Dorchester won the six point basement battle to plunge Kings Langley back into the relegation zone with two second half goals in as many minutes after the break had seen Kings favourites to take a step to safety as they led by a goal from Bradley Wadkins, making his first appearance after a five month injury.

Kings had used the two week break to sign right back Ryan Case from Hartley Wintney, Alie Bangura from Berkhamsted and take Alfie Williams on loan from Stevenage again. With Bradley Wadkins and Edu back from long term injuries, the mood was good, although it was tempered by both Watford and Stevenage recalling loanees Shaqai Forde and Sam Dreyer at very short notice. Dorchester raced out of the blocks and had a shot from Billy Lowes just wide after twenty seconds, but Harry Crawford’s volley was punched away by Jack Bycroft minutes later as Kings began to play some attractive football, with Jamie Jellis pulling the strings in midfield and Joseph Lawal’s blistering pace on the wing giving the Magpies’ defence a torrid time.

The reward came just after the half hour when debutant Ryan Case delivered a long looping through ball to put Wadkins one on one with Jack Bycroft and he slotted home from an acute angle with pin-point accuracy. Case then fired in a shot from the wing that Bycroft tipped over, with a Lowes shot held by Alfie Marriott as the visitors’ only answer to Kings’ first half ascendency.

The fates dealt Kings another blow when the influential Jellis was unable to resume at the restart and before they had adjusted, Dorchester turned the game on its head in the first four minutes of the second half. Alfie Stanley broke clear but still had it all to do, before netting a goal equally as good as the opener and a shell-shocked Langley succumbed again almost immediately when poor marking found Harry McGrath free to stab home a blocked Olaf Koszela shot. It was a double whammy that Kings never really recovered from and although Alfie Williams came closest with a header that scraped the bar, they scarcely looked likely to salvage even a point in a second half fade out that was worryingly similar to the previous encounter at Hartley Wintney.

On a positive note, Kings pulled off the great escape in their inaugural season in the Premier in 2016-17, by remaining unbeaten in their last six matches. As of today, six games remain!