Town went into this cup quarter final on the back of 4 wins and a draw and were in confident mood. This on paper was a tough draw playing against the only Premier Division side left in the competition so Town started as complete underdogs. Kirby also arrived in confident mood on the back of 3 straight wins and knocking out League leaders Allexton & New Parks in the previous round.
Town knew the importance of showing no respect and a high tempo which they did right from the kick off and immediately took control of the game. Within 2 minutes Jelly found himself some space on the right hand side of the area but his effort flew way over the bar. Town continued to press and 3 minutes later took an early lead when Frost found Aubrey who raced onto the through ball and expertly volleyed over the onrushing keeper to put his side 1 up. The expected reaction from Kirby never came as Town continued to dominate and after 20 minutes Jelly found Hardy in the area with the keeper to beat but he lost control and the keeper collected. A few minutes later Jelly once again found space on the right and this time he cut back inside but put his effort narrowly wide. Kirby then had appeals for a penalty turned down in their only real chance of the first half. Kirby survived a couple of goal mouth scrambles before another ended with an acrobatic effort from Worrad striking the bar. Kirby were hanging on but when Hardy once again skinned his man he was sent tumbling in the area and a penalty awarded. Up stepped skipper Silk to hammer home and give Town a much deserved 2 goal advantage. HT LTFC 2-0 KMFC.
Town’s management stressed the importance of the next goal and within 30 seconds of the restart Town finished Kirby off when once again Hardy turned provider as he cut back in off the left flank and delivered an inch perfect cross for Jelly to bring it down and hammer into the top corner from 6 yards. In hot conditions the game became a bit scrappy but Town dug in and restricted Kirby to the occasional long range effort but Smith remained relatively untroubled in Town’s goal. Towards the end of the game it was Town who were searching for the 4th but the game fizzled out and Town had produced one of their best performances of the season to send a Premier division side tumbling out of the cup. It doesn’t get any easier for Town as they must now travel away to the league’s runaway leaders Blaby & Whetstone in the next round. FT LTFC 3-0 KMFC
