Town Fall to Defeat at the Hands of Resilient Athletic- Pre-Season Match Report: Lutterworth Athletic 3 Nuneaton Town 1
By George Kirk
Nuneaton Town were rocked by an emphatic second half comeback from step six side Lutterworth Athletic, who showed character and desire to give Boro only their second defeat of pre-season.
After Bradley Stretton opened the scoring early on, Lutterworth dug in to fight back with three second half goals earning them the win.
Kick-Off:
After the whistle blew, it didn’t take long for Athletic to grab their first chance of the game, as their number nine drove forward into the box, forcing Brandon Bache into a decent save from close range.
A much needed wake up call for the visitors, who replied by having a spell of chances with Liam Murphy having an attempt blocked by the keeper, before Bradley Stretton found time and space to curl into the bottom left corner, handing Boro the lead seven minutes in.
Despite going a goal down, the Greenies did not change their game plan, with their sharpness and pace on the break continuing to cause Town problems, playing a delightful ball across goal which their striker was fractions away from tapping in.
Acco and Doddsy’s men came inches away from grabbing a second before half time, as Aaron Roberts crashed a header off the post leaving Murphy with an open goal, hitting just over, and not long after lively new signing Stretton had an attempt deflected just wide of the post.
Half-Time: Lutterworth Athletic 0-1 Nuneaton Town
The second forty five was very much a tale of frustration.
Half-time substitutes Dante Hesson and Declan Somel almost made an instant impact, with talented youngster Hesson forcing Lutterworth’s shotstopper into a decent save down low and Somel having an audacious looping effort go just wide of the goal.
In the 59th minute, Nuneaton would pay for their missed chances, when Lutterworth’s number nine nodded in the equaliser.
Only four minutes later, things went from bad to worse, as a tame header at the back post from Lutterworth’s number five snuck past Bache.
Athletic almost had a third hitting just wide from close range, before Murphy almost levelled the scoring, heading off the bar, with Kai Thomas having his rebound blocked.
It just wasn’t going to be Town’s day, which was made even worse by Lutterworth’s number four, beating the offside trap to fire at Bache, who despite getting two hands on the ball was unable to keep out, trickling in off the post.
More valuable minutes in the legs for Acco and Doddsy’s men, who look to bounce back on Saturday.
Full-Time: Lutterworth Athletic 3-1 Nuneaton Town
MOTM: Charlie Jones
Team: Brandon Bache, Kai Thomas, Harry Chesterton, Aaron Roberts, Michael McGrath, James Armson (Jones, 68’), Caine Elliot, Charlie Jones (Somel, 46’), Bradley Stretton (G, 7’, Murphy, 68’), Trialist (Hesson, 46’), Liam Murphy (Harrison, 46’)
Substitutes: Finn Osborn, Dante Hesson, James Harrison, Declan Some
Next-Up: Nuneaton Town are back at The Oval as they take on Midland League Division One side Coalville Town FC in a pre-season friendly, on Saturday 25th July with a 3pm kick-off time.
