Kings Langley remain in the bottom three of the Southern League Premier Division Three south table but are within touching distance of those above after a 1-0 win at Farnborough.

Luke Wade-Slater delivered the decisive contribution just after the hour mark to give Steve Conroy’s side a first win in six matches in all competitions to leave Kings behind fourth-from-bottom Swindon Supermarine on goal difference.

The start of Saturday's match was put back 15 minutes to allow the Farnborough ground staff to make the pitch playable after a torrential downpour had started an hour before the scheduled kick-off.

However, conditions meant the players had to adjust to over-hitting passes in the knowledge the ball would come to a standstill and any attempts at running with the ball were dangerous.

Kings welcomed the return of Jacob Cook in place of the transferred Elliott Godfrey in midfield and Stevie Ward came in on the left for Roy Syla, who dropped to the bench.

The first 20 minutes was understandably flat, as both sides tried to adjust to the conditions, but it was Kings who started to come to terms with them first and began to ask all the questions.

A low Mitchell Weiss cross just eluded Rene Howe and then Ward was put through only for Sam Mason to save at his feet, while a powerful Cook shot was well held by the keeper.

For the home side, Michael Fernandes had a shot deflected for a corner and Brendan Murphy-McVey curled an effort just wide, but they were rare forays as the visitors finished the half in the ascendancy.

The second period began in the same way, but dominating possession and failing to score has become a familiar scenario over the majority of the last five matches and the nagging questions remained as Weiss aquaplaned through a retreating defence only to see his well-hit shot scrambled around the post by Mason.

But then, as the clock entered the final third of the game, came the moment the Kings’ faithful had waited for.

Another good move down the Langley left that entailed a couple of first-time passes saw Ward cutting in to lay a square ball across the face of the defence to Wade-Slater on the far right.

Electing to control the ball and turn inside the defender seemed risky, given the conditions, but was totally justified as his rising shot beat Mason to hit the back of the net and give the visitors the lead.

Apart from a couple of moments of concern at the death as the ball pinged about in the box, it was an advantage they never looked like relinquishing and one to which they could have added as the luckless Weiss struck a post with five minutes to go.

Kings Langley: Tokarczyk; Connolly, Osborne, Johnson, Adebiyi; Wade-Slater, Hitchcock, Cook, Ward (Syla 78); Howe (Collier 85), Weiss. Subs not used: Coldicott-Stevens, Syme, Toiny-Pendred.