Town went into this game on the back of an impressive run, unbeaten in 6 and winning 5 of them. This was on paper a tough game against an improving Ratby side who sat 3 places below in the table. Things were made tougher with Sam Jayes ruled out due to a broken ankle and goalkeeper Henry Smith failing a late fitness test adding to an already lengthy injury list including Ross Proud, Danny Smith and Aiden Ramkissoon. Scott Worrad replaced the injured Smith in goal.
Town couldn’t have asked for a better start when with 18 seconds on the watch Frost played a ball through for Aubrey to fire across the keeper and into the corner of the net. Ratby tried to rally kicking down the slope and missed 2 clear chances of their own. The game was scrappy and both sides were guilty of giving up possession. It was Town who created the better chances with Aubrey turning in the area and seeing his effort curl just wide of the far post. Hardy was next when he saw his effort from the left of the area narrowly missing the bar. The best chance fell to Aubrey when an inch perfect cross found him on the far post but he put his effort wide of the empty net. Town were then caught in stoppage time of the first half when Parry’s sliding tackle saw the ball fall to the Ratby midfielder who cracked his effort into the far corner from 20 yards. HT RS 1-1 LTFC.
There were some harsh words from Town’s management at half time as the team had once again not hit the high standards they had set themselves throughout the season. It worked as within 5 minutes of the re-start Frost hammered an effort from 25 yards against the foot of the post, the rebound fell kindly for Jelly to score from 2 yards. Town once again shot themselves in the foot 3 minutes later as a needless free kick was given away which was taken short and again a spectacular 25 yard effort flew into the top corner. It was against the run of play and Town quickly took control of the game again. On the hour mark Town were once again in front when a slick passing move saw Jelly clear on the right and he fired across the 6 yard box where Hardy met the ball and hammered home on the run. Within 10 minutes Town deservedly extended their lead when Hardy cut the ball back from the right and McDade rifled in his effort off the underside of the bar. Chances continued to come for Town who were now in complete control. Jelly wasted a 1 on 1 opportunity when he shot straight at the keeper. Parry had a free header from a corner that was put well wide. The last 5 minutes saw Ratby with some possession without really threatening and the game ended with a well-deserved 3 points for Town. FT RS 2-4 LTFC.
