No. 43 Wednesday 9th April 2014. Spartan South Midlands League – Division 1
Baldock Town 1 (Harman 19)
Kings Langley 2 (Connolly 75, Adebiyi 90+1)
With the top two setting a relentless pace, Kings cannot afford to drop any points and the pressure affected them initially at fifth placed Baldock Town. A powerful side allowed them little time on the ball and when they resorted to a long ball game, it played into the hands of a towering, but well marshalled defence. Ian Morrison and Luke Gregson had early shots just over, while Alex Campana and Callum Adebiyi responded at the other end. Town went ahead with a freak goal when Dean Hitchcock’s attempted high back pass hit the head of incoming danger man Lee Harman and sailed over Steve Bourke into the net, for a lead they were to hold for the best part of an hour. Kings’ luck looked to be out when a Callum Adebiyi header then a Craig Preston shot were both cleared off the line, but they began the second half forcing a series of corners, before the speed of Harman broke through, only to be thwarted by the combined efforts of Adebiyi and Bourke. As the clock ran relentlessly down and an equalizer continued to elude them, the management duo rolled the dice, introduced Paul Insley and Sam Izzard and switched to 4-2-4. The Insley impact was immediate, giving pace and width and the home defence came under increasing pressure. With fifteen minutes remaining, they conceded a free kick and the quick thinking of Dean Hitchcock saw a steadying touch of the ball, an instant, defence splitting delivery to Connor Toomey and his low cross converted by Gary Connolly. As Kings went for the unlikely winner, fortune still played hard to get, as a cross saw no less than three consecutive efforts blocked on the line with the keeper beaten. Then on 91 minutes, the ubiquitous Adebiyi returned to the fray after attention for a facial injury and when a Campana free kick was met with the same trio of desperate blocks on the line, he was not to be denied, launching himself and the ball over the elusive line to complete the great escape and keep Kings on the tightrope.