Leighton overcome West Hampstead in league opener

A composed and well thought out team talk set the mood for Leighton's first league game of the season. From the off Leighton took the game to their opponents and were rewarded with the first short corner of the game, following strong work by David Jackson. Penalty corner training paid dividends as Tim Bellamy's strike powered through the defensive line and hit the backboard, giving Leighton a deserved lead.

But West Hampstead are a good side and came back into the game strongly. The remainder of the half was more even with both sides failing to use width effectively and playing the ball back to each other, surrendering possession cheaply.

Half-time had the desired effect for Leighton. Hard work with great attacking running from Tom Handley and Stephen Fuller, backed up by controlled distribution and ball retention by Clive Warncken and Matthew Nash, allowed Leighton to dominate the second half. Kevin Abranches had an inspired spell of attacking forward play, winning a succession of short corners and playing Peter Gale in for a shot and collision with the visitors goal keeper. The short corners were a very effective weapon, with Bellamy finding his striking range, he converted two more for his hat-trick and then had another hit the post and a further one desperately cleared off the line. While Bellamy deservedly earned player of the match, the goal scoring was not over. With minutes to go the Leighton press was rewarded when Finley Bell- Taylor controlled the ball and with his back to goal turned and hit in one fluid movement, seeing his shot hit the inside of the post and fly into the goal.

While the goal scoring was the attacking highlight, the clean sheet was reward for the excellent defence, with Liam Wavish, Will Riley, Tom O'Reilly and keeper Jim Galloway, restricting West Hamsptead's chances. A very good start to a season, cause for optimism !