1st Team v Crawley Green

No. 11    12th September 2012.     Spartan South Midlands League - Division 1
Crawley Green                 4  (Terry Billy 15, Vinnie Shrieves 26, Courtney Massie 55, Adam Reid 82)
Kings Langley                  2  (Jimmy Armstrong 36 pen, 60)
Callum Adebiyi was taken to hospital following a tenth minute collision and a Courtney Massey cross was forced home by Terry Billy before the substitution was made. Worse was to follow as Kings were united in their protests at the second goal by Vinnie Shrieves from a long throw in, convinced that young keeper Ross Hampton had been fouled.  In a rare attack, Jimmy Armstrong’s turn perplexed the defender and he put the resultant penalty into the roof of the net to give the visitors hope that their first half performance did not merit. Early substitute Scott Bonner’s contribution had been as good as, if not better than his defensive counterparts, while the versatile Jack Johnson, now at left back, was given little covering help in his efforts to contain the tricky Massie. The midfield had no time to settle on the ball and the link with Armstrong up front was tenuous. A generously awarded free kick ten minutes into the second half further turned the screw as Massie beat Hampton from 25 yards and it wasn’t until the introduction of Craig Lynskey that Kings suddenly started to trouble a tiring defence. Sam Warrell’s shot was blocked after a series of attacks and Jimmy Armstrong poached the rebound. A spectacular rocket by Nathan Pooley was ruled out for an alleged foul, while a clear push in the back on the goalbound Lynskey in the box was overlooked. But just when it seemed that an unlikely point may be salvaged, Kings hit the self-destruct button, as Gary Connolly was robbed on the touchline and Adam Reid fired in the cross from the edge of the box.         Line-up (4-4-1-1)