Luton lose out in pitched battle at Brentwood

Luton struggled to adapt to the poor playing conditions as they lost 26-17 at Brentwood in London One North on Saturday, writes Ryan Lewis.

In a match that failed to spark into life, due to a pitch that wasn’t suitable for running rugby, it was Brentwood who adapted to the conditions best and secured the win.

Luton, who were playing up hill in the first half, made the worst possible start by allowing Brentwood to score inside two minutes.

Brentwood won a penalty almost immediately from the kick-off and forced themselves to within five metres of the whitewash from a lineout.

The Essex outfit then attempted a rolling maul, but Luton’s defence had set themselves well to repel the oncoming pressure.

However, a big gap opened up on the blindside of the maul, allowing Brentwood hooker Clinton Dorling to score a try unopposed as Brentwood made the best possible start.

Luke Green’s conversion was successful as the hosts led 7-0 with just two minutes gone.

The struggled for tempo as both teams were constantly penalised by referee Andy Boulanger, who struggled to maintain control in a contest that began to get heated from the early stages.

It was Brentwood who were the first team to have their infringements punished on the scoreboard as Rik Hobbs kicked a penalty on eight minutes.

Brentwood replied with a penalty of their own on 21 minutes, after Luton had withstood a sustained spell of Brentwood pressure inside their 22.

Luton’s dangerous backline had limited opportunities to show their qualities in a match dominated by the muddy conditions.

However, on 23 minutes, Luton did show their quality when their forwards won a lineout just outside Brentwood’s 22 and the ball was fed to fly-half Rik Hobbs.

He found inside centre Steve Ellis on his shoulder running at pace and he forced his way straight through the Brentwood defence, palming off three defenders to score under the posts, as Rik Hobbs converted to level the scores at 10-10.

Brentwood, who looked to use their rolling maul at every opporTunity, often from their lineouts, scored from one after 33 minutes.

The home side struck from 22 metres out as Luton’s pack were unable to prevent Kieran Skurr from touching down as they led 17-10 at half time.

Brentwood were quick to add to their lead in the second half, with a penalty converted by Green as they stretched their lead to 10 points.

Luton proceeded to dominate as fly-half Alexander Brindle sin-binned on 44 minutes for a professional foul.

Luton used their man advantage well as Tom Mahendran quickly showed his quality by brilliantly tapping and going from a penalty near the halfway line.

As Brentwood’s defence weren’t set, the scrum-half was able to weave his way to the 22 before passing to Jake Hobbs to score under the posts and reduce Brentwood’s lead to three points after 46 minutes.

Luton proceeded to apply plenty of pressure inside Brentwood’s 22 as Thomas King joined team-mate Brindle in the sin-bin on 49 minutes following a late tackle on Jake Hobbs.

The visitors now looked to utilise their two-man advantage by scoring a try rather than levelling the scores with a penalty.

However, they failed to do so despite pressing on the Brentwood try line.

Those missed opportunities proved costly for Luton as, with Brentwood returned to 15 men, the hosts secured victory with two more penalties on 70 and 73 minutes.

Jake Hobbs was then sin-binned himself for a late tackle of his own as Luton, despite valiant attempts on an ever-deteriorating pitch, failed to secure even a losing bonus point.

Luton will now look to bounce back on Saturday when they welcome bottom of the table Old Haberdashers to Newlands Road.

Brentwood: Darryl Webster, James Cowen (Darryl Aldous 55), Jonathan Wycie, Adam Thomas, Lewis Dorling, Alexander Brindle, Luke Green, Kieran Skurr, Clinton Dorling (Tom Sherwood 47), Joel Royston, Josh Woodcock, Rob Hobbs, Marc Chandler (Jordan Metcalfe 52), Matt Whaley, Thomas King.

Luton: Tom Wilmore, Douglas Fluker (Chris Talanoa 40), Jake Hobbs, Steve Ellis, Chris Davies, Rik Hobbs, Thomas Mahendran, Sam Pacey, Ryan Sheppard (Mark Tindall 52), Jack Elborn, Karl Rodell, Pat Nelly, Ryan Staff, Adam Harris, Jack Elston (Michael Weston 49).

Referee: Andy Boulanger.

Touch judges: Jeremiah Hanafin and Unknown.

Star Luton Man: Steve Ellis. Despite terrible conditions for the backs, the inside centre looked dangerous every time he had the ball and took his try brilliantly.