The omens did not look good when yet another three players were added to the injury or unavailability list, but the side reacted with a performance of character and determination that began as early as the second minute, when Louis-Michel Yamfam made a surging right wing run and pulled the ball back for Alfie Williams to place a 25 yard low shot of precision beyond the fingertips of Mark Childs. Poole responded quickly with a free kick that Alfie Marriott blocked and the defence swept away, but Kings were looking the more positive as a Roddy Collins shot was a foot past the post and a Jack Wood effort the same distance over.

Then, as the game reached the 35 minute mark came a defining moment in Langley’s favour at last, as a coming together between Gary Connolly and Corby Moore resulted in a yellow for Connolly and a red for the Dolphins’ player for a retaliatory stamp. The numeric disadvantage did not seem to overly faze the visitors and Alfie Marriott pulled off a superb save, tipping a close range header onto the post and then gathering the subsequent shot.

The pattern continued after the break when James Gurteen made two great blocks from danger man Jack Dickson as Kings struggled to regain their flow. However, the tide turned again just past the hour mark when Will Spetch attempted a lobbed back pass which sailed over Mark Childs’ head and the attending Arel Amur rounded the stranded keeper to tap the ball into the unguarded net. The striker could have doubled his talley minutes later when his thunderous shot hit the junction of post and bar and a Louis-Michel Yamfam surging run into the box was foiled by a block from the beleaguered keeper.

As the contest entered the last few minutes, Jack Wood delivered the icing on the cake with a left wing run from the halfway line, before dancing across the defensive line to find the ideal central position to place his shot in the right hand corner of the net for a fine solo goal. There was further cause for celebration post match as the table confirmed that Kings had moved off the bottom spot.