsford Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 6BF
Kickoff	03/09/2023 15:00

KINGSTONIAN  4-1  LYDD TOWN
The Emirates FA Cup First Qualifying Round
Sunday 3 September 2023
Stephen McCartney reports from Imperial Fields

LYDD TOWN joint-manager James Rogers says everyone around the club is feeling positive after losing their first ever FA Cup tie, at the hands of a Kingstonian side that are 40 places above them in the pyramid.

Simon Lane’s side went into this FA Cup First Qualifying Round tie sitting in 18^th place in the Isthmian League Premier Division table with three points from their opening five games, while Lydd Town are in seventeenth-place in their maiden Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division campaign with three points from their opening three outings.

Winning promotion into the ninth-tier for the first time has given the Lydders’ a chance to play in The FA Cup for the very first time this season and Rogers’ and Tom Wynter’s men have beaten Camberley Town (1-0) and Deal Town (4-2, after the original game was abandoned after 85 minutes with Lydd leading 2-0).

Lydd Town were a well-organised defensive outfit until former Croydon striker Andy Somo drilled in Kingstonian’s 38^th minute opener, before Lydd Town goalkeeper Connor Collins was guilty of making a howler to gift Rudy Allen the second goal just two minutes before the interval.

Tyler Sterling came off the bench and the left-winger drilled a sublime 35-yarder in off the crossbar to bring Lydd Town back into the game with 20 minutes remaining but the Kent side wilted in 25 degree heat and Somo went on to complete his hat-trick to book Kingstonian’s place in tomorrow’s Second Qualifying Round draw.

“It was a tough afternoon for us,” admitted Rogers, who was ruled out with an ankle ligament injury, while Wynter was on crutches as he has been ruled out for the whole of the season with an ACL injury.

“I thought we had chances. We had some great chances, where we could’ve gone in front.  We had key players missing but saying that, I think the better team won on the day, if I’m honest.

“Maybe it was one step too far for us, at the moment.  We’ve got to learn, we’ve got a lot to work on.

“We’ve come in late at the end of pre-season so there’s things that we can implement, that the management can do better and there’s things that the players’ can do better, so we’ll take it on board.

“I thought the fans came down here in numbers and they gave a great account of themselves and overall, yes, we ran out of steam at the end but I thought first half we were in the game.”

Kingstonian started the game on the front foot, creating their first of many chances after only 74 seconds.

Central midfielder Allen played the ball out to left-wing-back Jude Mason, who floated in a cross from within the left-channel for winger Eddie Dsane to glance his header across the keeper and past the far post from eight-yards.

Mr Lydd Town, centre-half Ryan Smith, had a headed opportunity to score in the ninth minute, meeting Ronnie Dolan’s quality delivery from 35-yards, but Smith’s header cleared the K’s crossbar.

“If you ask Ryan to go and head that ball, nine times out of 10 he’ll put that in the net but sometimes it’s not meant to be,” said Rogers, who praised his captain.

“Ryan’s been here a long time and he has a lot to do with what’s going on at the club and he’s a great lad to have around.

“He’s a great leader, he’s very passionate about Lydd. It’s his real passion and you can tell that by the way he speaks.” 

Lydd Town often had seven green shirted defenders inside their penalty area as Kingstonian bossed the possession stakes but the away side were a threat on the counter-attack with Stephen Okoh and Troy Howard.

Lydd Town created an excellent chance to stun their higher-league hosts in the 28^th minute.

Okoh played a 30-yard pass along the deck into the middle for Sam Adams, who was in oceans of space and the former Hastings United man unleashed a right-footed 35-yarder, which was palmed over the crossbar by Endurance Johnson’s strong outstretched right-hand.

“The keeper done alright for them,” said Rogers.

“We’ve got some good quality players in good areas.  Sammy Adams, Ronnie Dolan, Webo (Charlie Webster).  Mo (Camara) came on and showed good quality, I thought, so we’ve got some real good players that can hit a ball.  It doesn’t surprise me with these shots that are going on target and the keeper’s done well.”

Kingstonian called goalkeeper Connor Collins into a diving save in the 37^th minute after winger Darnell Goather-Braithwaite easily cut inside Lydders’ right-back Josh Hastings and centre-half Robbie Dolan, before drilling a shot towards the top near corner, only for the goalkeeper to fly to his right to push the ball behind for the second of nine Kingstonian corners.

Hastings opened the gate, as Kingstonian opened the scoring with 37 minutes and 44 seconds on the clock.

Tom Collins fed Somo down the left and the Kingstonian striker beat the offside trap before drilling his left-footed angled drive screaming across the keeper to score in off the far post from 25-yards out.

“It was offside, he was two-yards offside,” claimed Rogers.

“I was looking along the line, that’s why I got a bit irate, so fair play to the lad, he got in there well and he’s finished it well.  He’s played on the shoulder and I thought he done that well all game and he’s a threat.”

Lydd Town were wasteful and could have equalised when big targetman Kenny Pogue and Hastings linked up well down the right before Pogue floated in a cross towards the near post for Howard to nip in front of Kingstonian centre-half Niran Butler to send his towering header over the crossbar from 10-yards.

Lydd Town goalkeeper Connor Collins inexplicably gifted Kingstonian their second goal, with 42 minutes and 43 seconds on the clock.

Dsane played the ball into Allen, who wasn’t pressed and he drove a low left-footed drive towards the bottom right-hand corner from 30-yards.

It should have been collected comfortably by the stooping down goalkeeper, who allowed the ball to go through his legs on the goal-line.

Rogers, inevitably, refused to throw his goalkeeper under the bus.

“Connor was unlucky.   When you’re a goalie, it’s a thankless task.  If you make a mistake, you normally concede a goal.  If a centre-forward misses a chance, it’s like ‘oh well.’

“We’re not going to be too hard on Connor. He’s been good all season for us. It’s probably his first mistake that he’s made. He’s a good keeper. He’s done really well for us so we’re going to back him, he’s absolutely fine.”

But keeper Collins made up for that Sunday League goalkeeping by producing Premier League class shot-stopping for the rest of the game.

The second goal lifted Kingstonian’s confidence and Tom Collins teed up Somo, whose right-footed shot was saved by the keeper, diving low to his left, before he swiftly recovered to dive to his right to deny Goather-Braithwaite.

Lydd Town called Johnson into making another fine save on the stroke of half-time, however.

Howard cut the ball onto his right-foot out on the left-wing to whip in a great cross for Pogue to bury his header towards the far corner from eight-yards out, only for the Kingstonian keeper to dive to his left and use a strong left hand to push the ball around the post.

“Troy’s good at getting crosses in, Kenny’s a threat and he’s a unit. He gets his body in front of centre-halves and he’s unlucky,” said Rogers.

“Yet again, he led the line well and when you’re chasing around after two centre-halves that are comfortable on the ball, it becomes hard.  He’s probably frustrated today but he’s had a chance to hit the target and the keeper’s made a good save.”

Rogers added: “We just said to the boys (at half-time) to keep going and keep doing the right things. We knew our shape wasn’t great.  We said a few things about the shape and when to press and when not to press and we just went through a few little tactics.

“I told the boys ‘it’s 2-0, we’re in the game.’  Two-nil is a dangerous scoreline.  They would come out.  They were starting to play the ball around a bit in the first half and I thought they would come out to take us for granted a little bit and at the start of the second half we went after them and I thought we were on top for the first 10-15 minutes until we ran out of steam.”

Kingstonian centre-half Matt Drage often drilled long balls forward with his right-boot and he hit a long diagonal over to the left wing for Goather-Braithwaite to cut inside Hastings before the four-goal Dsane showed great skill outside the box before unleashing a right-footed drive from 25-yards, which was spilt by keeper Collins low to his left, with two minutes and 34 seconds on the clock.

Kingstonian then started to control and dominate proceedings and Goather-Braithwaite rolled the ball out to Dsane who twisted and turned on the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a right-footed angled drive, which screamed straight down Connor Collins throat, pushing the ball over the crossbar.

The visiting goalkeeper kicked the ball straight to Somo, who charged inside the box and the striker came off worst as the goalkeeper made amends to smother the ball at the striker’s feet inside the box.

Kingstonian kept knocking on the door and another chance went begging in the 59^th minute.

The impressive Dsane chipped the ball over Lydd’s two centre-halves (Smith and Robbie Dolan) but Goather-Braithwaite’s right-footed chip went over the advancing keeper and dropped beside the base of the left-hand post.

Dominant Kingstonian continued to attack a now tiring Lydd Town side and in the 65^th minute, Allen got to the by-line on the right before cutting the ball back for Goather-Braithwaite to sweep a left-footed shot on the turn, which was destined for the roof of the net, only for Collins to use his right-hand to flick the ball over his crossbar.

Rogers was delighted with the character from his goalkeeper, who was outstanding during the second half.

“I tapped him on the head at half-time and I said for it (the second goal) to not affect him and that’s what he does.  He comes out and makes himself big. He’s a great shot-stopper. He’s comfortable with crosses coming and I can’t praise him enough. He’s probably one of our better players this year – he  was brilliant!”

Lydd Town rode the storm and went close to grabbing a goal when Pogue caused a nuisance inside the Kingstonian box and knocked the ball back for Sterling, who smacked his left-footed volley screaming past the post from 16-yards.

But Sterling, who came on for the injured Okoh, who was withdrawn with a suspected thigh strain, scored a sublime goal to bring Lydd Town back into the game with 24:01 on the clock.

Sam Adams (who started wide left in a midfield diamond) was now in a central position and rolled a 15-yard square pass to Sterling, just over the half-way line.

Sterling, easily cut inside Butler, down the left before drilling a right-footed 35-yard screamer, which flew over the goalkeeper’s head, clipped the underside of the crossbar and dropped down and over the line in the centre of the goal with the goalkeeper standing very close to his goal-line.

“People are surprised that he done that but us on the bench and the players’ that he plays with, he’s got that ability to do that,” said Rogers.

“If you ask anyone, he’s probably for the most ability in the league, technically.  There’s obviously things that he needs to add to his game to move up the levels but I’m sure that will come.

“It was a great strike and that doesn’t surprise us.  We see him do that week-in-week-out in training and that’s what he can bring to the table.”

Dsane and Goather-Braithwaite linked up again in the final third before Allen’s stinging drive from 25-yards was to be a hot potato for the Lydd goalkeeper, who gathered at the second attempt.

But Lydd Town almost grabbed an equaliser with 26:26 on the clock.

Butler fouled the impressive Sterling some 35-yards from goal and Sterling stroked a swerving right-footed free-kick, which was destined for the bottom left-hand corner, forcing Johnson to dive to his right to parry before the keeper pounced on the ball before Pogue could stab the ball over the line.

“Again, a good save by the keeper. It bounced right in front of him and Kenny was unlucky with the follow up,” said Rogers.

“That’s what we need to do better. I think you saw them do it, they shot and it was spilt and they was on it like a flash and I think those are the little things that we can bring to our game.

“We can react quicker and sooner and maybe, I’m not saying he can put it away because it was quite close to the goalie, but he followed it in and I was pleased with him.”

Kingstonian put the game beyond Lydd Town’s reach by slotting in a third goal with 32:42 on the clock.

Dsane slipped the ball in behind Smith to put Somo through on goal and he skipped past the advancing Connor Collins before being forced wide before holding his composure to roll the ball into the bottom far corner.

“These are good, seasoned Isthmian League Prem players. Dsane has been around a while.  I played against him last year when I was at Folkestone and he was at Horsham.  They’re good players and to come up against these players, it’s sort of given our players’ an insight into what they need to do to get to the level they want to get to.”

Lydd Town kept plugging away, however, and created yet another chance against a side two levels above them.

A big kick from their goalkeeper was knocked down by Pogue on the edge of the penalty area but Adams’ right-footed hooked volley was straight down the goalkeeper’s throat.

Rogers said: “Yes, they’ve had chances but we’ve had chances.  You probably ask Sammy, if he goes through, nine times out of 10 he’ll put it over the keeper, so we’re getting into good areas.  We were causing them issues, just, I guess, and that’s where the level comes in as well.  They’ll take their chances and sometimes we didn’t.”

Mark Waters then put substitute Kie Douglas in behind Robbie Dolan but the outstanding Connor Collins (other than his part in K’s second goal) rushed off his line and smothered the ball low to his left.

Kingstonian were now easily running past a tired Lydd back line at will and Somo fed substitute Iker Nogheraleon, whose left-footed shot was kept out by Collins, diving low to his left.

Kingstonian notched their fourth goal with 44:49 on the clock when Butler’s low diagonal through ball put Somo in on goal and he shrugged past Smith before drilling a clinical left-footed shot across the keeper to find the bottom far corner.

Rogers said: “We tired towards the end. We ran out of steam.  The boys put in hell of a shift.  The sun was on us, they kept the ball well at times, so yes we did give a lot of chances away in the last 20 minutes but I can sort of let them have that one.  They put in a shift.”

The K’s kept the possession of the ball during most of the six minutes and 25 seconds of stoppage time and Connor Collins made another brilliant double save to twice deny Waters after more impressive play from Dsane.

Lydd Town report back to League duty when winless Welling Town visit The Lindsay Field on Saturday.

The Boots’ are one place beneath Lydd in the pecking order, with two draws from their first five league outings.

“My thoughts are it’s another SCEFL team in our way of getting three points. Just because they haven’t won a game, it doesn’t mean they’re going to turn up at our place (and roll over).  If we turn up and we do our jobs, we win a game of football.  If we turn up with a mentality of we think we’re too good for them, then we’ll lose a game of football, it’s as simple as that.”

When asked what Lydd Town will take from their FA Cup campaign moving forward, apart from the £3,319 in prize money, Rogers replied: “Take confidence. We take this into the league.  We turn up in our league and we play to the best of our ability week-in-week-out.

“We will be there or there abouts.  We’re still looking to add. We’ve got players that we’re out today that will come back into the team so everyone around this football club is positive.

“We would’ve gone out of The FA Cup at some point. Yes, it would’ve been nice to have gone further but first and foremost the league is where we’re at and that’s what we want to do well in.  Cups are a bonus so we’ll take this forward and we’ll bring this into our league that we’ve seen from these (Kingstonian) boys today and we’ve learnt a great deal.  The management, we’re on a learning curve as well and we’ll take from this as well.”

The former Hythe Town manager added: “Yes, we’re seventeenth but we’ve only played three games.  We’ve got games in hand.  I believe if we win those games in hand we can push play-offs, so that’s what we’ll be looking to do – play-offs minimum.  Anything else is a failure.”

Kingstonian: Endurance Johnson, Zack Chislett (Hakeem Adelakun 62), Jude Mason, Mark Waters, Matt Drage, Niran Butler, Eddie Dsane, Rudy Allen, Tom Collins (Kie Douglas 67), Andy Somo, Darnell Goather-Braithwaite (Iker Nogheraleon 80).
Subs: Luca Valentine, John Adebiyi

Goals: Andy Somo 38, 77, 90, Rudy Allen 43

Booked: Zack Chislett 7

Lydd Town: Connor Collins, Josh Hastings (William Robbins 79), Calvin Sedenu, Charlie Webster, Ryan Smith, Robbie Dolan, Sam Adams, Ronnie Dolan (Mamadouba Camara 68), Kenny Pogue, Troy Howard, Stephen Okoh (Tyler Sterling 51).
Subs: Harrison Avery, Anthony Oladipupo, Charlie Dickens, Richard Atkins

Goal: Tyler Sterling 70

Booked: James Rogers 20 (joint-manager), Calvin Sedenu 34, Connor Collins 59, Robbie Dolan 62

Attendance: 190
Referee: Mr James Kerten
Assistants: Mr Belin Demirov & Mr Adam Shimmin