We made hard work of that in the end, having apparently put the game to bed with three unanswered goals in the third quarter after an uneventful first half. There were still a couple of alarms during that phase. Firstly Ks #10 went clear through the middle with only Lakin to beat at 2-0 but sidefooted wide of the target. Then the same player was surely tripped inside the box by Scarlett, although I felt he'd fouled our man to win the ball in the first place.
Some great goals from the Hamlet. Hak shook the team up by bringing on Scott and Jeffrey for the start of the second half, and it paid off within 60 seconds when the latter crossed for a classic headed finish by Mills. Great footwork inside the box was followed by a clinical finish from Tarh for the second, then Wanadio made it three with a humdinger from 20 yards. Ks first looked a little too easy as their #7 worked space for a shot from 15 yards, despite plenty of defenders in attendance. We began to look very wobbly against any sort of attacking thrust, with a lob over the onrushing Lakin bouncing over off the crossbar. Then just as 5 minutes of added time was indicated we conceded a free kick near the corner, which was met with an unchallenged downward header by their centre back (not Drage!) to make it 3-2. Thankfully Hamlet managed to see out the remaining time with nothing more worrying than an overhit through ball that eluded the runner on its way out for a goal kick.
I thought the game was a real curate's egg on the whole. First half steady enough at the back, some good midfield and approach play wasted by wayward crossing, wildly optimistic shooting, or a poor final pass. The period encompassing our three goals was the best I've seen since the Canvey game two months ago, but we looked ever so vulnerable to opponents running at us through the middle. A bit too much of the wrong sort of excitement, but more entertaining than recent home games, and most importantly 3 points.
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