Tuesday night’s action saw Leighton Town lose 1-2 in the dying embers in yet another preseason challenge. Familiar face Louis Collier played a big role in the visitor’s victory in front of the evening’s 167 spectators. Gaffer Lee Bircham was humble in defeat as he looked back on the key events.
“I said Saturday, it’s an exercise. Sixty minutes, it was a good contest. Again like Saturday, you make all the changes, you have to do that but it didn’t help us. Probably lost the fluidity of the game and it just went away from us.
Last kick of the game they won it but don’t forget they were third in the league above last year and for sixty minutes – I’m probably being biased but I thought we were the better team. I keep saying it, we’ve got a squad of 21-22 and we make sure everyone plays enough minutes. That won’t be the case this Saturday. We’ll treat it like a normal game. All in all, the preseason has been excellent, couldn’t have really asked for more because every game we’ve had has been a tough game. It’s a tough one to take right at the end, but it doesn’t do you any harm losing a game in preseason. It’s a good one for us to learn from.”
Amidst a game that had tempers flaring at points, penalties seemed to stand out. AFC Dunstable had two with the first one saved and the second converted well by Louis Collier. When asked, Bircham had no quarrels with the evening’s officials.
“They’re both penalties. Pys (Pyman) has been fantastic, but he’s been left a little bit short. He’s got wrong side and put an arm on someone. I’d be telling our forwards to go down no question. Someone put an arm on him, he’s gone down – yeah, it’s a penalty. Great save by Xavi.
Second one, Ethan excellent for 60 minutes but he hasn’t played 90 yet. The last half hour he was probably tired a little bit. It wasn’t just those two, we were sloppy before. Little things, come the season they’ll be ironed out. It’s good to make the mistakes now in preseason.”
With the next game the biggest challenge yet against a QPR XI, the coach looked ahead and explained how his side will prepare.
“We’ll see how Thursday goes; see what injuries we’ve got. We’ll see what availability we’ve got. We’ve got Thursday night’s training to get through and then it’ll be good to see QPR. I don’t know what type of side they’re bringing down, hopefully they’ll bring their youngsters. We’re looking forward to it but we won’t be chopping and changing. It’ll be a normal game of football.”
“They’ve been outstanding so far, all of them. They’ve worked hard and they’ve earned the right to get the minutes. Just came undone against AFC Dunstable who will be there or thereabouts in their league this year, so yeah really pleasing still.”

Article by Max Bradfield