A GREAT COMEBACK

Leighton Town travelled to Dunstable tonight to face the League leaders, after the previous result Wells' Red and White stripes were looking to forget the bad result and return home with all three points from a team that are unbeaten in 18 games.

Looking to remove the stigma of a 5-1 thrashing at kettering, Leighton saw Sean bishop included in the squad after his suspension but could only make the bench. In view of the next two games being 6 pointers a piece against fellow strugglers Aylesbury and north Greenford he was obviously being held back for more important encounters.

Leighton gave a good account of themselves in the early exchanges especially in defence which was being marshalled by keeper matt griggs.. he was called upon to make two smart saves early on whilst dom masala and shane bush went close for Leighton. All went well until the 36th minute when a corner from the right was driven to the near post and smartly headed home by Dixon to give Dunstable the lead. Not surprisingly they upped the tempo in an effort to kill the game off but Leighton were instructed to slow the game down to go in at half time only 1-0 down.

The driving rain seemed to favour Leighton at the restart but substitutions soon followed at the first sign of injury so as not to risk the players for the next two important games..whether Dunstable eased off thinking the game was won or the substitutions  had come good, Leighton now enjoyed more of the play.on the hour mark a quality cross from the right by chendlik was forced home by enzo silvestri to level the score. It was Leighton now who looked the more assured and the recent substitutes jack downes,sean bishop and Kristian stevens were making their presence felt and winning midfield territory. This enabled shane bush to move up closer to ben gallant and gareth chandlik. Unfortunately the next goal to come was for Dunstable when Leighton, in a a repeat of Saturdays beating failed to clear their lines properly and hutchins fired home on 73 minutes through a crowded box.

One of the attributes that Leighton have fostered since the start of the season is resilience. Their heads didn’t drop as they seemed to know they were worthy of something from the game.,jake bewley started making his overlapping runs and the midfield of silvestri, bishop, downes and plowright were dominating midfield but could not find that quality pass to unleash gallant and chandlik. Then came the second piece of quality of the night. The ball fell to downes who from fully 40 yards saw the keeper off his line and lobbed him. The keeper got a hand to it but could only palm it across the goal to hit the inside of the post and drop over the line for a well deserved equaliser.
A great lift in confidence for Craig and the squad, we welcome Aylesbury FC in our next home game on Saturday hoping for the same performance again and 3 points.

LEIGHTON TOWN
MATT GRIGGS, Grant Fryer, Jake Bewley, Warren Plowright, cautioned, Sam Chapman, captain, Ryan Plowright, Ben Gallant, Shane Bush, Gareth Chendlik, Enzo Silvestre, GOAL, 59 minutes, Dom Marsala. Substitutes used – Jack Downes, GOAL, 78 minutes, Sean Bishop and Kristian Sephens. Subs not used – Craig Maisiri and Bradley Kirkwood.

Dunstable stay top of the league stretching their unbeaten run to 19 and Leighton close the gap on Aylesbury FC to only one point. A win on Saturday will lift them into 18th.