Rigg strike enough to edge City past wasteful Hampton

A great Sean Rigg strike just past the hour mark was enough to open City’s account for the 2018-19 season at Hampton & Richmond Borough this afternoon. However, the victory was founded on a series of excellent saves from Ryan Clarke and woeful finishing from the wasteful home side. An early Andy Watkins shot turned out to be a rare threat from City as the Beavers pushed forward with increasing regularity. With City struggling to retain possession it only looked a matter of time before Hampton went ahead. Chances came and went though and somehow the game reached the break goalless. The second half continued in a similar fashion, although City were beginning to pose a greater threat going forward. Then with 60 minutes gone Watkins’ header was tipped over by Lovelock and when the resultant corner was only half-cleared, Rigg unleashed a fierce shot into the top corner. Having been shown how to do it, Hampton failed to take it on board as they continued to spurn clear chances. Hampton finally ran out of steam in the final ten minutes to allow City to see out the game without any further real scares but they must still be wondering how they ended the contest pointless.