Baldock Town Letchworth inflicted a first defeat of the season on title rivals London Lions as they came from behind at the interval to win 3-1 at St Albans City’s Clarence Park.

With five regulars still suspended, the past three or four weeks have been a real test for Steve King’s side, no more so than an away trip to one of the title favourites Lions, who had dropped just two points from seven games prior to this one.

The first period was largely dominated by the home side, who played some very attractive football kicking down “the slope” and eventually they got their reward on 17 minutes when a flowing move saw the prolific Adam Stolerman dart in behind the Baldock defence before rifling the ball into the back of the net despite the best efforts of Jack Farmer in goal.

The visitors struggled to gain any rhythm in the first half, but with Jack Gregson back from suspension and Harry Holland playing just behind him up front, there was always hope and despite a few half chances, the sides went in at the break with just one goal being the difference.

After the interval and with “the slope” in their favour, Baldock began to edge further into the match.  The neat passing and movement from Lions, which caused the Town backline all sorts of problems in the opening 45 minutes had ceased and the visitors could sense the chances would come.

On 52 minutes, a deep corner was well met at the far post by the impressive Steve Morgan and his downward header bounced up into the roof of the Lions net to level the scores. 

Two minutes later, Baldock had the chance to go in front when a Lions player was penalised for handball in the box when jumping to block a free-kick.  Despite protests from the home side, the reliable Harry Holland stepped up and made no mistake to turn the match on its head.

Lions continued to apply pressure throughout the second half, but without the cutting edge seen in the first period, with Farmer not really ever called into action.  The killer goal came 16 minutes from time, when Gregson muscled his way past a couple of defenders before delightfully slipping the ball past the keeper to give Baldock breathing space and a massive victory over one of their chief rivals for the Premier Division title.