Late Essex goals foil NK bid

Three late second half goals by Essex attackers broke open a close soccer battle with New Kent’s host Trojans, lifting the visiting Group A Trojans from the Northern Neck District to a 5-2 win.

New Kent owned the first half, taking a 1-0 halftime lead, but Essex moved in front early after the break and broke a 2-2 deadlock with three unanswered scores in the final minutes. The non-district loss dropped New Kent to 1-4-1 on the season.

“[Essex] just kicked the ball, and when they’re just kicking the ball, you have to be ready for it,” New Kent coach Craig Aliff said afterward.

“Our guys in the back made mistakes by not responding to the long balls they kicked,” he said. “Our defenders didn’t step with them and try to get offsides.”

New Kent managed a 7-6 edge in first half shots, but didn’t break through until just seconds remained before intermission. Midfielder Adam Harper launched a pass from the right side of the box to forward Kyle Leckie whose short-range header eluded Essex keeper Ben Swinson.

But the hosts’ lead lasted only four minutes into the second half when Essex’s Weston Shropshire unleashed a free kick that caromed off a New Kent defender into the goal. Less than three minutes later, another Shropshire free kick hooked toward the goal, got blocked, but was picked up by Ryan Morgan who hammered a shot past New Kent keeper Dylan Coons for a 2-1 Essex lead.

Leckie wiped out the Essex advantage 10 minutes later with his second goal, a shot out of a crowd in front of the Essex net. But for most of the second half, New Kent could not mount a consistent offense. The hosts got off only two shots while Essex took charge with 16.

As the clock ticked down toward 10 minutes to play, Essex’s Kyle Volante got past New Kent defenders to give his team the lead for good. With under four minutes to go, Quinzel Brown got an open shot at the New Kent net to make it 4-2. The final Essex score came off the foot of Brown in the waning seconds.

For the match, Coons registered nine saves while Swinson stopped three shots.

“This was a disappointing game,” Aliff said. “They just kicked the ball while we passed the ball all over the place and played real soccer the way the game should be played. Mistakes killed us. We should have won it.”