Three’s victorious in local derby

The second round of the season for the Men’s 3’s took place away to their local rivals, the Luton vagrants, who won both matches against the 3’s last season. It looked like that feat would be repeated as despite early pressure from the reds in the opening minutes, 3 of which were spent without a goalkeeper, the vagrants drew first blood. A minor defensive slip and a couple of failed challenges left the striker 1 on 1 with the keeper, which culminated with the home side going in front.

And it looked much the same leading up to half time. Luton Town had all the possession and pressure, but the equaliser remained elusive until the 27th minute when Alex Robinson squared the ball to find returning Luton Town player Alan Clark, who fired the ball into the net to equalise against his old club.

Town continued with the high pressing with the Vagrants scarcely troubling the half way line, but a second goal did not follow leaving the half time score at 1 apiece.

The second half started, if anything, even more strongly for the reds who had several short corners and missed attempts on goal, followed by a Vagrants error not unlike the one that Town had suffered in the 1st half, Allowing Alex Robinson 1 on 1 with the keeper to neatly dispatch his 2nd in 2 games to put the reds ahead for the first time.
Still more pressure from town and some excellent marking saw Vagrants with nowhere to go and yet another short corner had Robinson’s shot bouncing desperately off the post before being cleared. At the next, Chris Madden repeated the feat, but the ricocheting ball rebounded off the luckless Vagrants keeper for an own goal to secure the points for Luton Town.

The game was not over however, and a few nervous moments of Vagrants attack forced a smart save out of keeper Thomas Briggs who had very little to do throughout the game but reacted well when needed. A goal would have been a turning point with 10 minutes to go but unlike the week previously, the reds held on and used their maximum squad to full advantage, ignoring tired legs to keep the intensity up until the final whistle.

This derby may not have been as heated as in previous years, but was no less entertaining. Final Score 3-1

Scorers for Luton Town: Alan Clarke, Alex Robinson, Immad Khan (OG)

Player of the Match: Alex Powell for a solid and flawless defensive performance, as well as standing in as kicking back briefly at the start of the match.