Blistering start sees Kings earn their biggest win this season and league status confirmed

The result confirms Kings’ status in the Southern League Premier League for another year.

A heavy pitch passed a 1.30pm inspection and seemed to be to the liking of Kings, who started at a blistering pace and were 3-0 up after 22 minutes with a free-flowing display that demoralised Farnborough, a side three places above Kings in the standings.

Four of the under-18s squad were on the bench and the fifth, Louie Collier, continued in the No 10 role and demonstrated maturity and skill with a dispossession and blocked shot in the second minute and a superb piece of one-touch passing with Gareth Price to set up a Mitchell Weiss chance a minute later.

That resulted in a corner and when Stevie Ward swung over another soon after, the ball fell to Jacob Cook and his shot from the edge of the box received the lightest of touches from Jorell Johnson to deflect its path past Aaron Bufton and give Kings the lead.

Boro had hardly recovered from that when another Ward corner was steered into the net by a Weiss back-header to stun the home crowd, but there was a response when Kings keeper Martin Bennett parried a low shot and Callum Adebiyi swept it to safety.

Ex-King Connor Calcutt had a header saved by the impressive Bennett, but Kings delivered the knockout blow when Arjun Jung stepped up to a free-kick and bent it round the wall with a hint of deflection and past a static Bufton.

The visitors threatened to run riot as Price and Collier saw shots just the wrong side of the post and the best Boro could offer was an audacious 35-yard shot from Ambrose Gnahore that forced Bennett into a full-bodied parry as the half ended with Kings making light of the conditions with a high rate of ball recovery and attractive passing all over the pitch.

The hosts had a better share of the possession after the break, although this may have had to do with Kings conserving energy with another fixture due less than 48 hours away.

Elias-Fernandes directed a header just past the post, while Martin Bennett pulled off a point-blank save as the result of a fierce free-kick, but Kings always looked comfortable with Price going close twice and having a valid penalty claim ignored.

The final nail in the coffin duly arrived when the ever-threatening Ward was felled by CJ Fearn.

He dispatched the resultant spot-kick with panache to complete the season’s biggest win for boss Steve Conroy’s emerging young side.

This Saturday Kings are hosting 13th-placed St Neots Town.