1st Team v Crawley Green

No. 52   23rd April 2013.     Spartan South Midlands League – Division 1
Kings Langley                1 (Jimmy Armstrong 7)
Crawley Green                3 (Jamie Warne 35, 59, Stuart Strange 51)
After six straight League wins, Kings had high hopes of avenging last season’s Division 1 Cup Final defeat and ensuring that Green did not complete this season’s double over them. In the end they achieved neither, but for the first half hour a home victory looked decidedly on the cards. With just seven minutes on the clock, Kings patient interpassing football produced a textbook goal of stunning simplicity. Callum Adebiyi brought the ball out of defence, found Sam Warrell in midfield, who inter-passed with Joe Gallagher. The latter split the ranks with a diagonal ball to Tom Carter on the left wing and his cross was turned in by Jimmy Armstrong. Gallagher then has a header cleared off the line and an Adam Hallissey shot on the run was punched away by Dean Bull. But on 35 minutes, a shirt pull by Callum Adebiyi on the edge of the box earnt him a caution and Jamie Warne’s free-kick found its way through both the wall and the keeper. Spirits buoyed, Crawley looked a different team but the match was looking for a way to go when Adebiyi lost possession and the ball was swept on to Stuart Strange to score from close range. Kings did not react well to these errors and their heads were still down when Jamie Warne found the other wing wide open and gratefully accepted the invitation to run on and rifle home the deciding third. To their credit, Kings battled for the last half hour to gain some consolation and had the ball in the net from a throw in, only to receive an offside flag, but the visiting defence, vulnerable in the first third of the match, but composed for the rest, dealt with the series of raids to record a deserved win on a night that proved a disappointment as the curtain came down on Kings’ last home game of the season.     Line-up:- (3-5-2)