The Mikes 0-3 Leighton Town

At the end of the game Mikes finished well beaten after an even first half. Boldmere who were starved of three regulars Callum Gittings, Jack Byrne and Bekir Halil due to miscellaneous unavailability suffered a further blow early on. Although Andre Brown might have given Mikes the lead in the eighth minute blazing over the bar a minute later new signing Ben Usher-Shipway limped off and was replaced by Michael Tait-Moran. Boldmere had started off having more of the territorial play but were a goal down at the interval. The goal arrived shortly before the twenty-minute mark. Albie Hall fed Seb Simpson and with the defence failing to close down with any conviction he advanced and from some twenty yards out struck a beauty into the top left-hand corner.
Kaden May almost equalised minutes later but Xavier Lomas tipped his effort over the bar. It was the closest Mikes had come to parity during the half with little in the way of clinical passing. The generally used long ball was handled comfortably by the Leighton defenders. During this half the referee David Constable limped off and was replaced with young Jay Cartwright assisting from the line. He too was replaced as the second half got underway with Richard Harris now in the assistant’s role.
Early changes in the second half saw Tazivaishe Chibaya and Callum North replace Ricardo Dudley (who had been booked in the first half following some contretemps with Jake Watkinson who suffered a similar fate) and Brown in the hope of providing a spark but they had hardly been on the pitch when Town scored a second. A disputed free kick on the edge of the box was curled left footed over the wall by Finlay Brennan and left Moore helpless. Joe Hull might have pulled a goal back following this setback but was foiled by Lomas. Leighton Town controlled matters after this happy to settle on the two-goal cushion whilst Mikes huffed and puffed but rarely threatened a comeback. As the final minutes approached the final nail in the coffin was despatched A right wing corner that was poorly handled by the home defence saw Charlie Pattison head home from close range and complete an emphatic win for Town. All in all, it wasn’t the best game of football and despite the injury and unavailability problems Neil Kitching will have expected more fight from his team.

Boldmere St Michaels: Dan Moore, Ricardo Dudley (Tazivaishe Chibaya 57), Harry Sweeney, Joe Hull, Harry Craven, Mitch Botfield, Kaden May, Lewis Allison, Andre Brown (Callum North 57), Owen Parry, Ben Usher-Shipway (Michael Tait-Moran 9).
Subs not used: Sam Cooksey, Billal Redjdal
Leighton Town: Xavier Lomas, Luke Pyman, James sage, Ben Farrell, Lee Cooksey, Alfie Powell, Louie Barrett (Charlie Pattison 79), Seb Simpson, Jake Watkinson (Finlay Jaggard 84), Albie Hall (Sam King 71), Finlay Brennan
Subs not used: George Joyce, Harvey Heeps