Kings returned pointless from their first ever visit to Weston’s seaside stadium, but It could be reasonably argued that, once again, fine margins were the currency of the day citing three strikes of the woodwork as testimony to the capricious nature of ‘Lady Luck’. However, despite an encouraging start, they all too often found themselves hard pressed in the face of persistent home attacks.

It had all started so positively with three corners won in as many minutes with each one generating a credible opportunity to score. Surviving the early onslaught, the home side gradually built momentum with wing back Jordan Bastin being particularly conspicuous with his productive forays down the left.

Kings, however, were proving resilient in defence, with the returning Jorell Johnson looking back to his imperious best, as the home side were confined to limited opportunities. But just when Kings looked like ensuring parity at the break they conceded a sucker punch on the stroke of half time when Bastin’s low cross ricocheted its way to Nick McCootie and the burly striker managed to bundle the ball over the line to ensure the home side an interval lead.

The setback, no doubt, altered the tenor of manager Chris Cummins half time team talk, but whatever the intended strategy, it was quickly undermined within a minute of the restart when Dayle Grubb capped his 400th appearance for the Seagulls with a smart finish, after a clever exchange with the industrious Humphries. The blow rocked Kings and keeper Jack Smith came to the rescue twice in rapid succession, bravely blocking efforts from Jackson and Humphries as the home side looked to press home their advantage.

Kings reacted by introducing Will Hoskins for Arel Amu and the seasoned campaigner was soon in the thick of things as he looked to wrest the attacking initiative from the hosts. It was, in fact, the striker who produced Kings’ best moment of the match when he sublimely drifted past two defenders and unleashed a left foot drive which rattled the cross bar. Such was the perversity of Kings’ fortunes in this match that with the bar still shuddering from Hoskins howitzer, the home side put the result beyond doubt when Kieran Thomas rose to head home with the ball Ironically entering the net via the woodwork.

Langley battled to the end, with Alex Lafleur’s low drive extracting a superb save from home custodian Max Harris and in the dying seconds ‘Lady Luck’ completed her hat trick of obdurate interventions at Kings’ expense when new signing Max Bustamante crashed a towering header against the bar.