Home | 21 July 2026
Four wins on the spin for Villa
By | Abhishek Ramesh
Hanworth Villa extended their preseason winning streak to four games after defeating Kingstonian 2-0 at Rectory Meadow.
Michael Harding and Jack Timberlake were on the scoresheet either side of half-time as manager Simon Haughney fielded a strong 3-4-2-1 lineup.
Last season's regulars Tyla Dickinson, Josh Casey, Ben Geraghty and Remy Onabanjo were at the back. Meanwhile, Kensley Maloney and Ben Mulley manned the middle of the park.
Sam Sesay and Ethan Light were the newcomers in defence while Harding led the line supported by forwards Gio McGregor and Haydon Vaughan.
In the eighth minute, Geraghty got past his man on the right flank, but his cutback from the byline was gathered easily by the Kingstonian goalie.
Onabanjo, the other wingback, cut inside from the left in the 20th minute and let fly on his weaker right foot. However, it was easily caught by the keeper.
Villa survived a scare midway through the first half when a visitors’ strike from outside the area rattled the underside of the crossbar. Dickinson was beaten, but the ball somehow stayed out.
The away side came even closer to opening the scoring when a rasping drive from the edge of the box needed a flying fingertip save from Dickinson. The resulting corner was headed wide midway through the first half.
Minutes later, Harding forced a smart save from close range but was flagged offside, which, to the naked eye, was perhaps a harsh call.
Then, in first-half added time and arguably against the run of play, Villa went ahead through Harding. The striker ran onto an underhit pass to the keeper and got the crucial touch to find the back of the net.
Soon after the break, Vaughan crossed from the inside left channel, but substitute Timberlake arrived into the box a second too late, and the chance was gone.
Vaughan was in behind again moments later and had just the keeper to beat. Unfortunately, his lob cleared the goal as well.
The chances kept coming thick and fast for Villa as McGregor tried to catch the keeper out of position. However, his hopeful attempt from just in front of the centre circle went wide of the woodwork.
Dickinson’s sharp reflexes were tested again when a free-kick delivery led to a shot in the 65th minute.
Timberlake doubled the hosts’ lead in the 72nd minute when he found acres of space in the box and despite the keeper getting a hand to his effort.
Centre forward Liam Ferdinand came off the bench and had a chance to extend the lead further in the 85th minute but lost possession at the vital moment.
Playmaker Brandon Curtis injected positive energy with surging runs on the ball after coming on. His left-footed grasscutter a minute before full time was a whisker wide of the upright.
There wasn’t any other change on the scoreboard as Hanworth closed out the game.
They next face Welwyn Garden City at home on Saturday, 25th July, with kick-off at 3 pm.
