Walton Casuals shot to the top of Ryman Division One South table at the weekend thanks to a goal from the unlikeliest of sources.

Jamal Jimoh’s first half goal secured a 1-0 win over Whitstable Town on Saturday that put the Stags three points clear at the summit – with Leatherhead engaged in FA Cup commitments.
 

But boss Mark Hams, who still runs Kingstonian’s academy, admitted it was a wonder the 19-year-old midfielder was even on the pitch, having been set to feature for Dorking Wanderers on-loan that afternoon.
 

“I always tell the youngsters we have at Ks that they just need to keep their heads down and keep plugging away because you never know what might happen,” he said.
 

“Jamal, who I had with me at the academy, has been in and around the squad and Dorking came to me asking if we had any centre midfielders they could borrow.
 

“He needed game time so he was all set to play with them until we had a couple of injuries in the week.
 

“I always like to have a 17th man named in my squad in case someone doesn’t make it to the ground or they suddenly become unavailable.
 

“Malik Ouani could not play at the last minute due to circumstances at home that morning and all of a sudden Jamal’s on the bench.
 

“So me and my brother [assistant Neil Hams] thought long and hard about the combinations and decided Jamal should start and he goes and scores the winner.”
 

Casuals host Worthing on Saturday with Hams expecting his side's bubble to burst some time soon.
 

“We are not going to win the league. I’ll tell you that now,” he added.
 

“We will have a bad patch at some stage, but if we carry on as we are I think we’ll have a little push for the play-offs.”