Ramgarhia 2XI v Men's 2XI

A step closer to safety.
Following a week off due to the Easter break, Leighton returned to action versus Ramgharia 2’s in the glorious sunshine for the penultimate fixture in the season knowing that only a win would be enough to guarantee their own safety from relegation.
Following some poor results in the previous 3 fixtures Captain David Jackson decided to return to the trusted 4-4-2 formation and he couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game with Leighton taking the lead within the first 5 minutes thanks to a defensive error in the D which allowed Ash Barnett to slot home following a teasing cross into the mixer from Jackson. This goal sparked Ramgharia into life and the quality of their forwards began to show, however they were not prepared for the outstanding defensive displays from Tim Bellamy, David Canty, David Wavish and Marc Scott who minimised the number of goal scoring opportunities with a tremendous demonstration of defensive discipline. As halftime approached Ramgharia were presented with a golden opportunity to equalise when they were awarded a flick following some confusion around whether a loose ball in the D was goal bound and also found a Leighton players foot. Thankfully justice was served in that Jim Galloway casually stopped the strike with a well-placed foot. Half Time Ramgharia 2’s 0 – 1 Leighton Buzzard 2’s
Following on from halftime chat Leighton made the unusual decision of breaking straight from the pushback with Mathew Nash in the driving seat, Nash managed to weave his way past half of the Ramgharian team and find himself through on goal, this impressive move deserved a goal but it wasn’t to be as the Ramgharian defence finally awoke from their slumber and cleared their lines. The second half quickly fell into the same pattern as the first with Ramgharia dictating the majority of the play and restricting Leighton to counter and it wasn’t long before they managed to find an equaliser following a quick exchange of passes which found a spare man in the D. This setback didn’t damage Leighton’s resolve and it wasn’t long before the combination of Jackson and Barnett again beared fruit following a counter attack with Jackson through on goal before unselfishly squaring the ball to Barnett who slotted home into the empty net.
Ramgharia again raised their game and the remainder of the second half became something of a defensive battle for the Leighton with Man of the Match Jim Galloway making a string of brilliant saves to maintain Leightons lead. As the game wore on Ramgharia frustration began to show however Leighton didn’t help themselves with Ashley Barnett being carded following a string of strikers challenges, despite the Ramgharian advantage Leighton held onto the lead and were rewarded with the win which was met with both relief and jubilation.
To summarise, a fantastic performance from each and every player against a strong Ramgharia side. To be absolutely sure of avoiding relegation Leighton will need to beat Aylesbury in their final fixture next week.