Three wins for Kempton Park FC

GOALS were the order of the day as the four Kempton Park Football Club senior teams managed three wins and a draw among them at the weekend.

The first and second sides had a daunting task away against the in form Robertsham sides, who had won three of their first four games.

The firsts won 2-1, the seconds 4-3, the thirds 4-0, while the fourth team drew 3-all.

In bright sunshine, the Kempton first team aggressively attacked the Robertsham defence from the kick-off, with Koketso Peu breaking down the left and narrowly shooting wide.

Ociano Pretorius then set up Warren Gardner, who shot tamely straight at the goalkeeper.

The breakthrough came after 15 minutes, when Pretorius and Quenn Hartridge combined down the right flank, with the latter fizzing a brilliant cross that was met at the back post by Grant Terrey. Terrey’s left-footed drive left the keeper with no chance.

The goal seemed to wake up Robertsham, who started to put on the pressure.

Two stunning Jacques Duvenhage saves kept Kempton in it, but Robertsham equalised with a fine strike from the edge of the box into the top left hand corner.

Kempton then rallied with shots from Byron Jarman and Humphrey Boitopelo flying over the crossbar.

Warren Gardner looked certain to score as the half reached its climax, but his left footed poke contrived to curl around the post.

Later on, Robertsham struck the left hand upright, but the scores stayed level until half time.

The second half was a little less frantic than the first until, with 10 minutes to go, Gardner beat the Robertsham offside trap and planted a firm shot beyond the reach of the hapless goalkeeper.

Robertsham responded again, and Duvenhage saved a rifled drive low to his left.

The home side forced four corners, each of which were headed clear by the resolute Kempton defence.

A Robertsham free kick was blasted high and when a last-ditch cross was cleared away by Zukhile Bahlakazi, the referee blew the final whistle and three points were in the bag.

The Kempton Park reserve team were involved in an extraordinary game, eventually winning 4-3, after leading 4-0 with less than a quarter of an hour to play.

After resisting some intense Robertsham pressure, Kempton broke away and an exquisite cross found Didi Kasalu lurking at the back post, to head the ball home into the top right side of the goal.

Kempton’s second came from a goalkeeping error, when a fumble led to Leeroy Shora taking the ball around the prostrate goalie and calmly side footing it into an empty net. The second half continued in the same vein.

A centre from the left found Kasalu in a world of space and he made no mistake with a right footed volley. Kempton’s fourth goal came courtesy of Ntobisi Zulu, who danced past a couple of defenders before hitting the ball under an advancing keeper.

Robertsham roared back into the game later on, but their three goals were not enough.

The Kempton third side (AKA the KOBs), opened their season with a 4-0 win over Dinwiddie Stars.

Frank Williams opened the scoring with a side-footed effort from close range. The second goal came when Zane Skillings flicked in a header from a Warren Ramsay free kick, which left the Stars goalkeeper rooted to the spot.

Kempton added another two goals in the second half, with Skillings slotting a free kick into the bottom left hand corner, and Ramsay completed the rout with a well placed shot into the middle of the goal, after the goalkeeper failed to hold onto a Brendon Wills cross.

Graeme Rutherford was called into action between the posts late, with a pair of saves, but the KOBs were rarely troubled.

The fourth side drew their second game in a row in a six-goal, 3-all game against Boksburg. Chris Ngalalume scored a first half hat-trick.

Kempton led 2-0 before Boksburg pulled one back.

Kempton then led 3-1 before two late first half goals from Boksburg completed the scoring for the day. Kempton hit the frame of the goal twice in the second half, but could not add to their tally.