Luton Rugby secure opening away win

The hosts got off to a great start when inside three minutes Marimba Doundo-Mendez went over in the corner following a period of sustained pressure, Tim Walker converting to make it 7-0.

However it didn’t take long for Luton to respond with a brilliant individual try from Douglas Fluker.

The full back collected the ball inside the Luton 22 metre line and instantly beat two on-rushing Old Haberdashers defenders to make his way to the halfway line before chipping the ball behind the full back and collecting to score.

Old Haberdashers then stretched their lead to five points after 20 minutes with a penalty directly in front of the posts after the Luton midfield were penalised for being offside.

Luton responded again just three minutes later with scrum-half Thomas Mahendran touching down in the right hand corner.

After a dominant Luton scrum on the half way line, Jake Hobbs picked a perfect angle to beat the home defence and allow himself to simply offload for Mahendran to score.

The conversion, on the right hand touch line, was converted by Rik Hobbs to give Luton the lead for the first time.

Old Haberdashers were then on top for the rest of the first half, scoring eight unanswered points.

Firstly Seb Hurst scoring a try after a good break from Scott Chatterton and this was swiftly followed by another Haberdashers penalty for Luton being offside.

The first half then got worse for Luton after Michael Weston was sin binned for the team continually committing offences on the try line; however the team didn’t concede any points during this period.

After some strong words at half time, Luton come flying out of the blocks in the second half with a try inside two minutes.

Brandon Lewsey crossed the line after some good work from the forwards in turning Old Haberdashers’ ball over, allowing Rik Hobbs to prod the ball into the corner, Lewsey to get their first and score.

Hobbs then successfully converted giving Luton a one point lead.

With Luton now back to full strength, Old Haberdashers got another penalty after the visitors failed to roll away in a ruck, the penalty proved to be the last points of the game for the home team.

Luton then scored a great team try on 54 minutes. With the forwards turning an Old Haberdashers scrum over on the half way line, prop forward Daniel Blinkhorn drove at the heart of the home defence giving great go-forward ball.

This was then capitalised by the backs with a good line break by Fluker before a lovely one handed offload into the path of Aidan Kenny to score and made it 24-21.

It was then Old Haberdashers’ turn to have a player sent to the sin bin with David Luson penalised for persistently being offside on their own try line on 60 minutes.

However, unlike the home side, Luton utilised their extra man immediately as Rik Hobbs scored after a dominant scrum on the 5m line.

Luton, who seemed to get stronger as the game grew on, scored two more tries in the last six minutes.

Firstly Thomas Wilmore was the benefactor off a good line break from Christopher Speed, stretching the scoreline to 34-21.

Ryan Staff then completed the scoring with the last play of the match, forcing himself to place the ball on the line after burying over from two yards.

Jake Hobbs then converted to ensure Luton won 41-21, a win and a bonus point which was a welcome one for the team.

Old Haberdashers: Shaun Haque, Randal Whittaker, Andrew Sanderson (Alex Watton 52), Andrew Gray, Mike Marsden (Luke James 52), David Luson, Travis Leon, Andy Levett, Sam Bell, Tim Walker, Marimba Doundo-Mendez (Seb Hurst 27), Martin Olima, Simon Jones, Richard Wright, Scott Chatterton.

Luton: Marc Tindall, David Irvine, Daniel Blinkhorn (Ryan Shephard 68), Patrick Nelly, Thomas Albone (Matthew Yang 68), Ryan Staff, Jack Elston (Christopher Speed 69), Michael Weston, Thomas Mahendran (c), Rik Hobbs, Aidan Kenny, Thomas Wilmore, Jake Hobbs, Brandon Lewsey, Douglas Fluker.

Referee: Kalvin Withers.

Touch judges: Jeremiah Hanafin.

Luton’s star man: Douglas Fluker - Brilliant individual try and a lovely offload in the tackle for the fourth try. Great performance all round.