Kasukumya, who was man of the match in the 2-1 Isthmian South Central division victory over Ascot United on Sunday, was at the double as Jamie Howell’s men secured the triumph without too much trouble at the Nest.
In the two games he has played since his arrival from the youth set-up at Premier League AFC Bournemouth, the 18-year-old attacker has already proved he has enough pace, power and raw talent to ask searching questions of opposing defences.
It helped Bognor’s cause that the Magpies, a well organised outfit from the SCFL division one, were reduced to 10 men when Billy Tomlinson received a red card for a wild challenge on Billy Allcock just before half-time. By then the Rocks were 2-0 up thanks to an 11th-minute opener headed home by skipper Chad Field from a Preston Woolston corner — and a superb free-kick from the edge of the box from full-back Matt Jones on 40 minutes.
Before that the visitors had hit the bar twice in the opening 10 minutes as they looked to overpower their resilient opponents by dominating possession, complimenting their ball retention with bright, attacking football.
Kasukumya made it 3-0 with a tap in on 52 minutes before steering his shot home from inside the box for 4-0 on 77 minutes. It was left to Allcock to finish the hosts off with a cracking turn and shot for 5-0 after 89 minutes.
With Dan Lincoln unavailable through work commitments, Alfie Barnes was chosen as the Rocks custodian and the U18s keeper will no doubt have been delighted to keep a clean sheet.
Howell was able to give Harvey Whyte 20 minutes or so from the bench as he continues to recover from injury and Dan Gifford, who left the pitch on Sunday with an injury, must have shaken off the knock as he got on for a similar period of time as well.
Their availability is good news for the Rocks as they head to mid-table Hendon in an Isthmian South Central division clash this Saturday.
Rocks assistant manager Paul Hinshelwood was pleased with the application and end result. He told Rocks Radio: “We asked the boys to treat the game with respect to them (the opposition) and they did that and all credit to the boys.
“We asked them to get the job done early and they did that. Me and Jamie are really pleased also that we were able to keep a clean sheet. Alfie did well in goal and he got a bit off stick from fans behind the goal but overall, he did well. Billy was unlucky not to play on Sunday (against Ascot United) and he was outstanding tonight and puts himself back in the reckoning.”
Commenting on the dismissal, Hinshelwood said: “The tackle was a bit naughty — sometimes when you get played of the park those challenges come in but we didn’t rise to it and we kept our discipline, which is another good thing for us.”
Bognor Regis Town: Alfie Barnes, Elliot Chaffey, Matt Jones, Ethan Robb, Chad Field (C), Joe Alman, Billy Allcock, Preston Woolston, Kash Kasukumya, Callum Laycock, Lee Seok-Jae. Substitutes: Tommy Block, Toby Kingswell, Dan Gifford, Lennie Smith, Harvey Whyte (all used second half except Tommy Block).
