Leighton Buzzard Mens 1st v West Hampstead Mens 4th

Riding high after last weekends impressive draw, against league leaders Tring and ending their 13 game winning streak Leighton travelled to fellow relegation battlers West Hampstead.

The first half took some time to get going with neither side really troubling the others D. Some quick passing by the visitors saw them win their first short corner of the game. This lead to Nick Marshall flicking the ball low and hard to the goal keepers left and finding Dave Fry, who expertly deflected the ball into the goal to put Leighton in the lead. West Hampstead tried to apply more pressure on the away side and were soon punished for this when a quick counter attack enabled Mark Stephenson to smash the ball from the top of the D past the out stretched Hampstead keeper and put the buzzards two goals a head. As the half died out West Hampstead were rewarded with a short corner which they were able to score from with a well worked deflection and keep them in the game as the half drew to a close.

At the start of the second half West Hampstead pressed high and forced the Leighton defence to dig deep and keep the home team at bay. This paid off when some expert dribbling allowed 'Player of the Match' Tommy Lakins to score his first of the day. His hard work was soon rewarded again when a piercing ball from Jack Gorton found Lakins unmarked. With all the time in the world Lakins was able to calmly hit the ball past the Hampstead keeper, who once again had to pick the ball out of the back of the goal. Lakins hat trick came not long after when some more silky dribbling left the home sides defence in awe as he danced round three players, then the keeper, and was able to slot the ball into the goal from the tightest of angles. With 10 minutes to go Leighton were cruising until Chris Marshall was yellow carded for a minor scuffle with a West Hampstead player. However this did not deter Leighton who were now down to 10 men. With a four goal cushion the travelling team continued to press high and scored their 6th of the game when Lakins found Nick Marshall at the back post, who slid in to knock the ball into the goal. Leighton's 7th and final goal came when Stephenson picked up a loose ball, rounded the keeper, faked a pass to draw the defenders away from the goal and then flicking the ball high into the net.
Another strong performance from Leighton sees them sit currently one point away from safety.
Next weekend the buzzards have a double header facing Wallingford on Saturday and local rivals Milton Keynes on the Sunday. Wins here could put Leighton 2 places away from the drop.

Final score LBHC 1s 7 West Hampstead 4s 1

Written by Nick Marshall