Hatters Ladies finish with a victory

Luton Town Ladies finished their season on a high with a 2-0 victory over the Old Actonians on Sunday.

Second half goals from Jess Mckay and Nicola Henman saw Town win their final game of the season and finish fourth in the FA Women’s Premier League South East Division One.

Boss Nikki Baker made two changes to the team that lost in their last league game against Ipswich, handing defender Mollie Robinson her debut and giving youngster Abbie Luby a place in the starting line-up.

In the first half, Joanne Rutherford came close on three occasions, while Rachel Kosky had an effort blocked.

Old Actonians almost went in front as Carla Williams fired inches wide before Kosky set up both Mckay and Rutherford, but they couldn’t convert.

In the second period, Hollie Staples made a fine save to keep it goalless, before Luton eventually took the lead on the hour mark through McKay after a goalkeeping error.

Henman doubled the lead 15 minutes later with a powerful close range header, while Old Actonians were reduced to nine players when Hanna Olofsson was shown a straight red after kicking out at Shannon Pratt.

Baker said: “It was a fairly scrappy game played on a very bobbly pitch but it was a job well done.

“We should have scored at least once in the first half but we were unlucky not to take the lead, although our end product wasn’t quite there.

“I changed the shape slightly and went more direct in the second half, adding a bit of pace up top to try and get in behind and stretch the opposition.

“We played a couple of good bits of football and scored two good goals from set pieces which pleases me, especially against a big strong side.”

With six first team players absent, Baker was delighted by the performances of those who were brought in. She added: “What pleases me most about the result is it shows what great depth we have in the squad.

“I was able to give 19-year-old Mollie her full debut and she was excellent at centre half, as was Morgan another development squad teenager

“Out of the 13 we had, nine were 21 and under which is excellent.”