By Roy Mitchard

Kings Langley’s appalling run of injuries heightened with a second narrow home defeat in three days with the visit of neighbouring Beaconsfield. Still unable to call upon the services of three strikers and one midfielder, Kings were buoyed by the debut of experienced midfield signing Jake Howells, but with a mere 27 minutes on the clock, both he and new frontman Louis-Michel Yamfam had succumbed to a dislocated shoulder and a pulled hamstring respectively and took no further part.

Kings’ reaction was full of character, as they looked more than capable of coping defensively, but the fates hadn’t finished yet and dealt a savage blow when the Rams notched the winner with a prone Kings’ defender playing Oli McCoy onside to finally beat an exposed Alfie Marriott.

Langley had moved for forward Sonny Dutton from Hornchurch on the eve of the match and he came straight in when Harry Crawford failed a fitness test, while seventeen year old Leo Farruch made his full debut. The evergreen Jefferson Louis had the first chance, well blocked by Alfie Marriott, who later made the handling of a savage Harrison Bayley free kick look effortless.

The home side threatened when Kyal Williams robbed a defender to send over a cross that new boy Dutton sent just wide and after another fine save from Marriott, a mistake let Sonny Dutton in at the other end, but he wanted too much time and the chance was lost.

The third quarter saw Kings best period of the match, with Dutton heading over from close range and Roddy Collins shooting straight at keeper Alex Tokarczyk. Those misses were to come home to roost when the ball found Oli McCoy behind the outcoming Kings’ defence and he finished a one on one with composure as home fans appealed for offside. The referee rightly pointed to the figure of Eli Hearn, down with cramp and playing McCoy onside.

Langley went all out for parity, but despite being light on midfield creativity and a cutting edge, could have levelled when defender Kyle Lincoln, up for a corner, failed to convert a chance at the far post. Beaconsfield always looked dangerous on the break, but when a last minute cross eluded Dutton, it was game over.

The striker had a difficult debut, only meeting his team-mates two hours before the match and although he missed chances, he was in the right positions to meet them, giving hope of better things to come.

Similarly, the midfield performance of young Leo Farruch and the compactness of the defence in front of the outstanding Marriott were crumbs of comfort on a night when the fates probably threw more at Kings than the Rams did!