Luton Town Ladies 1st XI v Harpenden 2nd XI

Luton Town Ladies 1st XI v Harpenden 2nd XI

It was a Luton team blending a mix of youth and experience that walked out onto the pitch hoping for their first win of the season against local rivals Harpenden this Saturday. Luton started positively and created numerous chances. Both Suzanne Starkey and Charlotte Dunham had decent attempts at goal, as did Claire Philby with a strike from a penalty corner. However the home goalkeeper pulled off some solid saves preventing Town from getting ahead. It was totally against the run of play when the Luton defence were caught napping, making it easy for Harpenden to string together a dangerous sequence of passes , cutting through the defence like a knife through butter and leaving goalkeeper Helen Beattie with no chance of saving the resulting goal. Luton battled hard and it was not long before they deservedly drew level. When a Harpenden player failed to retreat five metres after an offence, a quick self- pass by midfielder Emma Whitehall, from near the 23m line, caught the Harpenden defence on the back foot. Whitehall drove into the circle and slipped a short pass to Starkey who took the opportunity to accurately slot the ball into the corner of the net for her first goal of the season. In the dying moments of the half Luton earned themselves a penalty corner and were keen to take the opportunity to ensure they went into the break ahead. Unfortunately for injector Charlotte Dunham she completely mishit the drag, with the ball travelling no more than 2 metres into the circle. In a moment of madness Dunham forgot her position on the pitch and as the Harpenden defender approached hit the ball away. The green card that followed seemed a surprise to no one but Dunham and protestations of stupidity rather than intent were not enough to dissuade the umpire from their decision.
Going into the break with the score level at one all Luton were disappointed that they had not made more of their opportunities, but confident and determined that they could do better in the second half. Solid defending by debutant sweeper Sally Kelly, who looked throughout the match like she was far more established in the role, was key in ensuring that Harpenden did not capitalise on their attacks. Relative newcomers to the side Rachel Shadbolt and Alisha Patel put in positive performances on the right hand side of the pitch, whilst Kerri Stinton and Charlotte Mckinnon combined well on the other wing. Not long into the second half Mckinnon made a superb run, cutting into the circle from the left, after skilfully dispensing of the Harpenden defenders. Suzanne Starkey was again in a good position and received the ball from Charlotte, making the finish look easy as she slotted the ball home. 2-1 to the Town!
Starkey looked sure to put Luton further ahead and claim her hat-trick shortly after this when she found herself alone in the attacking half of the pitch. Receiving a long ball out of defence, with only the goalkeeper to beat and Charlotte Dunham arriving at speed to support, it looked like a goal was assured, however Starkey was perhaps caught in two minds and only managed to run the ball onto the goalkeepers stick.
Harpenden put pressure on Luton in the final minutes of the game. Some interesting umpiring decisions made it increasingly difficult for Town, not least the sending off of Ayse Samiloglulari for a somewhat innocuous stick tackle. Luton held out until the whistle however and were absolutely delighted to claim their first victory of the season.
Sally Kelly’s impressive performance at sweeper earned her the accolade of man of the match, whilst captain Charlotte Dunham was unanimously voted as mare of the match.