Leighton lose out to a strong Luton team in Beds Senior Cup

Luton kicked off the game which was extremely fast paced, but it became apparent that they weren't all that confident at the back when Craig Maisiri managed to slip through with ease, but his hard work was wasted as the referee blew for a free kick against Leighton.

Leighton were constantly finding a way through Lutons defence, putting the ball across left, right and centre and with Jake Bewleys' cross in the 6th minute coming close it looked like Leighton had the upper hand on the game already. There was some confusion when the wind picked up and the ball lingered in the air and it turned into a pantomime with the supporters joining in and shouting 'it's behind you.'

14 minutes in and Leighton had their first proper chance when Shane Bush gained possession of the ball but his shot went just over the bar much to the supporters disappointment. Another chance came exactly a minute later when Leighton were awarded a free kick and Jack Downes took his chances to try and fire the ball home but failed.

The first yellow card of the match was awarded to Warren Plowright in the 38th minute when he managed to give away a penalty for handball. Lutons Jon Shaw stepped up to the spot, sending Brad Kirkwood the wrong way and slotted the ball home for Lutons first goal of the evening.

Leighton kicked off the second half looking positive when Maisiri made a great run towards goal and managed to take a shot and won himself a corner but the ball fell to Ryan Plowright who converted it straight into Elliot Justhams' hands. The game started to become quite physical when in the 54th minute Grant Fryer was shown a yellow card after a clash of bodies and Luton were awarded a free kick.

The cards were out in force once again when Lutons' Jerome Jibodu went for Maisiri (who seemed to be spending most of his time on the ground during this match) was giving a yellow. The game saw a short pause in the 68th minute when Lutons keeper Justham became injured after colliding with his own player and had to be replaced with Craig King. Sean Bishop saw this an opportunity to score and took his chance after the game restarted taking a shot from a distance only for it to be wide.

Leighton were still fighting to get that all important goal and in the 70th minute it was a mad scramble in the goal mouth when it seemed that every Leighton player was taking a shot, each time the ball ricocheting of the Luton defence, eventually nothing became of all the action as the official flagged for offside.

Lutons second goal came in the 72nd minute when Kirkwood stumbled around for the ball thinking he had possession of it, unfortunately his grip wasn't tight enough and the ball got away allowing David Viana to put the ball in the back of the net, Leightons hopes were dashed and you could tell that they knew they weren't going to win.

The 81st minute saw tempers flare, as usual during any match and Enzo Silvestri found himself facing a yellow card as well as Lutons' Kane Ferdinand after a dispute over a foul. Leighton still couldn't grab a consolation goal and their last chance really came when Gareth Chendlik hit the bar a few minutes later after the bookings, making the final score 2-0 to Luton.

Congratulations to Luton Town FC who now go on to face Barton Rovers in the semi-finals.

By Hannah Sellman

Team lineup- Kirkwood, Fryer, Bewley, W Plowright, Stephens, Bishop, Downes, R Plowright, Chendlik, Bush, Maisiri

Subs- Griggs, Gallant, Marsala, Doggett, Silvestri

Attendance- 244