Eagles fly away with all 3 points

Leighton Town FC 1-2 Bedford Town FC

With new signing Leon Lobjoit starting, the pressure was on for Leighton to win against Bedford, who are only a place above them in the league.

Leighton kicked off and immediately lost possession of the ball, but luckily Bedford couldn't keep it under control and the ball went out for a corner.

Lobjoit stepped up to take the corner but it was cleared easily by Russell Bull. A shot by Phil Draycott was cleared off the line in the 4th minute. 

Liversedge headed the ball against the bar in the 15th minute and only 3 minutes later was awarded a penalty after being taken down in the box by Ash Farmer. 

Stepping up to the spot Liversedge sent Dan Green the wrong way, hit the ball low and hard into the corner of the net, putting Bedford into a 1-0 lead. 

Leighton had a chance at goal from a free kick in the 20th minute. Draycott fired the ball straight at Garry Malone who fumbled and dropped it, unfortunately there was no one to put the ball across the line. 

Danny Watson was booked in the 37th minute after committing several fouls and back chatting the referee. 

Green made a great save with his feet just as the second half kicked off denying Liversedge of a goal. 

The 56th minute saw Leighton make their only substitution of the game brining off Warren Garcia for Claude Senla.

Robert Parker fired the ball into the back of the net in the 58th minute, but thankfully for Leighton the referee blew for offside leaving the score at 1-0 to Bedford. 

The 60th minute saw Leighton equalise with an own goal by Stuart Smeathers, assisted by Watson. Mark Bunker was shown a yellow card in the 64th minute. 

Farmer came close to sending Leighton into the lead in the 73rd minute,when his shot was pushed over the bar by Malone and out for a corner. Senla was up next to face Malone but his shot was caught firmly. 

Lobjoit committed his first foul in the 78th minute and was instantly shown a yellow card. 

A mistake by Alvin Rajaram saw Liversedge fire home Bedford's second goal in the 87th minute. 

Bunker went down injured after a nasty tackle, however it was Dave Murphy who ended up being shown a yellow card rather than that of the tackler. 

There were altercations after the final whistle, Greg Ling was shown a red card and Watson was shown a second yellow resulting in a red.

Leighton Town wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, the next game is at home to Aylesbury on Saturday 27th December, kick off 3pm. 

Bedford Town FC

Team- Malone, Cooper, Hopewell, Smeathers, Woodward, Wilkinson, Lewis, Oulton, Liversedge, Bull, Parker

Subs- McGoldrick, Winters, Holmes, Ling

Leighton Town FC

Team- Green, Farmer, Ridgway, Garcia, Murphy, Rajaram, Lobjoit, Bunker, Lyon, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Irving, Halai, Senla 

Attendance- 146

By Hannah Sellman

Bunker earns valuable point for Leighton

Uxbridge FC 1-1 Leighton Town FC

Leighton hit the road again this weekend and made the journey to Uxbridge who currently sit 15th in the league on 25 points after 19 games.

With players still missing Leighton were once again lacking on the bench but they kicked off strongly with Ash Farmer having a shot 2 minutes in.

Phil Draycott was up next to try and fire one home but the ball flew over the bar. Danny Watson was shown a yellow card in the 9th minute for a dangerous tackle.

Dan Green made a vital save in the 12th minute denying Craige Tomkins of a goal when he headed the ball down towards the line from a free kick.

A similar event happened at the other end of the pitch only minutes later when Dave Murphy headed Draycott’s free kick into the hands of Paul McCarthy.

Uxbridge scored in the 17th minute when Chris Moore played the ball through to Kevin Warner however he was offside and the goal was disallowed.

Leighton had to make an early substitution brining on Harvey-Bailey Irving in the 20th minute, when Robbie Goodman went down clutching his ankle and had to be carried off the pitch.

Uxbridge's first corner of the game didn't come until 30th minute and was cleared easily by Leighton's defence. Subsequently their second corner came shortly after and Alvin Rajaram was waiting at the near post to clear the danger.

The handbags came out between Rajaram and Tomkins in the 41st minute when it looked like Rajaram had sustained a head injury. However the referee controlled the situation well but ended up booking Warner rather than Tomkins.

Uxbridge kicked off the second half and immediately bombarded Green with numerous shots, which he managed to save up until the 51st minute.

Matt Woods and Moore both seemed to be offside but with no flag up they continued to run towards goal. With Green out of his goal and only Rajaram chasing up the rear Woods had no trouble putting the ball into the back of the net, sending Uxbridge into the lead.

Leighton fought back hard coming so close to scoring but just couldn't finish to equalise. However in the 61st minute the hard worked paid off, as a ball from Rajaram was chested down by Draycott to the feet of Mark Bunker. He walked his way round McCarthy and sent the ball into the corner of the net, making it 1-1.

Murphy was shown a yellow card in the 64th minute for taking down an Uxbridge player, both ended up sprawled on the ground.

Leighton made their second substitution bringing off Warren Garcia for Claude Senla. Mis-communication between Green and Bunker in the 67th minute saw the ball unmanned and Lewis Cole clattered straight into Bunker to try and retrieve it, he was shown a yellow card.

Gary Ridgway cleared the ball off the line in the 75th minute to stop Uxbridge from edging ahead. Some great manoeuvring past 3 Uxbridge payers by Rajaram was wasted when Draycott's cross was too deep for anyone to reach.

Michael Lyon was shown a yellow card in the 80th minute. Green denied Uxbridge of another goal in the 88th minute with a great save in the air from Jake Groves cross.

With only 1 minute left on the clock Warner nearly headed the ball into his own net, but luckily for Uxbridge it went just over and out for a corner. The last kick of the match went in Leighton's favour as they were awarded a free kick.

Green stepped up to take the kick, Lyon controlled the ball well with his feet and crossed the ball to Senla. He managed to the launch the ball towards the goal but no one was there to send it across the line, resulting in the game ending 1-1.

Leighton's next game is at home to Bedford Town on Saturday 20th December, kick off 3pm.

Uxbridge FC

Team- McCarthy, Ayodele, Phillips, Thomas, Wiseman, Carter, Warner Cole, Woods, Moore, Tomkins

Subs- Bates, Dennison, Groves, Wambeek, Pickford

Leighton Town FC

Team- Green, Rajaram, Ridgway, Goodman, Murphy, Bunker, Garcia, Farmer, Lyon, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Senla, Irving, Halai, Tompkins

Attendance- 105

By Hannah Sellman

Too little too late for Leighton

Leighton Town FC 1-3 North Greenford United

With the wind howling and the rain bashing down the conditions couldn't have been worse for the Red Insure Cup Second Round game, but after three postponement on the trot everyone was finally happy to get it played.

Leighton kicked off and were awarded an early free kick when a bad tackle was made on Dave Murphy by Anton Robbinson.

Phil Draycott had a chance at goal with only 4 minutes gone but the head of Michael Kinsella was there to clear the ball away. 

Another chance came for Draycott after some great play between Michael Lyon and Mark Bunker, but Melvin Minter dived to his left making a great save. 

With 23 minutes on the clock a good ball by Jack Hutchinson found Jack Read, who was completely unmarked, Leighton's defence tried to back track to stop the shot but were unsuccessful and Read put North Greenford into a 1-0 lead. 

After Leighton's mistake they were determined to equalise and only minutes after, Draycott came close when Minter was out of his goal but his shot was just over the bar. 

All was not lost for Leighton though when they were awarded a penalty. Draycott was taken down in the box by Minter and straight away the referee pointed to the spot. However it was too good to be true because the lino had flagged for offside and the referee took back his penalty decision.

Claude Senla received a yellow card after committing a foul on Andrew Maniton in the 27th minute. 

Leighton came close once again to scoring when Draycott fired the ball home but it was cleared of the line, the ball found the head of Robbie Goodman who tried to head it past the post but it hit the post and Minter collected the ball for a goal kick.

With only 2 minutes left of the first half Minter was caught time wasting and Leighton were awarded a free kick right in front of the goal. The North Greenford wall stood strong and Draycott's free kick was cleared by the shin of Robbinson. 

Before the half time whistle could be blown Ash Farmer received a yellow card. It was still all to play for in the second half for Leighton, with their numerous chances now behind them it was time to pull something out of the bag.

For the first 10 minutes of the second half North Greenford kept breaking through Leighton's defence only to be flagged offside by the lino.

A corner for Leighton in the 59th minute finally saw them equalise. Draycott curled the ball in and Senla headed the ball down and into the back of the net, making it 1-1. 

Danny Watson found himself one on one with Minter soon after the goal, but Watson hesitated and Minter managed to push the ball out as far as Senla, who took an off balance shot. 

The 66th minute saw Hutchinson take an awarded free kick, Ross Tompkins came out to stop the ball but he mishandled it on the ground and Maniton snatched the ball away with his feet and put North Greenford 2-1 up. 

Leighton made their first substitution of the game bringing off Alvin Rajaram for Chris Cook in the 70th minute. 

A much needed tackle was made by Farmer on Hutchinson in the 75th minute as he bounded on towards the goal looking unstoppable. 

Farmer was substituted off in the 77th minute to make way for returning player Warren Garcia. 

North Greenford were searching for that 3rd goal in the 80th minute when Hutchinson struck the ball and Tompkins managed to push it against the post and out for a corner. Draycott received a yellow card for taking down a player. 

Leighton's final substitution took place in the 81st minute, with Lyon being replaced with Irving. 

Garcia played a lovely ball through to Bunker, it bobbled up in front of him but he controlled it well to find Watson who's shot was just wide of the post.

Once again Leighton were caught unawares in the 87th minute. Hutchinson ran past everyone and crossed the ball into Read who struck the ball with power and it went flying through Tompkins legs, making it 3-1.

2 minutes into injury time, Kinsella was shown a yellow card after fouling Senla. Leighton were awarded a free kick and Draycott stepped up to the ball, at first it was cleared but only as far as Gary Ridgway who managed to play the ball back in, straight across the goal with no one there to nudge it across the line.

Congratulations to North Greenford United, good luck in the next round of the Red Insure Cup.

Leighton's next game is away to Uxbridge on Saturday 13th December, kick off 3pm. 

North Greenford United

Team- Minter, Robbinson, Maniton, Kinsella, Austin, Gaylor, Mohammed, Mani, Hutchinson, Read, O'Connor

Subs- Ekpiteta, Kransnial

Leighton Town FC

Team- Tompkins, Rajaram, Ridgway, Goodman, Murphy, Farmer, Bunker, Lyon, Senla, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Crook, Green, Lyon, Garcia, Irving 

Attendance- 47

By Hannah Sellman 

Officials cost Leighton the game

Bedworth United 2-1 Leighton Town FC

A welcome sight greeted Leighton when they turned up at The Oval, a brand new 3G pitch and an above average crowd for the game.

With 5 men missing for Leighton and Bedworth sat 2nd in the league, a draw would have been a dream come true.

Bedworth kicked off and straight away Daniel Creaney had a shot at goal but Ross Tompkins managed to convert it out for a corner. 

A cross by Danny Watson in the 17th minute could only find the head of Mark Albrighton but he couldn't quite clear his line as the ball fell to Claude Senla but his shot was off target. 

Play was stopped in the 19th minute as a bad tackle from Luke Rowe on Alvin Rajaram, saw him needing treatment. 

Half way through the first half and Daniel Dubidat had a go at goal but Tompkins caught and held the ball firmly. 

Some great work by Leighton's midfield saw Watson back heel the ball to Phil Draycott and with Denham Hinds out of his goal, he slotted the ball into the back of the net, putting Leighton 1-0 up. 

Alex Naughton managed to find a way past Robbie Goodman in the 39th minute but after all the hard work his shot went well over the bar.

Naughton didn't give up hope and on the stroke of half time he ran rings around Gary Ridgway and found the back of the net, making it 1-1. 

Leighton kicked off the second half looking strong and a ball from Ash Farmer to Senla only just curled outside of the post.

Bedworth were living a charmed life as Leighton had two more chances to score, one from a Draycott free kick which Hinds dived to save and one from a corner which Senla could only head over the bar.

Tompkins managed to save a powerful shot by Naughton with his fingertips in the 53rd minute but it fell for Rowe who walked the ball into the net, putting Bedworth into a 2-1 lead.

The 59th minute saw Tompkins off his line and Leighton's defence were no where to be seen, Rowe slipped past with ease but Rajaram managed to make up enough ground to put him off taking a shot.

Appeals for handball were heard from Leighton only a minute later but the referee dismissed the idea and allowed play to carry on. 

Dave Murphy fired the ball in from long range in the 66th minute and saw Hinds having to jump off his line to make the save. 

Mark Bunker and Albrighton were both shown a yellow card in the 73rd minute for manhandling. Senla had a great chance from the free kick that Leighton were awarded but the referee blew for offside.

The 78th minute saw things get heated when Dubidat and Senla both went for the ball and ended up on their backs, both were shown a yellow card. 

Leighton made their one and only substitution in the 80th minute bringing on Harvey-Bailey Irving for Rajaram. 

Leighton should have been awarded another penalty with only 3 minutes to go. Draycott was taken down in the box and then pushed back down. However the referee pulled out his yellow card and booked Draycott for diving. 

Naughton had a wayward shot at goal for Bedworth in the last minute of the game and Farmer was also shown a yellow card just before the final whistle.

Leighton's next game is at home to North Greenford United on Tuesday 9th December in the Red Insure Cup, kick off 7:45pm.

Leighton Town FC

Team- Tompkins, Rajaram, Ridgway, Goodman, Murphy, Farmer, Bunker, Lyon, Senla, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Irving, Taylor, Green

Bedworth United 

Team- Hinds, Ashmore, Rowe, Creaney, Folkes, Albrighton, Westwoord, Dubidat, Naughton, Steane

Subs- Bevas, Kirby, Yullin, Johnson, Donovan

Attendance- 180 

Bye Hannah Sellman