Surprisingly, this was the 2nd league meeting between the 2 sides this season.
Leighton travelled to Stotfold in August and came away with all 3 points, in an extremely comfortable 6-0.
The Town lined up as follows:
Jones, Baggati, Brady, Resch, Hall, McKee, Tamakloe, Marsala, Donaldson, McBride, Faulkner.
Substitutes:
Birch, Foulger, Osei-Addo, Davison-Gordon, Donkor.
Curtis Donaldson made his debut for the Town and one minute into his first outing in Red and White, he put the Town in front!
He found himself in on Matt Fallon’s goal and he delicately chipped the ball over the goalkeeper, to give the Town a 1-0 lead.
However, Leighton’s promising start would soon be halted in its tracks.
Dom Marsala’s poor back pass put Alfie Barker in on goal and he rounded Charlie Jones and slotted into the right corner, to pull Stotfold level.
The Town continued to pile the pressure on Stotfold’s goal, attacking at every opportunity, and playing some really promising football.
That pressure would lead to the second goal and what a goal it was!
Matt Fallon’s poor clearance fell into the path of Lewis McBride. From all of 40 yards out, McBride curled the ball over Fallon and it nestled in the back of the net! What a goal!
McBride then had another chance to put Leighton 2 goals to the good.
Kyle Faulkner delivered a ball to the far post and McBride got on the end of it, but his effort fell the wrong side of the goal.
Charlie Jones was then called into action as Ryan Young tested him at his far post.
Half Time rolled around and the Town had a 1 goal lead.
The second half started as quickly as the first and the Town continued to dominate, with Lewis McBride running the show.
McBride’s athleticism down the right flank, allowed him to beat his defender and square to Kyle Faulkner! Goal! Faulkner fired home from 12 yards, to put the Town 3-1 up! Faulkner finding a real eye for goal in recent weeks, a promising young talent.
Only 4 minutes later and the Town made it 4! McBride drove at the Stotfold defence, before being sieved down by Tommy Carroll. However, McBride managed to get a pass off to Dom Marsala, who made up for his earlier mistake and caressed the ball past Fallon and in, for 4-1!
Kelvin Osei-Addo came on for Curtis Donaldson shortly after and 10 minutes after that change, Paolo Baggati was replaced by Michael Donkor, making his Town bow.
Kerran Birch also came on for Dom Marsala.
With his first touch of the ball, Birch almost made it 5. He found himself in acres of space on the left hand side of the box, but he couldn’t get the ball past Fallon.
However, shortly after, it would be 5. Lewis McBride weaved his way into Stotfold’s box and rounded Matt Fallon and passed the ball into the empty net, to wrap the game up for the Town. 2 Goals and 2 Assists for McBride. What a performance, from a fantastic player.
Despite the game being as good as over, Stotfold rallied and gave the Town a late scare.
Kelvin Osei-Addo joined the poor back pass club and Alfie Barker got himself a brace as he rounded Jones and slotted home into the empty net from a tight angle.
However, despite the late rallying, Lewis McBride could of got himself a Hat-Trick, but Matt Fallon denied him with a smart stop.
No more than a minute later though, Stotfold scored a third.
Kay Cyrus ghosted in from a corner and was completely unmarked in the penalty area and he flicked past Jones, to make the score line more respectable for Stotfold.
That was that for the afternoon, an 8 goal thriller at Bell Close, as the Town ended a home win drought and claimed their 3rd win of the season.
A positive performance from the Reds, however, they will be disappointed with the defensive frailty shown, with mistakes being made for all 3 Stotfold Goals.