SAINTS GO MARCHING ON

Kings Langley suffered their first defeat of the year in any competition when they bowed out of the County Cup in a lively semi -final encounter to an accomplished St. Albans City side. Publication of virtual full strength line-ups, despite fixture congestion, showed that both clubs were going full tilt for a final with Hemel Hempstead Town and Kings were first out of the blocks, having the better of the first fifteen minutes.

However, the first chance fell to Saints soon after, when Melvin Minter tipped a header round the post from Harry Forster, who was to prove a constant threat for the remainder of the tie. The keeper was soon in action again, blocking with his feet when Sam Merson broke through and when Jefferson Louie got a lucky rebound to be clear on goal, he dived bravely at the forward’s feet to avert the danger. Langley battled to
regain the initiative and a good move between Stevie Ward and Will Hoskins saw the latter net, only to be ruled offside, but minutes later found themselves the victims of a rather soft penalty award. Minter had saved a penalty in match time in the previous round and although he guessed right and got a touch to Rohdell Gordon’s spot kick, the power of the shot took it into the net.

The second half opened with a renewal of the Minter / Merson contest, but Kings began to recover from the psychological blow and Will Hoskins was just wide from a Jordan Parkes through ball, getting his shot in while under extreme pressure and Jack Wood was off target from a raking shot from the wing. The Saints were proving very effective on the counter break and applied the coup-de-grace on the three quarter mark, when Munashe Sundire made himself space and fired a low shot past Minter to virtually wrap up the tie.

Kings had their moments, when Saints’ keeper Alex Tokarczyk made a hash of a clearance and Roddy Collins fired a 35 yarder at the unguarded net, which was a handspan over the bar, while a Stevie Ward volley was blocked but not held and the ensuing scramble resulted in a puzzling uncontested bounce up for the away team! Edu ToinyPendred burst through to shoot just wide, while Benton and Merson spurned good chances at the other end.

The final whistle sounded a deserved win for the Saints, while Kings were left to reflect on an entertaining cup run before getting back to the business of continuing a ten game unbeaten League run.