Relegation looms closer for hardworking Leighton

A minutes silence was held at 3:06pm in memory of those that lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster.

With a defeat on Thursday against Aylesbury, Leightons' Craig Wells had to pull out all the stops once again with numerous players injured, suspended and on holiday. Leighton welcomed back Kevin Marsh into the team to play in goal.

Daventry kicked off and had their first chance of scoring in the 3rd minute but Josh O'Grady hit the ball wide and shortly after Leighton had the same chance, when Sean Bishop managed to earn the ball of James Husband but his shot was also wide.

Kieran Doughty went down with a hit to the head in the 8th minute and the referee failed to stop the game because he believed it wasn't a foul, thankfully Doughty recovered after having treatment. After coming back on he then thought he was perfectly positioned to receive Dom Marsalas' cross but he'd set off too quickly and was flagged offside.

The 18th minute saw a goal mouth scramble between the two teams, but it was Daventry that came out on top with Josh Blake putting the ball in the net. Only 2 minutes later it looked like Blake would score again but Jake Bewley and Kristian Stephens managed to slow him down and Marsh saved the ball one handed.

Both Bishop and Gareth Chendlik worked well to find a way through with the ball, only to be stopped in their tracks by Liam Dolman, which then lead to a 20 yards shot from Adam Confue that couldn't be stopped by Marsh, as it hit the top left hand corner of the net and saw Daventry secure their second goal.

Marsala delivered the ball spectacularly to Chendlik in the 34th minute and he managed to win Leighton a corner, however Daventrys' defence was just too strong to break. Minutes before half time a terrible tackle was made on Aiden Denton which saw him carried off the pitch and Craig Maisiri brought on in his place.

WIth Leighton kicking off the second half and loosing the ball quickly it gave Luke Keen a chance at goal but thankfully he shot the ball straight at Marshs' hands. 57 minutes in saw Maisiri obstructed on his way towards goal and shouts for a penalty were heard but came to nothing.

Grant Fryer managed to find Chendlik in the 59th minute who powered the ball towards the goal and was pushed over the bar by Richard Morris. A concussed looking Marcel Simpson was replaced with Guy Sanders in the 65th minute and Daventry won themselves a free kick shortly after which saw Tom James hit the bar.

A second substitution for Leighton saw Jerry Lyons replace Charlie Fryer. Daventrys' also had a penalty appeal during the game when Grant Fryer pulled a purple shirted player, but once again the referee was oblivious and play continued. This uproar caused the first yellow card of the game to be shown to a member of the Daventry bench.

Leighton made their final substitution in the 82nd replacing Doughty with George Quinn. 85 minutes in saw Chendlik get taken down in the box and a penalty was awarded to Leighton, Marsala stepped up and shot the ball powerfully into the left hand corner of the net, making the score 2-1.

Adam Confue was the first player to be booked for mouthing off at the referee in the 86th minute. Daventry had a last ditch attempt at making it 3-1 but fortunately Tommy Berwick could only manage to hit the side netting.

Leighton continued to battle to the end of the match and everyone hopes that soon their hard work and effort will pay off and see them win once again before the season is over.

Leightons next game is away to Aylesbury United (this match will be held at Bell Close) on 16th April, kick off 7:45pm

By Hannah Sellman

Team lineup- Marsh, Bather, Bewley, Fryer, Stephens, Bishop, Marsala, Fryer, Chendlik, Doughty, Denton

Subs- Downes, Maisiri, Lyons, Quinn

Attendance- 90