First soccer victory continues to elude New Kent’s Trojans

New Kent's Cullen Kettle (13) clears the ball away from the Trojan goal and Warhill's Noah Leon.

Alan Chamberlain photo

New Kent’s Trojans remain in their quest for their first soccer win of the season following a disappointing 4-1 Thursday night loss to Warhill’s invading Lions.

The Trojans opened the scoring and played the Lions on near even terms for one half, but a red card disqualification placed the hosts in a man down situation, helping the Lions control the second half.

“I thought tonight was it,” said New Kent coach Keith Grant, looking for that elusive first win after 13 straight losses.

“If we didn’t go down to 10 people, I think this would have been our game,” he said. “We definitely played a lot better than we have in the past.”

Anxo DelRiego got New Kent on the scoreboard first, blasting a shot past Lion keeper Daniel Hardy near the midway point of the first half. Warhill evened the count six minutes later on a shot by Andrew Williams, and that deadlock lasted into the second half.

But four minutes in, the visitors moved ahead to stay. Over a three-minute span beginning with 31 minutes to play, the Trojans had opportunities to regain control. First, Jonny Bottoms beat defenders for an open shot stopped by Hardy. Then another Bottoms shot drifted wide before Josue Benitez’s free kick sailed too high for a leaping Darren McCaughan to attain the proper angle for a header into the net.

The Trojans managed few opportunities thereafter. A pushing violation in the box set up Noah Dunbar’s penalty kick to add to the Lion lead. The visitors then tacked on an insurance goal with 16 minutes to go.

Warhill held a 26-7 advantage in shots. Trojan keeper Jan Czech totaled 11 saves while Hardy stopped three New Kent shots.