Kingston sign off with a classy win
WITH the sun shining and a bumper crowd, Kingston Hull FC played their last ever game in the Hull & District Sunday Youth League when they welcomed North Ferriby FC Under-17s in an Under-18s Division Two clash.
With several players leaving at the end of the season Kingston wanted to go out on a high and after five minutes they got the perfect start.
Jake Frederick rolled the ball out to Matty Stephenson who sprayed the ball left where several players passed between themselves before finding Ellis Rennie centre field.
The midfielder spotted Jay Hicks’ run down the right wing with the right midfielder carrying the ball to the byline to cut back for Reece Heath who tapped in.
After this things took a turn for the worse when Kingston conceded three goals in a 14 minute spell, one of the goals down to a defensive slip.
Kingston needed a spark and on 30 minutes they got one when Heath went on a solo run, beating two defenders to smash the ball past the Ferriby keeper to put his team back in the game.
Two minutes later and Kingston were back level when Rennie smashed in a monster of a free-kick from some 40 yards out.
Kingston weren’t finished there and made it three goals in three minutes when Hicks and Heath combined to find Jacob Clarke out wide with the left midfielder sending a low cross into the box for Harrison Mclaughlin to side foot home to take his side 4-3 up at the break.
With the supporters entertained with a plethora of goals in the first half they had to endure a tense second half with several missed chances and desperate defending resulting in an unpredictable finish.
Ferriby levelled the match up on 55 minutes and it was game on with both teams going all out for glory.
On 70 minutes Mclaughlin saw his header hit the crossbar, then moments later Harvey Ralph found himself one-on-one with the keeper, only to see his shot go agonisingly wide.
Kingston kept pressing though, going all out to end their time in the youth league on a high and with five minutes left got the goal they deserved when Ralph made amends for his earlier miss to fire a sweet left-footed shot into the back of the net, to the delight of the home supporters and his team-mates.
Kingston played smart to close the game out to end their 12-year journey at youth level with a 5-4 win.
Ralph and Heath claimed Kingston’s Man of the Match awards with an extra two given out to Hicks and Mclaughlin for their goal involvements.