1st Team v Hadley

No. 38    Tuesday 10th February 2015.     Spartan South Midlands League – Premier Division
Kings Langley               1 (Campana 54)    
Hadley                            0
It was a night of mixed fortunes for Lewis Toomey on his homecoming to Gaywood Park as he delivered an inch perfect cross for Alex Campana to finally break the deadlock, only to limp off with a pulled hamstring minutes later. Both teams delivered a high tempo first half of attacking football, but despite that, chances were few, mainly due to extremely competitive midfields. A well-organized Hadley proved to be one of the best teams Kings have met so far, lacking only a cutting edge up front, reflected by Jermal Baptiste having the only clear chance, as against two for Lewis Toomey and one each for Stuart Deaton and Mitchell Weiss, before Campana hit the angle of post and bar with a free kick. The second half was less than ten minutes old when the defining moment arrived as Weiss – not for the first time – tracked back to dispossess an opponent, delivered a diagonal wing pass to Toomey, who took it to the byeline, beat the full back and sent a low cross to the feet of the incoming Campana. Tom Carter and Callum Adebiyi were continuing to cause problems on the left and a superb shot by Weiss was met by an equally superb save from Charlie Mann. Hadley reacted with a period of pressure, an Ivan Muchado header just wide and the away striker was then denied by a perfectly timed tackle in the box from Jack Pattison when through. Alex Campana and Mitchell Weiss again brought top drawer saves from Mann, before Laste Dombaxe hit the bar as the game swung from end to end and the visitors threw everything forward in search of an equalizer. But the Langley defence, well marshalled by skipper Stuart Deaton, stood firm and in front of them Lee Burgoyne and Dean Hitchcock played the enforcer roles to perfection. A great game, a great result and on this evidence, a mystery as to why Hadley are currently mid-table.