Leighton Victory earns place in 3rd round qualifying

Leighton’s FA Cup run has now extended to the 3rd Qualifying Round after a reasonably comfortable victory over Hatfield Town at Bell Close last Saturday. Town were good value for their win and will now wait to see which opponents they will face following Monday’s FA Cup draw.
The visitors brought a good following with them for the game hoping that they would be able repeat their exploits in the previous rounds. Town had to make changes in their attack as leading scorer Ben Gallant was unavailable due to a bout of influenza, Neil Lazarus was selected to partner James hatch in attack.
On a very hot afternoon Hatfield created the first attack in the 5th minute but when a cross was delivered from the right it was way too high for the waiting forwards. Two minutes after this Leighton took the lead when Neil Lazarus deftly controlled the ball and lifted it cleverly over the keeper and into the corner of the net. A minute later Hatfield had to defend as two dangerous crosses were fired into the area. Hatfield then moved the ball to the opposite end of the pitch and won a corner on the right. When the ball was struck towards the near post a Hatfield forward made a decent connection but the shot was way off target. Two minutes after this Neil Lazarus ran onto a through ball with the visitor’s defence screaming for offside, Hatfield managed to get back and clear Town’s first attempt and then Bilal Hassan drove the loose ball just off target from the edge of the area. Despite the heat both sides were playing at a decent pace and in the 19th minute Leighton won a throw on the right which was headed away to James Hatch who drove the ball way over the bar. Town went within a whisker of increasing their lead in the 21st minute when Lazarus picked the ball up about 25 yards from goal, although there appeared to be no real threat the Town striker surprised everyone by suddenly unleashing a fierce shot which beat the keeper, dipped late and struck the bar before the keeper safely collected the loose ball. A minute later Andre Maltay played a pass through for James Hatch but his shot was deflected for a corner. Hatfield then won a corner after some poor defending by Leighton but the pressure was relieved when Lee Clark easily caught the resulting corner. The game then went through a scrappy phase, probably due to the heat, with both sides giving the ball away too easily. However Town moved further ahead in the 40th minute when they won a free kick out on the left, James Hatch headed the ball back toward the six yard box and Bilal Hassan turned and fired home despite a few Hatfield appeals for offside.In the 42nd minute Leighton won a corner which Jake Bewley fired across , Hatfield headed it back to him and his second cross was headed wide by Hassan. Lee Clark $had to make his first save of the game in the 43rd minute when he had to push Cooke’s header wide following a corner on the right. Leighton replied with probably their best move of the game, Jake Bewley picked the ball up deep in Leighton’s half before passing to Deji Ojuroye who fired a pass out to the right wing to Bilal Hassan who fired over a great cross but Ross Hanley arriving late in the box could not get over the ball and headed it over the bar with James Hatch waiting behind him. Understandably the second half started at a slower pace but Neil Lazarus fired wide from close range after just 4 minutes when it looked easier to score. Hatfield then had a couple of efforts which did not present any real threat and then Lewis McBride put a pass through for Neil Lazarus which was just too far in front of the striker. Two minutes later Hatfield won a free kick which was quickly cleared by Leighton and Lacey in the Hatfield goal had to run 35yards from his goal to foil Bilal Hassan. The most controversial moment of the game arrived in the 66th minute, Lewis McBride passed to Ross Hanley who got to the dead ball line before pulling the ball back for McBride who beat his opponent and then fired the ball into the top right hand corner of the net, unfortunately for Leighton the referee and his assistant did not see the ball go in and allowed play to continue to the obvious disappointment of the home fans. Hatfield to their credit never gave up and in the 74th minute Stuart Deaton did well to back-head the ball away from the goal to clear the danger. In the 81st minute Leighton got their third goal, James Hatch ran onto a pass and played the ball across the goal , Bilal Hassan ran in at the far post and knocked the ball over the line for his second goal of the day. Lewis McBride then headed over from Jake Bewley’s cross and right at the end Hatch drove a shot inches wide after good work by McBride. The last chance fell to the visitors but the ball was chipped just over the bar.
Town were never at risk of losing this game and played well despite a 20 minute spell in the second half when they were guilty of giving the ball away far too easily in the intense heat which was more like Lanzarote than Leighton. Manager, Downey will have been happy with this display but his team face a much tougher game on Tuesday night when they entertain Bedworth United before travelling to Chertsey on Saturday for a re-arranged game.
TEAM: Clark, Maltay, Bewley, Cunningham, Deaton, Ojuroye, Hassan, Hanley, Lazarus(Copson70), Hatch, McBride. Subs: 12:Chapman, GK: Ambler, 14:Copson, 15:McNulty, 16:Fryer,17:Bush, 18:Slatter
Att:213

Fixtures
TUES 4 Oct 7:45 Leighton Town v Bedworth United Evo -Stik League
WED 5th OCT 7:45 Aylesbury Utd v Dunstable Town SSM League
Sat 8th Oct 3pm Chertsey Town v Leighton Town Evo - Stik League
Sat 8th OCT 3pm Aylesbury United v Harefield United SSM League
Sat 8th OCT 3pm Harefield Reserves v Leighton Reserves Suburban League