Herts 1961 SFL Division 3 - Kimpton Rovers 3-1 Phoenix A

Kimpton Rovers CFC began their Division Three campaign in impressive fashion with a convincing 3–1 home victory over Phoenix A at The Recreation Ground.

Rovers were on the front foot from the opening exchanges and produced an excellent team performance that would eventually see them amass an incredible 35 shots across the ninety minutes.

The breakthrough arrived when Dlawar Rekar opened his account for the season, hammering home from inside the box after Tom Hills had unlocked the Phoenix defence with an outstanding thirty yard through ball. Kimpton continued to control proceedings and doubled their advantage on the half hour mark. Tom Bundy switched play with a superb cross field ball from thirty yards which escaped the Phoenix left back and fell invitingly for Harry Byron, who kept his composure to calmly side foot the ball home. With the hosts continuing to create chances, a third arrived four minutes before the interval. Goalkeeper Arran Jones claimed a Phoenix corner confidently before immediately setting Rovers on the attack with a quick kick from his hands. The move eventually found its way to Ed Purple, who produced a brilliant cut back onto his left foot before drilling a low finish into the bottom left corner to give Kimpton a commanding 3–0 lead at the break.

Despite the scoreline, there was no let up from Rovers after the restart. The chances continued to come as the hosts looked to add to their advantage, with the sheer volume of opportunities reflecting an excellent collective performance across the pitch. Phoenix continued to compete and were rewarded on seventy one minutes when a well timed through ball opened up the Kimpton defence and was finished well to reduce the deficit. It proved to be nothing more than a consolation, however, with Rovers seeing out the remainder of the game comfortably to secure all three points.

Harry Smith was named the Meyer Office Solutions Player of the Match after an outstanding performance.