Kings Langley brought the curtain down on 2017 in catastrophic fashion as they went down to a 6-0 humbling at the hands of Hitchin Town on Saturday.

The hosts were in the ascendency throughout Kings’ final game of the year as a Trey Charles hat-trick added to efforts from Charlie Smith, Elliot Bailey and Lucas Kirkpatrick in the rout.

It took Town just nine minutes to break the deadlock after Connor Vincent’s shot was cleared off the line, only to be turned in by Smith.

Kings battled gamely to get back into the game, but struggled to create chances with their best opening seeing Stevie Ward fire wide from a cross.

Charles then came to the fore as half-time approached to notch the first of his trio of strikes and give Hitchin breathing space.

The goal came from a sweeping counter and culminated in Charles lifting a delicate chip into the net.

He had his second soon after the break after turning in from close range before he completed his hat-trick with 55 minutes played.

Charles’ hat-trick was completed in the space of just 15 minutes either side of the break and ended the game as a contest.

A brief respite in the scoring came to an end with just over 20 minutes to play when Charles turned provider for substitute Bailey.

Kings’ misery was complete late on when a foul on Brett Donnelly allowed Kirkpatrick to make it 6-0 from the spot.

Despite the result, Kings remain 21st in the Southern League Premier Division ahead of a home game against St Ives Town tomorrow.

Elsewhere, in the South Midlands Premier Division Berkhamsted showed huge character to hold Leverstock Green to a 2-2 draw after being reduced to nine men.

The draw keeps Berko’s unbeaten league record intact and keeps them at the top of the table.

They had to play with a two-man deficit for the best part of 20 minutes and will be pleased with the point.

Most of the goalscoring action took place in the space of four first-half minutes, which saw the net bulge on three occasions.

Matt Bateman got the ball rolling in the 34th minute when he calmly converted for the 10th league game on the spin.

The lead lasted only a matter of minutes, however, as Max Farrelly lobbed Matt Evans to equalise against his former club.

A frantic period came to an end when Ashton Campbell scored from the edge of the box to put Berko ahead.

They held their advantage until the 49th minute when Brima Johnson levelled the scores once again with a sublime effort from range.

Steve Hawes and Jack Stevens were then shown straight reds but Green couldn’t make their extra men count and had to settle for a point.

Tring Athletic ended their year with a much-needed win as they overcame Holmer Green 3-1.

David O’Connor, Jack Reed and Jack Sunderland were all on target for Athletic.

The provided a much-needed boost to Tring’s survival hopes and leaves them a point above the drop zone in 18th.

They face Hullbridge Sports in the last 16 of the FA Vase tomorrow before entertaining Cockfosters in the league on Tuesday.