Town went into this tricky looking cup tie on the back of 2 wins and confidence was growing. Loughborough from the North Leics League had gone 25 games unbeaten leading up to this game so were high on confidence themselves. A potential banana skin for Town!
Town started brightly and asserted their superiority early on over their lower league opponents. The front 3 of Jelly, Aubrey and D.Smith looked lively on the break and the midfield 3 of Silk, Cossu and Mcdade were dictating the play. The first chance fell to Jelly as he was sent through on the right side but his strike was beaten away by the keeper from an acute angle. Jelly then turned provider as he played a superb through ball for Danny Smith to run onto but as he entered the area with the goal at his mercy the ball got stuck under his feet and was eventually cleared. Aubrey also had a chance to open the scoring but when the ball fell to him 8 yards out he could only slice his effort wide of the far post. H.Smith was a spectator on goal for Town as he watched the game from the bottom end. The first half came to an end with Town in complete control but the game was still deadlocked at 0-0.
The second half began as the first had ended with Town dominating. The first chance fell to Jelly as he cut in from the left and his fierce drive was caught in the midriff by the keeper. D.Smith then cut in from the same place but his effort was also saved. A free kick in a good position was wasted by skipper Silk. With all the football Town had played it was inevitable they should take the lead from a long ball! A long kick from keeper Smith eluded the Loughborough centre half and as Aubrey raced clear he finished emphatically past the oncoming keeper. 0-1. It was almost embarrassing how one sided the game was. Substitute Hardy had the next chance as he turned in the box only to narrowly put his effort over the bar. Worrad then made his first league appearance on pitch for the first team when Proud left injured. Frost also came on for his debut with D.Smith leaving the pitch exhausted. With the question being ‘how many’ would Town score, Loughborough equalised with 7 minutes remaining with only their second shot on target. The ball ricochets off the post straight into the path of the midfielder to make it 1-1. It was unbelievably harsh on Town but within 2 minutes Town confirmed how far superior they were when a great passing move down the right saw Hardy cut inside the full back and square the ball across the 6 yard line for Aubrey to gar his second. It was a great move by Town who were almost toying with the opposition. Town finished the game stronger and could have added to their tally but they will take the win and go into the hat for the next round. They had easily ended Loughborough’s unbeaten run as the North Leics League side just didn’t have enough quality to live with Town on the day. FT LFC 1-2 LTFC
