Leighton Move to Second After 7-1 Victory

This Saturday saw Leighton Buzzard Men's firsts take on Sonning at home. The Buzzards started strong and it wasn't long before they had their opening effort of the game. Josh Farnfield drove into the the visitors D and unleashed a shot that left the Sonning keeper helpless but hit the upright high. Leighton continued to press and a series of short corners was won with Leighton coming close each time to converting, but not close enough. On Leighton's next short corner the injection did not come out well but was collected and bought to the outside of the D by Nick Marshall who played the ball back to the top for Player of the Match Tommi Lakins to open his scoring account for the day. From here Leighton seemed to take their foot off the gas and a mix up in defence allowed a Sonning forward through and play the ball past Leighton Keeper Dan Metcalfe to put the visiting team back level. A series of poor decision making and individual errors, in the lead up to the half time break, meant Leighton struggled to repeat their earlier attacking flare as the half drew to a close.
At the start of the second half Leighton came out swinging. Quick passes around the back line from Dan Edwards and Matt Franklin found Marshall free in the middle of the park, who played the ball through to Jack Gorton at the top of the Sonning D. After taking the ball round two Sonning defenders Gorton slotted the ball home to give Leighton back their lead. From here Leighton had the wind in their sails. Moving the ball around with confidence Leighton became more daring in their attacks. Josh Gale showed fantastic skill in juggling the ball down the left side of the pitch and cutting in on the baseline to pass the ball across the goal and create a clear scoring opportunity for Tom Billington, who just knocked the ball wide. A drive down the right side from Will Jenkinson ended with him sending a pin point cross through the D to find Lakins diving in for a deflected finish, Leighton's third and his second of the day. With each attack Leighton came closer to adding to their tally. A scramble in front of the goal, from a short corner routine, saw Franklin lay-up Gale at the back post for Leighton's fourth. Franklin was next on the score sheet getting on the end of a Lakins strike from the top of the D at a short corner and making it five goals to one for the home side. Lakins capped off his day when Gorton found him unmarked in the D, and after dancing around the Sonning defence Lakins knocked in his hat-trick goal. Leighton's final nail in the Sonning coffin came from another short corner. A strike from the top of the D by Marshall rocked the backboard and put Leighton six goals up over their guests.
Leighton now move to second in the table and will be looking to capitalise on their current form when they travel the short distance to Aylesbury next weekend.