1st Team v Hatfield Town

No. 1    7th August 2012.     Herts F A Charity Shield - Round 1
Kings Langley      3  (Jimmy Armstrong 11, Nathan Pooley 64, Scott Bonner 83 )
Hatfield Town       3  (Sam Harris 29, Matt Hodges 55, Aaron Ewing 71)
(Kings Langley win 7-6 on penalties)
Kings Langley advanced to the second round of the Herts Charity Shield in the season’s opening game, triumphing in a penalty shoot out. Despite losing Luke Ladyman after 10 minutes, Kings neat approach play was rewarded a minute later, when Jimmy Armstrong picked up where he left off last season with a lob over the keeper from Ryan Denham’s pass. Hatfield finally settled mid half and served a couple of warnings before Sam Harris replicated the opening goal, and they seemed to have taken the initiative, Jay Welsh hitting woodwork. Kings rallied, but the second half opened with the visitors’ long ball still causing concern and it was not against the run of play when Matt Hodges was found free on the left to put Town ahead. Nathan Pooley’s wide free kick restored parity, a feat he nearly emulated two minutes later, but as the game became increasingly more open, poor marking again saw space for Aaron Ewing to cut inside and score. The home side refused to concede the tie though and with seven minutes left, debutant defender Scott Bonner met Sam Warrell’s corner with a stunning mid-air volley. Further drama played out in the penalties, when Ross Hampton saved the fourth, only for his opposite number to do likewise on Kings vital fifth. When the Kings number one kept out Hatfield’s eighth, it was left to Jack Johnson to make no mistake and open the new management team’s account in credit.        Line-up (4-2-3-1)