1st Team v Buckingham Athletic

No. 2    Saturday 10th August 2013.     Spartan South Midlands League – Division 1
Kings Langley                6  (Joe Gallagher 3, 5, Lewis Pritchard 24, Paul Insley 67, Ritchie Hanlon 73, 87)
Buckingham Athletic     2  (Phil Martin 34, Dave O’Dell 85)
Kings started the League campaign in style with Joe Gallagher’s speculative shot from wide right arrowing into the top far corner after just three minutes. Almost immediately, Jack Johnson won the ball for Dean Hitchcock to deliver a sublime 30 yard diagonal pass to Connor Toomey who played Gallagher in to round the keeper for the second. When Lewis Pritchard looked certain to score, but was manhandled by Ryan Wiffin, the defender was dismissed, but the striker got his just deserts ten minutes later when presented with a low cross from the irrepressible Gallagher which he drilled home. As so often happens, the eleven subconsciously dropped the pace against the ten men and Phil Martin was allowed to ride several tackles and pull one back before half time. Without ever reaching the scintillating heights of the first half hour, Kings added further goals when Joe Gallagher played in Paul Insley to score with a fierce volley and player-manager Ritchie Hanlon delivered a swerving drive that was too much for the keeper, before latching onto a poor back pass to score with ease. A further Buckingham consolation from a free kick within the area interspersed the manager’s efforts, leaving him to reflect on a promising start that perhaps could have been exploited a little more fully.