Kingstonian maintained their challenge to leaders Farnham Town thanks to scoring two unopposed first-half goals at Hartley Wintney.

Hartley started brightly and had a good chance on 5 minutes. Charlie Postance forced his way through on the right before crossing to Aderi Dede in front of goal. The Row striker saw his close-range shot by Liam Allen in the Ks goal. The visitors first chance arrived two minutes later when Stan Flaherty combined with Alex Kelly and the latter saw his shot saved by Kie Plumley in the Row goal.

Play evened out but Kingstonian came very close to scoring on 22 minutes.  Very loose play by Hartley in midfield allowed a through ball to Bradley Wilson who saw his shot crash off the crossbar.  If this gift offering by Hartley was not accepted then two minutes later the visitors decided to accept the second offering. A ball aimed towards the Row area saw indecision and the ball travelled through several Row defenders plus goalkeeper Plumley leaving BRADLEY WILSON  to tap into the net. (0-1).

Kingstonian doubled their lead on 35 minutes and again it was attributable to very poor communication. The Hartley back four pushed up to the half way line. Unfortunately defenders and goalie were not on the same wavelength. A ball over the top saw BRADLEY WILSON run into a huge space and finished off by shooting past Plumley.  (0-2).

The Row responded well and were unfortunate not reduce the arrears before half time. On 44 minutes a Reece Wylie corner into a forest of heads saw a goal-bound header cleared off the goal line. A minute later Postance latched onto a through ball and his effort brought out a good save from Allen.

HALF TIME:   HARTLEY WINTNEY 0 KINGSTONIAN  2

The Row started where they left off in the first half and gained the ascendancy. On 49 minutes Lamar Koroma found Postance who was unlucky to see his shot go wide. Hartley continued to have a good share of the play and passed up a number of good situations around the penalty area/

The Ks edged back into the match and came close on 67 minutes. Taurean Roberts worked space coming in from the left and his parting effort brought out a good save from Plumley. Nine minutes later the visitors came close again when a snap shot from Palace Francis went just over the bar.

Kingstonian consolidated and Hartley found it hard to break down a well organized defence.  The final chance fell to Francis when a loose pass in the Row defence gave him clear run in one goal. Having rounded Plumley his goal bound shot was cleared off the line by Ellis Orsborne.

For Hartley a much improved performance than in the previous few matches. However a bit of homework is required on the defence communication system.

  FULL TIME:    HARTLEY WINTNEY  0  KINGSTONIAN  2

Hartley Man of the Match  -   GEORGE WALLACE

Attendance 280   Entertainment  3/5

COACH COMMENTS:   ADAM NEW

Adam New, first team coach, said: "I thought we started well and could have been ahead early on. A much better performance than in the recent few games.

"[It was] Obviously a game of fine margins at either end of the pitch. Both goals conceded were very preventable. At the other end we probably should have got on the score sheet.

"In circumstances like that you are always likely to get punished by good sides like Kingstonian.

"Felt good reaction at end of first half and the second half. If we had scored it could have made for a tight finish.

"On the Tuesday night match at Ascot the managers and coaches must put their hands up. We got it wrong and we take responsibility for that.

"The squad is in good spirits. Despite the recent setbacks we look forward to the forthcoming games to put things right. We are a young side and having just taking over at the start of the season a relatively new side."