Leighton Buzzard Mens 1st v Henley Mens 2nd

A lacklustre performance from Leighton Buzzard saw them sink further down the table after a 4-0 loss against Henley.

From the first whistle Leighton were unable to string passes together as the home side Henley pushed high. This was soon reward with a series of attacks and an inevitable short corner. Luckily for Leighton this was not converted. After this scare the travelling Buzzards were able to put some pressure on the Henley defence but were unable to make anything that threatened the home teams goal. Some sloppy passing enabled a quick break for Henley who were able to punish Leighton for the inability to clear the ball from their own D, and give themselves a one goal cushion.
Leighton did show a brief spark of fighting spirit when some long passes up the field found the Leighton forwards with Tommy Lakins winning a short corner. The first forced a save from the Henley keeper which fell to Mark Stephenson who was unable to place the ball around the keeper. Leighton's second short corner saw Matt Franklin hit the post. Unfortunately this was the only attacking flare Leighton showed all half. As the half drew out Henley showed more confidence and greater passing ability and were able to double their lead before the end of the half.

As the second half started Leighton were able to keep Henley at bay with some strong defending by Player of the Match Will Gilltrow, who showed composure on the ball to clear it away from the danger zone. At times Leighton showed sloppy and a complete lack of marking, allowing Henley to attack Leighton's D unchallenged resulting in another goal for the home side. More inaccurate passing and rash tackles in and around the D gave Henley a series of short corners. A strike straight down the middle of the goal, from one of these resulting short corners, beat LB goal keeper Jacob Brading and gave Henley their fourth and final goal. Late in the game Buzzard came close when Tristan Hardy smashed the ball to the back post, but as with the rest of Leighton's game no one was there to make it count.
Leighton must now start to show the fluid, attacking and determined play that gave them three points against Sonning if they are to avoid the relegation drop.