Far, Far Away.

Off to Leighton today to face Leighton Town, who beat us 4-1 in the home fixture - one of our worst performances. Leighton, I think, had a poor start to the season but have played themselves back into a reasonable position in the league and they are the only side to have beaten Ampthill.

In any case, their pre-match demeanour and vocal performance on pitch showed us they meant to do the double over us.

They enjoyed the better of the early possession, despite playing up the slope. Local conditions also featured a very pleasant daisy-marked pitch, steam-locomotion in the background and a lost ball in the ditch every 5 minutes.

We began to even up the match and Fred conjured up an effort over the bar from a Greg throw and Luke flick-on. Greg was involved again with a wonderful cross that found a Leighton boot and flew into the net. Technically an own goal, but it looked good. One up after 14minutes.

However, despite seeming to have the upper hand, we gave up the lead just 2 minutes later. A defensive header arced into the box and was chased down by Leighton who nodded it in over the keeper.

It was a busy period of the match - it wasn't long before we restored our lead. Fred forced a corner, and a typically sweet delivery found Luke's head.

2 - 1 lead at half time, as we played hunt the oranges. The tight scoreline was a fair reflection of a close half.

As the second half began, we conceded a penalty - no complaints about the decision. It's the first time Dominic has faced a penalty in goal. He must have put the striker off effectively, as he shot wide of the target.

The game remained very tight with plenty of pressure coming from the home side, but it was Fred's persistence that allowed him to win the ball and keep it, ultimately converting with a strong strike away from the keeper's reach. We led 3 - 1 now with less than 10 minutes left.

We were at least even in terms of this phase of play, but when they forced a rare corner, we gave away a second penalty (for handball this time). Dominic decided to dive the same way, and indeed the shot went the same side. In fact, it was a copycat effort and also went wide of goal ! 2 missed penalties in one game is a rarity.

This was the last significant action of the game and it finished:

LEIGHTON TOWN 1 - 3 BRICKHILL WANDERERS
o.g. (14min), Luke (19), Fred (52)