Kings Langley missed out on the opportunity to put some more daylight between themselves and the Southern League Premier Division drop zone after they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at Dorchester Town.

Paul Hobbs’ side remain three points above the bottom four following the loss. But while the two clubs directly below them – Cambridge City and Hayes & Yeading United – both have a game in hand, Kings’ goal difference compares favourably.

On a difficult pitch both teams struggled to find any rhythm and the early exchanges posed little threat to either goal; Kings’ best effort being a Sam Tring 30-yarder which just cleared the bar.

The visitors had to make early adjustments with just a quarter of the game gone when Mason Bush’s appearance in the starting line-up was cruelly curtailed by a heavy tackle which saw the midfielder replaced by Jack Pattison.

Despite the enforced re-shuffle, Kings started to find some momentum and following a series of corners in quick succession Jorell Johnson went agonisingly close to putting the visitors ahead when his snap shot crashed against the bar.

That was the closest either team came to breaking the deadlock in a first half that was notable for its distinct lack of scoring opportunities.

The second period opened with both teams looking to be more expansive but the playing surface was not lending itself easily to free-flowing football and defences continued to dominate.

It looked increasingly likely that a dead ball situation would present the best opportunity for a breakthrough. And so it proved in the 56th minute when Tring’s intervention in thwarting a dangerous-looking Dorchester attack was adjudged to warrant a caution. From the resultant free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, Jon Vance found the top right hand corner with laser-like accuracy to put the home side ahead.

Kings responded well to the setback with the lively Lewis Toomey first crossing for Jerry Amoo to draw a reflex save from home custodian Shane Murphy and then going close himself with a header from Dean Hitchcock’s well directed free-kick.

Despite Kings’ pressure the home side remained dangerous on the break and striker Phil Ormrod missed a golden opportunity to increase his team’s advantage when he failed to hit the target from six yards. On another occasion Johnson’s timely intervention saw him head a goal-bound chip from under the crossbar with Xavi Comas beaten.

The visitors continued to strive for the equaliser to the end and as the clock ticked into added time Ryan Plowright was unlucky to see his firm header find the grateful arms of Murphy.

That was to be the last significant action in a match Kings could consider themselves a little unfortunate not to have at least taken a share of the spoils from.

Kings Langley: Comas; Connolly (Gosling 81), Johnson, Tring, Plowright; Hitchcock; Ward, Bush (Pattison 23), Amoo (Waldren 72), Turner; Toomey. Not used: Balogun.