Townies’ new Cup adventure
Kentish Town chasing Wembley dream again after winning in FA Cup clash
Published: 19 August, 2010
by STEVE BARNETT
THE mighty Kentish Town FC are back on the road to Wembley after beating Essex Senior League Champions Stansted FC in the extra-preliminary round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
The Townies, who enjoyed success in last year’s competition by winning their opening match, put in a tremendous team effort to net a 1-0 victory at Silver Jubilee Park in Kingsbury, and were rewarded with a tie against Bethnal Green United in the next round.
They created a number of chances in the first half with Anthony Clark and James Lindsay both going close, but went in at the break with nothing to show for their flowing football. In the second half an injury to centre-back Eric Gbio forced a reshuffle, allowing young striker John Lundeya to make his debut for the club. He made an immediate impact as he played a clever pass to strike partner Lindsay, who raced clear and slotted the ball past the keeper.
Stansted pushed for an equaliser but struggled to find a way past Town’s well-organised defence.
After the game, Kentish Town manager Rakatahr Hudson said: “I said this is the best squad I have had at Kentish Town, and this was the best team performance since I have been here.
“The first half we were dominant and the tie should have been out of sight. But we kept going and got our rewards in the second half. Defensively we were very strong and we need to produce those high standards on a regular basis.
“In the next round Bethnal Green will be a tough game – they finished behind Stansted in the Essex Senior League last season and if we put in a similar performance we know we can beat them.”
Kentish Town followed up their Cup success by netting their first point of the new season on Tuesday.
Goals from Clark and Uduma Kalu saw the Townies earn a 2-2 draw in their tough away fixture against Kingsbury London Tigers.