Sussex Athletic 1–2 Kirkby FC: Castagna finds his range

Match report

The geraniums in the window boxes of the Sussex Athletic main stand were still standing at the interval. So was the scoreline, stubbornly goalless. The home side, 12th and in decent fettle, had done most of the work without ever troubling the Kirkby keeper. It was the kind of half that makes you check your watch more than you should.

Seven minutes after the restart, it all came undone. Barthold-Engel worked the ball out of a crowded middle and found Castagna, who finished with the calm of a man who had been timing his runs all evening. The Italian now has goals in three of his last four appearances, and while he tends to do his damage later in games, nobody at Kirkby was complaining about the early showing.

The second arrived on 69 minutes, Buisma-Veld supplying the service, Castagna supplying the certainty. By then the home crowd had gone quiet, save for the sort of murmur that usually accompanies bad news. Athletic's good run of form had been talkative company all month: suddenly it had nothing to say.

Tegwyn Mostyn-Davies gave the scoreboard an air of respectability on 88 minutes, sliding in after Cornudet's cross had skimmed off a couple of bodies. It was a fine goal, too late to matter, but it at least saved the tea ladies from having to talk about a 3-0. Their earlier meeting had ended that way, and there is only so much of that a club can take.

Kirkby are still 15th, but they will climb on this. Wednesday 26 August concludes, and for the first time in a while, Kirkby have a reason to look forward to the training ground. Somewhere, Rolfdieter Barthold-Engel is already thinking about the next assist.