Leighton Town 0 - Chalfont St Peter 1

Match Report

Leighton Town 0 - Chalfont St Peter 1

After a tough week for Town involving the loss of manager Mark Eaton and a midweek loss away at Uxbridge it was important Leighton put in a good performance at home to highflying Chalfont St Peter and Town nearly went 1-0 within the first minute. After kicking off they were straight into the Chalfont half with quick passing and pace and when the chance came in from the right wing, a Chalfont defender was quick to block the shot.

Moments later James Hatch was nearly through on goal following a good through ball but there was just a tad too much pace on it and he couldn’t connect in the end.

Chalfont St Peter were defending well against the Town attacks but the first half was a proper end-to-end affair and Chalfont were also having their fair share of chances. Craige Tomkins was instrumental in most of Chalfont’s chances during the game and he whipped in a fantastic cross to Anthony Thomas who was put off by an oncoming Leighton defender.

It was a good start from both sides and it was Leighton who had the next good chance of the game and it was a fantastic strike from Alex O’Brien who fit a fierce shot from about 25 yards out and it produced a great save from the Chalfont keeper Michael Power-Simpson. After a free kick from Alex O’Brien and prolonged pressure in the Chalfont half, Chalfont were trying to counter attack but Town were dealing well under any threat Chalfont offered.

However when Pierre Hazet gave the ball straight to Tomkins he looked set to score but the referee called offside. Thomas and Tomkins were Chalfont’s best players and the pair linked up again this time it was Thomas who tried to set up Tomkins with a weighted pass but it was well cleared by a defender who was in the right place at the right time.

Both teams seemed to be lacking a little bit of clinicalness but both defenses were also playing very well as Hazet produced a top draw tackle to stop Thomas dead in his tracks.

Unfortunately for Leighton some of these tackles were turning into fouls and after a foul from Jack Copson in a dangerous area a Thomas free-kick set up Jack Mullan whose free header was narrowly wide.

After this well worked header Chalfont were really growing into the game and they were now constantly bombarded the Town half with Aaron Lansiquot and Thomas playing well on the left wing and another good cross from Thomas was cleared.

But after this prolonged pressure James Hatch went up the other end and nearly scored after school boy defending from Chalfont. Maisari dispossessed a Chalfont defender to play in Hatch but the save from Power-Simpson was good in the end.

Despite the wet weather the pitch was playing really well and after more poor defending from the left wing Hazet gave the ball away to Tomkins whose cross to Alan Hedley led to his header again going wide.

But by the end of the first half Leighton had the better chances and the game was back in their favor. There was fantastic build-up play as a lovely flick from Dave Brown plays in skipper Ben Gallant who slides in a pass to Hatch but his shot was straight at the keeper. After this lovely flowing football from Town, they changing up the tactics and it was effective route 1 football that led to another good chance. A long ball reached Hatch but the Chalfont keeper who was having a great game pulled out another save. It was a good resulting corner led to a free header from Brown but it went well wide.

The second half started much like the first with early town pressure but it was Chalfont who got the decisive goal in the 52nd minute courtesy of Anthony Mendy. The move was a counter attack following a Leighton Town corner, the resulting goal kick from Power-Simpson went deep into Town’s half and found Mendy who rounded the defenders and keeper after questionable defending. It’s unfortunate for Town who were more than a match for Chalfont.

The goal didn’t hinder the boys in red at all and they nearly equalized through a Hatch toe-poke but somehow Power-Simpson pulled out another good save to deny him. After some Chalfont pressure that led to nothing clear-cut like the first half Town grew back into the game again. It was Maisiri with the next good Town chance after good possession on the left hand side his shot hit the side-netting.

For Leighton it was a case of huff with no puff, they were trying time and time again to break down Chalfont but the Buckinghamshire side were holding firm. After Brown had a good ball played into him he shot over and it was clear that Town were getting into all of these good positions but not having the quality to make it count and there was perhaps the argument for them needing to push forward in more numbers. Soon the rain began to fall and the game began to lose quality but Chalfont held firm and the game finished 1-0 to them and Town in my opinion deserved a point from a good performance. It was clear to see that Chalfont are a quality side but Town were more than a match for them and unlucky in the end.
A fabulous all round team performance from Town - if they can play like this every week they will soon start to climb the table
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