Five in a row as Luton down Romford

Luton beat Romford to claim their fifth London One North victory in a row on Saturday, writes Stephen Richards.

Both teams showed early signs of promise but it was Luton who opened the scoring on 12 minutes.

A spell of territorial pressure resulted in a try for captain Jack Elston, who went over after receiving a reverse pass from Tom Wilmore and Rik Hobbs converted to put Luton 7-0 ahead.

Romford responded well though and applied severe pressure to the Luton defence for the remainder of the half.

It paid off on 38 minutes as Steve Barfoot raced through to score a try for the Essex outfit. Ross Inwood’s conversion was successful and the match was tied at 7-7 at the break with Romford seemingly going in with the ascendancy.

The second period saw an even contest but both teams lacked cutting edge. Romford kicker Inwood missed two opportunities in as many minutes to give the travellers the lead via penalties on 52 and 53 minutes respectively, which proved costly.

Rik Hobbs then scored a penalty for Luton on 58 minutes as although both sides battled hard in search of a try to settle the contest, it was to no avail as the hosts held on to seal victory.

Luton are at home to Peterborough on Friday evening in the East Midlands Cup semi-final.

Luton: Blinkhorn, Hammond, Pacey, Nelly, Depper, Weston, Elston (c), Kay, Wilmore, Affleck, Hobbs, Ellis, Brennan, Edwards, Kenny. Subs: Duffy, Harris, Scales.

Romford: Turner, James, Sullivan, Watts, O’Brien, Wilkingson, Semain, Bradley, Inwood, Davies, Williams, Howard, Barfoot, Howard, Jones. Subs: Peacock, Lock, Turner.