Lethal Luton stun Bedford Athletic to earn cup final place

A second half comeback saw Luton book their place in the final of the East Midlands Cup for a second successive year as they beat Bedford Athletic 24-14 on Saturday.

The London One North side overcame an 11-5 half time deficit with three tries in eight second half minutes to upset their National League Three Midlands rivals.

Luton’s fitness and power proved too much for a determined Bedford side that struggled to keep up with the pace of Luton’s play, with Ath tiring late in the second half.

The hosts started the game better of the two sides as they looked to spread the ball out wide to create room for themselves and they were awarded a third-minute penalty, which James Mortimer duly converted after Luton were penalised for not rolling away.

Luton were their own worst enemy in the first 20 minutes as they gifted Bedford territory and possession by conceding some silly penalties in both attack and defence.

However, the hosts were unable to take advantage and it was Luton who were next on the scoresheet.

Some good hands created room for Tom Wilmore to break down the right edge before feeding Adam Harris who headed for the corner, before finding Karl Roddell who held off the cover defence to score in the corner.

The visitors continued to be penalised for infringements around the ruck and were reduced to 14 men in the 27th minute when Steve Ellis was yellow-carded for not releasing.

Bedford took full advantage of the extra man as they scored 10 points whilst Ellis was in the bin.

Mortimer added another successful penalty after Luton were penalised for hands in the ruck, before Tom Orton spun his way over to score after a period of sustained pressure as Ath led 11-5 at the break.

Luton had a strong wind behind their backs in the second half, but fell further behind nine minutes in when Mortimer added another successful penalty after the visitors were penalised in front of their own sticks.

The visitors sprung into life moments later when a change in the half-backs saw Chris Talanoa switch from wing to fly-half and Rob Smith make his debut at scrum-half.

These changes injected more pace into Luton’s attacks and gave their play greater structure.

The visitors enjoyed a period of sustained pressure on Bedford’s line as they went close to scoring on numerous occasions, but Ath’s defence held firm until the 56th minute when Michael Weston powered his way over as the hosts’ defence started to tire.

Talanoa was successful with the extras to close the gap to just two points.

Luton were in again four minutes later when Weston made another powerful break down the centre field, before feeding Smith who held off the cover defence to register his first try for the club, with Talanoa adding the extras to give Luton a 19-14 lead with 20 minutes left to play.

Bedford began to tire as Luton continued to be pin them inside their own half on a deteriorating pitch.

And Luton sealed victory in the 63rd minute when Jack Elston pushed through some weak defence and broke 30m downfield, before Weston powered his way through some tired defence to score out wide.

Luton continued to pile on the pressure, but were unable to add to their score as Bedford ran out of steam and were unable to cause any real problems for the visitors’ defence in the final quarter of the match.

This Saturday Luton head to Ruislip in London One North, while near neighbours Dunstablians, whose game at Leicester Forest on Saturday was postponed, travel to Newbold on Avon in Midlands Two East South.

Luton: Sam Pacey, Ben Murphy, Jack Elborn (Mark Tindall 45), Pat Nelly, Karl Roddell (Tom Albone 45), Adam Harris, Michael Weston, Jack Elston, Tom Mahendran (Rob Smith 50), Rik Hobbs (Dave Brennan 40), Chris Davis (Brandon Lewsey 65), Steve Ellis, Jake Hobbs, Chris Talanoa, Tom Wilmore. T: Roddell, Weston 2, Smith. C: Talanoa 2.

Ath: Liam Walsh, Chris Eliot, Ryan Taylor (Jake Bolton 56), Ben Middleton, Neil Thomas, Ben Reed (James Cassell 36), Rob Watkins (Sam Hughes-brand 40), Ben Beogent, Tom Orton, James Mortimer, Luke Lewitt (Neil Paterson 70), Dan Simpson, Ben Johnson, Tom Mills (Tom Rees 57), Will Affleck. T: Orton. P: Mortimer 3.

Referee: Andrew Beckett

Star Luton Man: Michael Weston. His strong defence and running was too much for a Ath’s tiring defence as he crossed twice to give Luton an unassailable lead.