LTHC Men’s 3rd XI 2 at Leicester Men’s 1st XI 3
MRHA T2 – East Midlands 1
Saturday 2nd March 2019
A tough loss for Town who played with determination and desire with a bare 11 players.
Town started the first half strongly with flowing moves with the midfield of Charlie Reynolds and Lawrie Bayne linking well on many occasions. A few close chances were denied by the Leicester keeper before a ball fired in by Reynolds was defected up off a defender and volleyed in by Jono Griffiths to give Town a well deserved lead.
Town continued to maintain the pressure and with the defence switching and transferring the ball well, Liam Brown and Mike Reina exploited the channel with balls to the forwards. However, Town couldn’t create any clear cut chances to double their lead. However, literally on the whistle for half time the Leicester scored a very lucky goal as unfortunately a cross was turned in pass the debutant Town keeper, Guy Heywood (who made some quality saves and played very well). Half-time, 1 all and still all to play for.
Town retook the lead through a great deflection by Bayne from a ball played in by the MOM Tommy Ross. With a lack of substitutes Town began to tire and as a result Leicester equalised again, this time through a deflection at a short corner. The third goal came for Leicester when a missed handled interception by the Town defence saw the ball bounce to the attacker who then converted a two on one for a 3-2 lead. Town tried to find an equaliser and a golden chance was missed by George Gutteridge (which earned him DOD), though it wasn’t to be for the away side.
Town now look forward to the final four games of the season where points and wins are all possibilities in their battle to keep out of the regulation zone.
