KINGSTONIANS AND WIMBLEDON DRAW.
Popular After-War Resumption of Football at Richmond Road.
Playing at home on Saturday Kingstonians divided Athenian League points with Wimbledon, each side scoring twice. The match marked the resumption of senior football in Kingston after the break compelled by the war, and it was encouraging to see such a large gathering at the Richmond-road ground to support the new local combination, quite a thousand people being present. A good, clean, and interesting game was seen, which, if not always fast, never failed to grip the attention right to the end. Wimbledon did well in sharing the points, and. having regard to the run of the play, Kingstonian supporters cannot complain of the result, for, although disappointing to them, after the home side had, by marked superiority, established a lead of 2-0 in the first half, the second half was so much in favour of Wimbledon that they genuinely deserved the points they secured.

An impression of how the play progressed may be conveyed in a brief and general manner by stating that those spectators who stood at the Richmond-road end of the enclosure, which was defended in the first half by Wimbledon and in the second by Kingston, had the closest view of most of the exchanges. On both sides there was evident among the players a lack of knowledge of each other's methods, but so far, at least, as the Kingstonians were concerned, the lack of cohesion, was less apparent than last week. Time alone is the remedy. The conditions for the game were excellent, the change to cooler weather being appreciated by all concerned, although perhaps the hardness of the ground tended to give the ball too great a liveliness.

Visitors on the Defensive.
As already indicated, the visitors, during the first half, were mostly on the defensive, and Taylor, their goal-keeper, was frequently called upon to save. Mansey set a good example to the Kingston front line in the matter of pushfulness, and it will be surprising if he does not run up a good record of goals scored as the season proceeds. Crick, back in the outside left position, which he occupied with the old Kingston team, got through a deal of useful work, although he was well watched by Knight, another old Kingston Town player, who now wears the Wimbledon colours, and who on Saturday did yeoman service for his side.

Pratt put in a nice shot as the result of a well-placed forward kick by Yates, but Taylor punched away in good style. Dyer, receiving from Heap, missed a fine opening in front of the Kingston goal by kicking high over. This, and a well placed corner-kick, were the only two really threatening incidents at the Kingston end during the first half, and the corner kick was well cleared by Warner.

It was after about twenty minutes play that Kingston opened the scoring. Pratt, getting possession from a pass from the left, found himself with the ball near the penalty area, and with ample time to take careful aim. This he took advantage of, putting the ball hard and fast into the corner of the net, well out of Taylor's reach. Following this, the Kingstonians almost over-ran their opponents. and several corners were conceded by Wimbledon. The resultant kicks generally were placed behind the goal; it was noticeable that most of the free kicks from the corner flag were put wide. Thus several possible openings were denied Kingston.

It was about ten minutes after the first success that Kingston obtained their second. Edwards drew off both the Wimbledon backs, also tempting Taylor to leave his goal; the ball rebounding from the Wimbledon backs was seized upon by Mansey and crashed into the net. In those evolutions Reeves, Wimbledon's right back, received an injury to his knee which necessitated him leaving the field for some minutes. The Kingstonians continued to predominate for the remainder of the half, Wimbledon's forwards being well held. Once Dyer - a promising young winger - was allowed to get through rather easily, and he put in a long Shot which was the best of the half, the ball just grazing the top of the cross-bar with Warner apparently beaten. At half time Kingstonians were leading by the only two goals scored.

Reversal of Fortunes.
It is difficult to find an explanation for such a reversal of fortunes as marked the second half, as compared with the first. The Kingstonians, who won the toss and therefore had the second kick-off, went away with a rush, and the home supporters began to have visions of a handsome win. Then the home side suddenly fell away, the team's play becoming very ragged, and, but for sterling defensive work by Sargent and Makepeace, Warner would have been troubled more often than he was. In the first few Minutes of the half, Mansey, receiving an excellent centre from Crick, shot hard at goal- but right into Taylor's hands. Taylor also saved well from Wright. Some pretty short passing by the Wimbledon forwards carried play to the Kingston end, and from now onwards the Kingstonians were mostly in their own half. Dyer, after many efforts, eventually beat Warner with a fast, rising shot.

A free kick for hands against Wimbledon led to an exciting period round their goal, closing with a smart punch away by Taylor. Dyer again nearly scored a little later, beating the home defenders and getting right in ere shooting, but Warner saved well. Warner and the home backs were kept very much on the alert during the next twenty minutes, and there were several occasions on which the downfall of the home goal seemed imminent. That downfall come at length through Gillham, who, taking advantage of some hesitancy on the part of Kingstonian backs, sent in a fairly long shot which easily beat Warner. The Kingstonians rallied somewhat after this, and Pratt looked like getting through when the ball was kicked behind for a corner. Mansey also made a big effort to score, and Taylor, after saving Mansey's shot while on his knees, had to throw the ball behind. However, there was no further scoring, and honours remained even.
Teams:-
Kingstonians: C. Warner; F. W. Makepeace and F. J. Sargent; G. R. Stentiford, A. J. Yates and J. Wood; W. J. Wright, J. Pratt. H. Mansey, S. C. Edwards and H. E. Crick.
Wimbledon: A. C. Taylor; T.J. Reeves and W. H. Edwards; W. Keeble, W. J. Knight, T. J. A. Ainger; E. R. Heap, J. Armitage, H. Gillhan, N. Van der Borgh and H, L. Dyer,
Referee: Mr. J. F. Ricketts.

Report from Surrey Comet dated 17 Sep 1919- see report in original format.

Aditional report from Surrey Advertiser dated 17 Sep 1919.

Notes on the game from Surrey Advertiser dated 17 Sep 1919.