Luton Town Ladies 1st XI v West Herts 3s

Like Moses parting the Red Sea, Luton Ladies 1st XI somehow managed to find a clearing of the frost that proved to be a bugbear for the majority of matches this weekend, with their game against West Herts 3s being one of the few that was not cancelled by the inclement weather.

Herts started brightly, their linking play keeping them in possession. With Luton struggling to get a hold of the ball it looked like the home team might go on to dominate the game, but ultimately quite the opposite proved to be the case. With Herts early spell proving fruitless Luton gained momentum and entered the ascendancy, winning several penalty corners. It was one of these that resulted in the first goal. A misdirected hit by striker Suzanne Starkey wrong footed the opposition with Charlotte Dunham capitalising on the situation and tucking the ball away inside the right hand post. 1-0 Luton.

Luton would have to wait until the second half to totally put the game beyond the oppositions reach, but their continued pressure eventually paid off. Starkey's reverse stick push was not the most powerful that you will ever see (putting it mildly), but it managed to sneak underneath the goalkeeper and then carry on to defy the laws of physics and somehow maintain sufficient momentum to make it over the line and into the goal. 2-0 Luton.

Herts did have their chances, but Luton defended strongly with the back four working well as a unit. Making her debut in the first XI, goalkeeper Sharna Gough had little to do, but performed competently when called upon, making two crucial saves that kept Luton ahead.

In a game where Luton passed fluently and where all players made a substantial contribution to what was one of their best performances of the season so far, they deserved the win which despite a disappointing loss to Bedford in their previous game keeps them in contention at the top of the five counties premier division.

Player of the match award this week went to Ella Dagnall who stepped up effectively into the midfield after playing the majority of the season at sweeper. Rochelle Lewsey, who otherwise had a decent game as sweeper, could not avoid being voted by her peers as mare of the match after passing the ball from a defensive free hit straight to the oppositions centre forward.

Next week Luton play Blueharts at home.