Town went into the first league game of the season full of confidence after some strong preseason performances. Even without key players such as John Mcdade, Sean Ramkissoon and Scott Hardy, Town felt they still had the quality against a very strong Houghton side.
The game began scrappily for Town who out of nowhere looked nervous and panicked with the ball. Players didn’t look for the ball and gave possession away far too easily which lead to Rangers taking the lead within 10 minutes when a ball played through on the left side of the area saw the forward take his time and slot the ball into the far corner. Town needed to respond and did within 5 minutes when the ball broke to Liam Aubrey in the area and he fired home but inexcusably the Houghton linesman put his flag up for offside which was clearly incorrect. Within a minute Houghton doubled their lead with a simple through ball that the forward made no mistake with. Town were careless in possession, second to the ball and were showing a complete lack of fight and effort. Rangers now began to enjoy themselves and after 25 minutes a 30 yard strike from Curtis McCabe flew into the bottom right corner. A good passing move then ended with Rangers adding a fourth as Town struggled to keep pace with the Senior League newcomers. 2 awful goals were conceded before half time from set pieces where both times the opposition were allowed to pick their spot with no marker anywhere near them. HT LTFC 0-6 HRFC.
There was little Town’s management could say at half time apart from express their disappointment at the lack of fight. Town were much brighter in the second half but it was clear that Rangers had taken their foot off the gas. Town pulled a goal back on the hour mark when a superb finish from Liam Aubrey crashed in off the underside of the crossbar. 10 minutes later and Rangers scored again when a wicked swerving shot flew past Austen in goal before he could react. Rich Parry then conceded a penalty and was lucky to remain on the field. The forward made no mistake from the spot to make it 8-1. Town did show some promise in the final 10 minutes but without really creating much. The game came to an end and Town had been outclassed in every department in a shocking display. It had been the complete opposite of preseason and now the lads must somehow pick themselves up for a local derby on Tuesday night against Lutterworth Athletic. There will be changes in personnel to freshen things up and hopefully Town can get up and running. FT LTFC 1-8 HRFC
