1st Team v Tring Athletic

No. 19    Saturday 25th October 2014.     Spartan South Midlands League – Premier Division
Tring Athletic                        0
Kings Langley                       3 (L Ladyman 6, Campana 63, Hitchcock 90+3)
Kings retained their unbeaten League record on the road, kept their fourth consecutive clean sheet on the bounce and, with games in hand, rose to sixth. It was a controlled, rather than scintillating performance that continued to give the impression that there is greater potential to be realised. Defender Luke Ladyman gave the visitors the perfect start with a volley from an Alex Campana corner that any striker would be proud of, then immediately let in opposite number Adam Toone, only to be rescued by a smart save of his weak shot from debutant keeper Charlie Crowley. Rather than ignite the game, the rest of the half was a somewhat dull affair as Kings fell back, using a deep midfield that tended to isolate the front pairing of Campana and Daryl Atkins. Matt Evans was called on to pull off a flying save from Campana, Crowley did likewise from Kevin McManus and Ryan McMahon and Ollie Butler served warning with near misses. Tring resumed the second half on the offensive, punctuated only by a Callum Adebiyi run and shot well saved, but suddenly Kings rose a gear as Alex Campana picked up the ball wide left, beat two defenders in the box and delivered a rocket into the far corner of the net. Mitchell Weiss was immediately introduced up front for the uncharacteristically misfiring Daryl Atkins and Langley turned on the style as the game came to life. Athletic produced some sustained pressure, but Kings looked the more inventive, a fact confirmed when they signed off with some fine interchanges between Weiss and Nick Jackson that resulted in a squared ball for Dean Hitchcock to place a low shot past Evans in time added on.