Luton Town 1st XI v Saffron Walden 3rd XI

Luton entered this top of the table clash being well aware that this could potentially be a pivotal moment in the season. With Saffron Walden just 3 points ahead of them the home team were determined that they would come away with the win. Luton, as they have done all season, completely dominated possession and it was something of a shock that they found themselves 2 - 0 down by the break. With goalkeeper Shannon Smith being virtually redundant for the majority of the game there was little she could do about either Walden goal, which both resulted from some somewhat dodgy Luton defending. Saffron Walden's chances were few and far between and to their credit they did extremely well to convert when the opportunities did arise.

After a rousing half time team talk Luton stepped up their game, creating chance after chance until finally, with only about 20 minutes to go, centre forward Beth Carlisle managed to find the back of the net and close the gap. This seemed to spur on Luton to even greater efforts and when the ball was stopped on the line by a defender's foot it seemed that they were sure to draw level from the resulting penalty stroke. Unfortunately for Luton the Rochelle Lewsey flick was far from her best (OK, yes I'm being kind) and dribbled harmlessly past the right post. Luton remained resilient in the face of this minor setback and it was not long before they would be awarded the penalty corner that would see them equalise, with Emma Whitehall trapping reverse stick then thundering the ball into the right hand corner of the goal. A rather unconventional corner and not at all what was planned, but it worked beautifully. And so the score was finally levelled and really no-one could have blamed Luton for sitting back and securing the point, but no-way, that was never going to happen! In a final flurry Luton won another penalty corner. This one, again, will never be found in any text book or viewed on any coaching video, but Rochelle Lewsey's re-direction of the pass from the top of the circle past the Walden keeper was greeted by much delight, not only from the Luton team, but also from the watching crowd who had been treated to an action packed second half. At 3-2 the final whistle could barely come quick enough for the Luton players and when it did their relief was evident. An absolutely fantastic comeback and a very well deserved win for Luton.

Beth Carlisle performed consistently well throughout the match, with her mazy runs causing the Walden defenders immense difficulty and she justifiably claimed the player of the match award. Villain turned hero Rochelle Lewsey could not quite wipe the penalty miss from the other players minds with her match winning goal and was always going to be a good bet for mare of the match which she duly claimed.