Kings Langley belied the form table with a deserved victory over previously unbeaten Hayes & Yeading, courtesy of a last minute wonder goal from Alfie Williams.

The visitors looked to have saved a point and their record when Moses Emmanuel converted a penalty two minutes from the end, but from the resultant kick-off, the ball was passed back to Williams who gambled by firing an audacious 65 yarder that sailed unerringly over keeper Tyla Dickinson’s head and into the net, cueing pandemonium on the terraces after a moment of stunned silence.

With Jorell Johnson, Kyle Connolly and Alex Lafleur unavailable to him, Chris Cummins was forced into more changes and Kings troubles were compounded when Harry Crawford pulled up in the warm up. With two midfielders in the back four, it seemed not to be the ideal formula for facing the division’s most potent attacking force and backed by a strong wind on a bitingly cold afternoon, United were soon putting them to the test.

Alfie Marriott made a point blank save from a Liam McDevitt header from a corner and then a flying punch to safety from Ryan De Havilland’s shot, before Kings made their first attack on ten minutes. A peach of a through ball from Will Hoskins set Jack Wood one to one with the keeper, but Dickinson was able to block the ball off the feet of Wood as he tried to round him.

But Langley were growing into the game and Jamie Jellis beat the ground in frustration when his right wing shot across Dickinson hit the angle of post and bar to rebound down almost on the line. Marriott pulled off another good save from Emmanuel, but there was little else of note in the last twenty minutes of the half to warm the frozen crowd.

The second period began at pace as both teams tried to break the deadlock, Erin Amu having a shot deflected just wide for the hosts and Marriott again denying Emmanuel, this time with a trailing leg. Crawley Town loanee Raf Khaleel was given his debut in the 62nd minute and it was his dazzling run at the United defence fifteen minutes later that found Jamie Jellis closing in from the right and he kept his head to fire the ball past Dickinson.

The lead was held for ten minutes before the explosive finale produced a double twist in the tail, as Gary Connolly was adjudged to have fouled Francis Amartey as they raced into the box and Emmanuel drew the visitors level from the spot. It was a cruel blow on balance of play, but if the heads of the home supporters dropped, that of Alfie Williams literally did not and seeing the keeper off his line, he launched the shot that was to turn agony to ecstasy for a Kings side that had given everything to overcome the odds.