Rusthall strolled to a 3-0 victory over Kennington on a beautifully sunny Saturday afternoon in front of 237 fans at The Jockey Farm Stadium. A 12th game without defeat was secured in the first half through goals from the prolific Charlie Clover and the impressive Jack Lyons- so dominant was the Rustics’ performance, the second half was a stroll during which Serine Sanneh could easily have pulled up a chair.

With Yassin Fares missing through suspension, the question over who would replace him was answered by the inclusion of Mustafa Hashemi and the shift forward of Jack Lyons. Hashemi has impressed in his first season in green and white and he put in another top-drawer performance, demonstrating his attacking abilities against a team who offered little threat the other way. Robbie Bissett returned from a recent skiing trip and any hopes the Kennington attack had of slaloming past him were nullified with a typically robust and uncompromising display from the Rusthall captain. On the other side of the centre of defence, more than one Kennington player repeatedly attempted to shift Dan Blunn off the ball- a fool’s errand indeed, and the man who will soon celebrate 100 games in a Rusthall shirt enjoyed a comfortable afternoon’s work.

The game began in fairly scruffy fashion, both sides seemingly keen to give the ball to the other at times. When the Kennington players weren’t ceding possession to their opponents with sloppy passing, they were content to hoof the ball long and, often, straight out of play.  While Rusthallweren’t yet out of second gear, it always felt like the obvious gap in quality would result in goals for the home side and so it proved on 27 minutes- a corner, whipped in dangerously by Jack Lyons, was met by the head of Charlie Clover but his effort was saved by Joe Mant. When he spilt it, Clover was there to prod the ball home for number 26 of the season for him. Kennington protests were led by Mant who felt he had the ball in two hands- he didn’t, and the goal quite rightly stood. Rusthall tails were up and keen to put in a spell of quality which would see the game off. Within ten minutes of the opener, it was 2-0 when Kennington again found no onewith an attempted pass forward other than the excellent Frank Griffin, once again the sturdy rock in the centre of midfield, who gave the ball to Kalani Barton who immediately cut inside and beat two half-heated attempts at a tackle. His clever ball through found Charlie Clover who turned once then twice before Jack Lyons took over by expertly stroking the ball low into the far corner.

Soon after, it was 3-0 and the game was done. Jack Kirby was simply too good for this opposition and when he picked the ball up on halfway and floated past the Kennington midfield, it was very clear that Kennington had nothing to offer. Kirby’s through ball to the overlapping Louis Anderson was inch-perfect, Anderson’s cutback matched it, and Jack Lyons’ clever stepover was only beaten for quality by Clover’s fine finish which left Mant with no chance. 27 for the season for the excellent Charlie Clover whose Man-of-the-Match performance today capped an excellent run of form for Rusthall’s number 9.

The second half gave Jimmy Anderson a chance to use his high-quality bench to good effect. Jeffrey Njuguna came on to take his midfield berth on the hour and immediately set about dominating proceedings alongside Frank Griffin. Jack Kirby had picked up one of several Rusthall yellow cards and could be saved for another day so on came the fresh-faced midfield general, Tommy Lawrence, who was involved in perhaps the best move of the match when Robbie Bissett plucked the ball out of the sky and played it forward to Jesse Hammond who had replaced Jack Lyons. Hammond rolled the ball infield to Theo Hayford who had replaced Kalani Barton- Hayford played the ball through to the rampaging Lawrence who selflessly played in Charlie Clover whose effort flicked off a defender and rolled agonisingly wide of the post. Hayford was perhaps the pick of the subs with a confident display which showcased his ability to beat a man with pace and excellent movement but the strength of the entire bench is cause for great optimism as we approach the business end of the season. Other chances were at a premium- Frank Griffin went closest with a curling effort from the edge of the area but the crossbar stood in the way of him opening his Rusthall account. Theo Hayford went close to adding a fourth goal late on but Joe Mant saved well. At the other end, Serine Sanneh was able to enjoy being serenaded by his young fans behind the goal while enjoying a straightforward outing.

A comfortable afternoon for all associated with Rusthall was made even better with other results around the division going their way as all the other teams in the top 6 failed to win and Lydd Town rallied late to beat rivals Tunbridge Wells who finally got to play a game. With another two home games coming up in quick succession against Bearsted on Tuesday evening, and Stansfeld on Saturday afternoon, Jimmy Anderson and his management team will already be plotting ways to keep the run of great form going.

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