Leighton rock the bar at the Pakex Stadium
Potters Bar Town FC 0-3 Leighton Town FC
Leighton rock the bar at the Pakex Stadium
Potters Bar Town FC 0-3 Leighton Town FC
After successfully making it into the second round of the FA Trophy on Tuesday night, Leighton were brought back down to earth with a tricky game against second in the league Potters Bar.
Leighton kicked off looking strong, but were constantly being caught offside much to the annoyance of the crowd. The first 10 minutes saw Leighton crossing the ball in left, right and centre only for them to be denied of a goal by the lack of players in the box.
A shot from Danny Watson in the 24th minute saw the ball skim over the bar and play was then stopped as Robbie Goodman was treated for an injured shoulder.
Potters Bar had their first corner of the game in the 33rd minute. The ball flew straight across the goal only needing a touch to put them into the lead, however it went straight out for another corner before being well cleared by Leighton.
An unmarked Joe Bennett in the 37th minute saw him slide the ball across to Lamar Simpson but his shot could only find the hands of Dan Green. Good footwork by Alvin Rajaram stopped Lamar Simpson in his tracks as he made his way towards goal only moments later.
With 40 minutes gone, a spectacular ball by Phil Draycott flew towards the goal, bounced off the far post and flew into the corner of the net, putting Leighton into a well deserved 1-0 lead.
A miss kick by Jack Friend saw the ball ricochet off Danny McNicholas and land at the feet of Claude Senla but his shot bounced behind the back of the net.
A half time announcement revealed that one of the assistant referees had picked up an injury, so Leighton Town supporter Matt Parsons volunteered to take over.
Potters Bar kicked off the second half and a chance came for James Ewington to equalised when he saw Green off his line and no defenders in sight but he panicked and skied the ball over the bar.
With only 4 minutes gone of the second half the determination to win was written all over the faces of Leighton. Draycott played a lovely ball to Senla who slotted it past the keeper without too much trouble, putting Leighton 2-0 up.
56 minutes in and Michael Lyon came on in place of Ash Farmer and moments later Lyon and Mark Bunker both received yellow cards.
A good two handed save over the bar by Green denied Potters Bar of yet another goal. Leightons' second substitution saw Tyrone Taylor come on for Christian Lester.
In the 63rd minute Jack Friends' free kick flew straight across the open goal but there was no one to give the ball the nudge it needed to cross the line.
A Draycott corner curled round to the far post of the goal in the 67th minute finding the towering head of Goodman who headed the ball home.
Chris Doyle could have scored Potters Bars' consolation goal in the 71st minute but his strike hit the bar and ricocheted out to Leighton.
Tommy Boxer was shown a yellow card in the 74th when a bad tackle on Draycott saw him escorted off the pitch and replaced with Aaron Morgan.
The last 5 minutes saw Leighton continue to walk all over Potters Bar, Morgan livened the game up, not backing down when the ball was lost to the opposition and Gary Ridgway won a corner before the final whistle was blown. However Leighton couldn't put another past McNicholas and the game finished at 3-0 to Leighton.
Leightons next game is at home against North Greenford on Tuesday 28th October, kick off 7:45pm.
Leighton Town FC
Team- Green, Rajaram, Ridgway, Bunker, Crook, Goodman, Farmer, Lester, Senla, Watson, Draycott
Subs- Durcan, Murphy, Lyon, Morgan, Taylor
Potters Bar Town FC
Team- McNicholas, Feltwell, Clifford, Friend, Bozer, Bowditch, Shepherd, Bennett, Hutchinson, Ewington, Simpson
Subs- Akinyemi, Sullivan, Doyle
Attendance- 129
By Hannah Sellman