After an eventful week with a cancelled league fixture and a hurriedly-organised friendly, Luton Town Ladies 2s can at last say they have won a fixture. The match started with a friendly first pass to the opposition, from which Luton quickly regained possession. After working the ball up the pitch with some fantastic runs and passes from Suraya Yusuf and Nia Browne, striker Taz Ferdouse's shot was saved by the Bedford goalkeeper, but captain Rebecca Blanchett found the deflection and slotted it between the keeper's legs to put the home side 1-0 up.

When play restarted, it was clear to see that Luton were dominant, controlling much of the possession. New player Melissa Reeve made some excellent leading runs down the side of the pitch, presenting Ferdouse once again with a goal-scoring opportunity. After beating Bedford's defence, she was left one-on-one with the goalkeeper and the ball was easily netted to extend Luton's lead to 2-0.

By the end of the first half, both teams were clearly tired and ready for a break in play to refresh themselves. Bedford began to press higher up the pitch into the Luton half, which resulted in some excellent blocks from defenders Julie Halsey and Gale Charles. Luton keeper Shannon Smith, playing this week in a 'kicking back' position, also made some excellent goal-line saves, which helped Town keep their lead. Play was then taken to the other end of the pitch by Luton's attackers, where Ferdouse extended the lead to 3-0.

Following half-time, Luton had many chances which weren't sent home. The second half saw the first short corner of game, awarded to Bedford, which was expertly defended by Smith, Halsey, Charles, Bethany Phelps and Tara Clancy, with Clancy making a brilliant run to block the ball before a shot was made. Several more short corners were awarded to Bedford after this, and the visitors sent one home to make the scoreline 3-1.

The rest of the game was characterised by some excellent tackles from Clancy and Priscilla Olatunde which allowed Luton to regain possession. The home side was awarded a short corner after the ball hit a defender's foot in the D, but Town failed to convert it to a goal. The game ended 3-1, with Luton victorious for the first time since the 2013/14 season, and a very happy, emotional team hug was shared at the end.

Player: Rebecca Blanchett
Moment: Suraya Yusuf for continuously getting hit in the foot

Match details

Match date

Sat 03 Oct 2015

Kickoff

15:00

Team overview