Promising Starts All Round

A promising start all round for all teams in Luton Town Hockey Club, culminated with a 6 goal thriller between the Mens 3rd XI and West Herts 6, which was the first game of captaincy for Russell Maidment, who took charge of a "New Look" Luton side. The early pressure was with the visiting side and after forcing a few smart saves from goalkeeper Thomas Briggs, the Whites went ahead from a good passing attack. It didn't take long however for Town to strike back, as Robert Maidment made a good run as part of an overwhelming counter attack which left Herts stunned. Alex Robinson's smart pass to the back post found 1 of 2 completely unmarked men Sam James to put the home side ahead 5 minutes before the break, leaving Luton in the lead at the break.

Half Time Score Luton Town 2-1 West Herts

Luton's creativity was once again rewarded when a persistent run and a pass on the 3rd time of asking by Dean Pierce was met by a smart finish by Alex Robinson early in the second half. The Luton pressure continued late on with Bradley Jackson making a superb run to get a shot on goal, only to find the West Herts keeper had other ideas. The game was very even after that but it looked like Luton’s efforts would achieve them the full 3 points until Herts capitalized on an inexperienced deference and scored 2 well worked goals in the last 10 minutes. Seemingly 2 points dropped for the reds, but they were soon thankful for the draw as a mistake from keeper Thomas Briggs left the visitors shooting on an open goal, but a miss hit allowed Damian Hayward to clear off the line. The goal would not have counted either way as an off the ball foul on the keeper lead to a Luton Town free hit. There was no time for more goals which left an incident filled fixture at a stale mate.

Full Time Score Luton Town 3-3 West Herts