Kings Langley marked the one-year anniversary of the death of "number one fan" Matt Allcock by producing a superb performance to beat table-toppers Bromsgrove Sporting 3-1 on Saturday.

Harry Crawford starred with a hat-trick as Chris Cummins’ in-form side made it five wins and a draw in their last seven Southern League Premier Central games and ended the Rouslers’ 10-match unbeaten run in the process.

Prior to the game, tributes were paid to the popular Kings fan, who died after collapsing following Langley’s match at Weymouth on January 19, 2019, with members of Matt’s family leading the two sides out.

The Kings boss started with the experienced pairing of Crawford and Will Hoskins, with Mitchell Weiss moved out to the wing and Saul Williams and Stevie Ward dropping to the bench.

The contest began at a pace that was to continue for the whole encounter, but it was Crawford who put the home side ahead as early as the eighth minute.

A break of stunning simplicity saw Weiss launch an accurate diagonal cross-field pass almost from the halfway line to Jordan Parkes, who controlled it and sent a through ball into the path of Crawford. There was to be no one-on-one with keeper Dan Platt, as he ran onto the pass and delivered a first-time rocket from nearly 20 yards high into the net for a superb finish.

An edge crept into the game as play switched from one end to the other and while the encounter had its share of physicality, it was interspersed by some swift inter-passing movements from both sides to delight the eye.

Such a move paid off for the visitors on the cusp of the half hour when Gary Mills delivered a raking left-wing cross that was met on the run with a close-range volley by Richard Gregory that Melvin Minter got a hand to but couldn’t stop.

The half closed with a Weiss effort cleared off the line, but within five minutes of the restart Kings went ahead in bizarre fashion when a Parkes free-kick into the box sailed over the head of Roddy Collins to be met by the outstretched foot of the backward falling Jorell Johnson. The high ball looped goalwards and the alert Crawford reacted quickest with a point-blank header on the far post.

The Rouslers responded and felt that they should have had a penalty from a tussle between Greg Mills and Alex Anderson, but Langley put themselves in the driving seat with a fluid move that carved through the defence and climaxed with a one-two between Parkes and Crawford putting the striker through. The forward still had it all to do as he was forced wide by defender and keeper, but his final touch was precise and completed his hat-trick in style.

Parkes, with an eye for the spectacular, kept the large crowd on their toes as he twice had Platt scrambling back with accurate shots from the halfway line, the first of which the keeper reached with a leaping save just under the bar.

With nothing to lose, Bromsgrove threw numbers forward and Minter pulled off a fine double save, but despite the late bombardment, Kings held firm to record a notable victory, adding to the belief that last season’s second-half surge up the table can be repeated.

Kings Langley: Minter; Doyley (Anderson 59), Johnson, Adebiyi, K Connolly; Collins, Hitchcock (Linsell 56); Weiss, Crawford (Williams 74), Parkes; Hoskins. Subs not used: Lamboh, Ward.