Lutterworth Town 2–1 Easington Sports
A visit to the Leicestershire town saw floodlight failure, a feisty affair, and a textbook case of smash-and-grab
Lutterworth is a town located just miles from where I live, and to get there you drive over the M6 and past one of the major motorway’s service stations. Once you get past the dull greyness of a UK road, you end up in Lutterworth, a town where Sir Frank Whittle developed the jet engine in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Lutterworth Town FC is located just off the main street through the town. A midweek venture took me through the streets and I parked up just a short walk from the gates, which open up in between the houses to reveal the ground with a couple of small covered seating stands and a clubhouse.
A perfect spot for a drink and a good bar too, the clubhouse was filling up as kick-off approached in this United Counties Football League Premier Division South match. I took a cup of coffee out pitchside just as the teams filed onto the pitch from the dressing rooms next to the clubhouse.
The game was cagey to start with, and both sides were keen to make a mark with some tough tackles setting the tone for a feisty, competitive evening. The match was getting into its stride when technology decided to intervene. One and then two of the floodlights at the Dunley Way ground cut out, leading to a delay of around 15 minutes.
Once play was back underway, it was the visitors who made up for lost time. A ball into the box was flicked onto the bar and Leam Howards was in the right place at the right time to tap in. Easington made it to halftime with a lead that they deserved, although Lutterworth were far from out of it.
Everyone in the ground was probably hoping the floodlights would behave in the second half and luckily they did. This was good news for the hosts because shortly before the midway point of the second half they were level. Striker Benji Adamako did well to beat his man and get a ball in from the byline. He laid it on a plate for Eliott Butler to find the back of the net, and it was well and truly game on.
What followed was a period of overwhelming pressure from the visitors. The Lutterworth crossbar was rattled, and keeper Warren Butlin had to be on his toes to keep the game level. It did have a sense of ‘there’s only one team winning this one’ and that team was Easington Sports. However, football is a funny old game.
Lutterworth soaked up the pressure for much of the second half, and it was they who grabbed all three points late on. A ball towards the back post wasn’t dealt with by the Easington backline and Butler got the last touch to make sure he and Lutterworth had the last laugh.
This was a full-blooded affair between two hard-working sides, and both look set to remain in this division for another season. Another two clashes like this one next year and fans will hardly be able to complain about not getting their money's worth.
