Men’s Masters side through to the quarter finals

Men’s Masters 2-1 Luton Masters

Goals: Jon Noble, James Askew.

Saints stormed into this game full of movement and quality passing – early ball into the D from skipper Jim Phipps, deft touch by Jon Noble left the Luton goalkeeper helpless – 1-0, the floodgates were poised to open. On 7 minutes another great move resulted in short corner  – clean strike from the youthful looking Mike Derbyshire, goal keeper saves, ball in the air, swing miss, pushing & shoving – two yellow cards as Luton keeper and Derbyshire took the walk of shame. The sendings off seemed to affect Saints more than a feisty Luton side who were feeding more on Saints errors than any real creativity. After 20 minutes a loose pass in midfield left Luton on the front foot and a quick one – two resulted in an equaliser against the run of play. The Saints continued to control large chunks of play but at times tried to force the play too much.

The second half carried on in a scrappy manner, although with the forward line of Askew, Noble & Darby being prompted by the tireless work of Guy Roberts,  Dave Wennington, Ian Mcillwaine & Phil Knight – Saints always looked the side more likely to score. A Guy Roberts yellow card was negotiated by the Saints defence with Hillier, Morries, Phipps and Daverson all working hard in front of Pete Adey who was dominant on the times he was called upon. The man of the match Luton keeper continued to keep his side in the game with great saves from the Saints forward line – and with 7 minutes to go and strokes looming, A  fine Saints move resulted in James Askew coolly slotting the ball into the back of the net. Luton continued to push for an equaliser and had several short corners in a nervy final 5 minutes – with the final whistle being greeted with relief by the Saints masters.

This was a game that the Saints always looked the better side but couldn’t shake off the battling Luton side until the final embers of the match. A great result for the club and the masters now head into the quarter finals with a home tie against Whitham on the 23rd March