Match Reports

Longton 1st XV 7 v 33 Luton

Longton suffered a heavy defeat at home to high scoring Luton by 33-7pts. but it could all have been so different. With 10mins. gone of the second half Longton were trailing by 12-7pts. and well on top with Fijian, John Smith, carrying the ball strongly, having scored the hosts try. Unseen by the referee, Smith was punched off the ball but his retaliating swing at the opposition player was witnessed by the referee who immediately showed a red card to the home man. Longton had already had to replace hard tackling flanker, Ben Grocott, who suffered a rib cartlidge injury. The Smith incident changed the whole complex of the match at that point.
 

Longton attacked from the kick off and spent the first ten minutes in the Luton half but it was clear from early on that the visitor's backs were going to pose some problems for the home defenders and so it proved as Luton attacked with pace and change of angle from just inside their own half; a yawning gap appeared in the middle of the Longton defence and fast ball transfer saw the first try scored under the posts after 12mins. The successful conversion gave the away side a 7-0pts. lead.

One minute later, in the 13th. minute, Chris Buck had a chance to close the gap with a 45m. penalty attempt but his well struck kick went just wide. Again, in the 18th. minute of the half Buck had a second opportunity to put points on the board but, like his first attempt, the kick from wide out near the touchline sailed just wide of the upright.

At this point the game was evenly poised, the Luton backs always looking threatening and Dan Robson and Chris Buck, the Longton half backs, probing behind the defence with some excellent kicks. Ant Edwards came closest to opening the scoring for Longton when the ball was sent down the line to him. He chipped over two defenders and than kicked again down to the Luton try line but the visitor's full back was just able to scamper back and hastily clear.

The Longton pack was showing excellent commitment, led by Joel Booth, Rich Kelly, Rich Thompson, George Glenn and John Smith and their play at the breakdown was much more aggressive than in recent games. In the lineout, too, they were winning some great ball off the top from Rick Kelly. However, the scores would not come thanks to some well organised defending from Luton.

Two minutes into injury time in the first half and Luton added their second try, an almost identical one to the first. The conversion failed but Luton went into the break 12-0pts. up.

Longton began the second half in vigorous fashion as their forwards, led by Booth, Kelly and Smith charged into the heart of the Luton defence. This immediately brought dividends as John Smith plunged over for a fine try. Chris Buck's successful conversion made the scoreline 12-7pts in Luton's favour. This score lifted the Longton spirits and they continued to hold the upper hand. Regrettably, it all changed in the 10th. minute with the John Smith incident. Reduced to 14 men Longton battled gamely and Laka Waqaniervire, on for Ben Grocott, used his powerful Fijian frame to carry the ball strongly at the visitor's defence.

However, the seven man Longton pack were now under pressure in the set scrums, enabling Luton to win more ball for their impressive backs. Orchestrated by excellent fly half, Meehan, they moved the ball at real pace and out wide with precission passing. Longton held out until the 26th. minute when Meehan dummied through and sent his supporting runner in for a fine try. The successful conversion gave Luton a comfortable cushion of a 19-7pts. lead.

Longton continued to launch attacks with Dan Robson's pace stretching the Luton defence. These attacks exposed a serious weakness in the official's refereeing as the visitors several times got away with the tackler not releasing the tackled player, thus stifling the home attack and the referee wrongly awarding penalties against Longton for holding on.
With just 6mins. to go the Luton backs again showed their class as they scored a fine try, the conversion making the score 26-7pts.

Then, 3mins. into injury time fly half, Meehan ghosted through a gap in the centre to dot down under the posts, the successful kick making the final score a rather flattering 33-7pts. and Longton left rueing what might have been had they not gone down to 14 men early in the second half.
 
M. Wheat.