Kings Langley joint-boss Ritchie Hanlon has stressed the importance of further cup success after seeing his side beat St Margaretsbury on penalties to complete a historic double on Monday.

Hanlon and Paul Hughes’ side made hard work of beating the side who finished eighth in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division, winning 4-3 from the spot after drawing 2-2 after extra-time.

Having already secured the Premier Division title with room to spare, Kings completed the highest-ranked double in their history by lifting the League Cup on Bank Holiday Monday.

Next season they will compete in the FA Trophy – instead of the FA Vase – along with the FA Cup and Hanlon was at pains to highlight the importance of cup runs to the club.

He said: “You may only be a couple of games away from playing a very big team. The ideal scenario would be a big team at home.

“It is not a necessity but it will change the situation at the club going a few rounds in the cup and we need that more than other clubs at the level we are going into.

“A lot of the clubs at that level are established and they know how to make money whereas we are still finding out feet.”

As Kings are joining the Southern League Division One Central they will enter the Trophy at the preliminary round next term, with Conference outfits joining in the first round proper.

“We will be one of the smaller teams in the competition so that will be something new,” said Hanlon, who saw his side exit the FA Cup at the hands of a Northwood side who will share equal status with Kings next term.

Goals from Mitchell Weiss either side of half time helped force extra-time, with Kings triumphing from the spot.

“The best part of the game was the penalties,” laughed Hughes. “It was fantastic to win, it was a tough game, but we are obviously very pleased.

“You have to respect how they played and made life difficult for us over 120 minutes.

“At the time we felt they had the better of the game but when we looked back at the footage we did have quite a few chances.”

Kings had not practiced penalties in advance but Hughes was pleased to see his troops heed the once piece of advice passed down. “The only advice we gave them is pick a corner and hit it true,” revealed Hughes.

And the joint-managers, who met during their early days as youngsters at Chelsea, have leant heavily on their experience of the professional game during their two seasons at Gaywood Park.

Said Hanlon: “We know what it takes and we have created the environment in which to thrive and that includes bringing in the right characters too, by the way.

“Sometimes the best players are not always the team players, so that has to be right when we are looking to add, but that all comes through experience.”

And after Watford were promoted to the Premier League by finishing as Championship runners-up, Hanlon is hoping the Hornets will play less frequently at 3pm on a Saturday.

“We are hoping Watford play Sunday games all season,” he joked. “Encouraging more people to come down is something we are really looking to do.

“If we get 50 extra people through the gate every week, you don’t realise how much that will help,” Hanlon added.

Berkhamsted won the Premier Division Cup on Monday, beating Colney Heath 5-3 from the spot after a 1-1 draw with Colney Heath.

Jay Caines continued his hot streak by grabbing the opener from the bench before Heath equalised to force extra-time and penalties.

Tring Athletic narrowly lost 1-0 to Hemel Hempstead Town of the Conference South in the final of the St Mary’s Cup on Monday.

A strong Hemel XI did enough to secure the silverware thanks to a 59th-minute header from former Watford and England Under-20 cap Jordan Parkes.