Kings Langley have been rewarded with a home tie against AFC Telford United after they reached the second round of the FA Trophy for the first time thanks to a superb display of grit and character to win 1-0 at Carshalton Athletic.

Saturday game was ultimately settled in just the second minute by a Brad Wadkins goal, but Chris Cummins’ men showed admirable determination to hold out for a historic triumph after effectively being reduced to nine men.

The victors are now due to face the bottom club in National League North at the Orbital Fasteners’ Stadium in the next round on November 19.

The visiors went on the attack from the off when Wilson de Carvalho’s slide-rule pass almost set Johnny Gill clear only for a covering defender to smother the danger at the expense of a corner, just as the wide man was about to pull the trigger.

Carshalton hardly had time to breathe a sigh of relief as just a minute later James Mulley’s wonderfully instinctive through ball set Brad Wadkins clear of a square defence for the experienced striker to convert expertly past a grounded Danny Bracken.

The early strike stung the Robins into action and the dangerous Calvin Ekpiteta was a regular source of threatening crosses from the right but without producing any tangible outcome.

Kings also had opportunities to increase their advantage and de Carvalho was unlucky to have his fierce drive blocked after a promising build up, but generally the approach was one of containment and the half drew to a close with their lead intact.

That strategy continued into the second half as they continued to blunt the hosts’ attacking threat with relative ease. But that dynamic changed significantly on the hour when substitute Ken Feyi was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Bradley Williams, having been on the pitch for a mere three minutes.

The home side, sensing a lifeline, upped the ante and threw wave after wave of attacks at a resilient Kings defence which shuffled, shimmied and shifted in disciplined unison to meet the increased potency of the threat.

The challenge became even greater when Sam Okoye-Ahaneku was poleaxed and reduced to no more than a passenger as a result of the injury sustained, Langley having used all their substitutions.

Despite the disparity in numbers, Kings simply would not wilt, as to a man they remained resolute in repelling the home side’s increasingly desperate attempts to conjure an equaliser.

That onslaught continued unabated through a nerve-shredding ten minutes of added time but Kings were in no mood to relinquish their hard won passage to the next round with a victory of which they could feel justly proud.