Luton Rugby wipe out Woodford to close at the top

A strong second half performance saw Luton win their fourth match in a row as they thrashed Woodford 59-10 at Newlands Road in London One North on Saturday, writes Ryan Lewis.

With only three matches in the division taking place on Saturday, Luton’s win takes them to level on points with second-placed Eton Manor, although they have played two matches less.

With a strong wind blowing, Luton scored their first try inside four minutes through Jake Hobbs.

A good pass from fly-half Chris Talanoa allowed Doug Fluker to make a strong run along the touchline, before putting in a simple inside pass to Jake Hobbs to score to the right of the posts.

Luton quickly added their second through a superb try that started deep inside their half.

A loose ball from a Woodford ruck allowed Dave Brennan to make a strong run down the wing and he found Steve Ellis on his shoulder.

The inside centre sold a great dummy to beat his man and, although good defence prevented him from scoring, Michael Weston was on hand to run the remaining 40m to score under the posts as Talanoa converted to give Luton a 14-0 lead after just 11 minutes of play.

However, Woodford quickly took control as they were on top for the remainder of the half.

Luton gave away penalty after penalty in their own 22 as poor discipline saw Jack Elborn sin-binned for persisting fouling.

Woodford capitalised on their man advantage by scoring from a five-metre scrum, number eight Robert Connell grounding the ball and Pete Hyett adding the extra to narrow the score to 14-7 after 19 minutes.

Luton’s poor discipline continued for the rest of the half as Doug Fluker was yellow-carded for arguing with a decision by the referee as Woodford added three more points before the break.

Strong words at half time seemed to kickstart Luton into action in the second half as Weston touched down after just one minute.

Jake Hobbs kicked into open field as Ellis showed his pace to get their first and off-loaded for Weston to score in the corner.

And Luton scored their bonus point try just three minutes later when New Zealander Robbie Smith made a strong break from a ruck and found fellow countryman and half-back Talanoa to score in the corner.

The Kiwi then brilliantly converted his own try from the touchline to take the score to 26-10 to Luton inside four minutes of the second half.

Woodford were unable to withstand the Luton pressure in the second half as the home side added five more tries.

Talanoa grabbed his second on 54 minutes when Luton won a scrum against the head as Luton proved clinical with turnover ball.

Jake Hobbs made a strong run and, with plenty of options available to him, Talanoa was the man to receive the scoring pass to the left of the posts.

A strong defensive display from Luton was epitomised by their sixth try as Tom Albone made a strong tackle as he ripped the ball from Woodford’s Alex Kane.

With plenty of space in front of him, Ellis got his name on the scoresheet with a strong run to score under the posts, with Talanoa conversion into a strong wind making it 40-10 after 62 minutes.

Woodford tired as the match wore on, with Luton adding three more tries in the last 18 minutes.

Talanoa completed his hat-trick on 65 minutes when a strong run from Tom Mahendran and a brilliant pass from substitute Rik Hobbs allowed Talanoa to score.

Mahendran then got a try for himself with a great solo effort on 72 minutes. The full-back kicked over the Woodford defence, before collecting himself and escaping from two more Woodford defenders to touch down.

The scoring wasn’t done there either as Weston then too completed a hat-trick try with five minutes left, punishing a Woodford knock-on in midfield by running 50m to score in the corner.

This ninth try for Luton completed the scoring and the hosts as they deservedly won out 59-10.

Luton will be hoping to keep alive their promotion hopes when they travel to Tabard on March 1.

Luton: Marc Tindall, Jack Elborn, Sam Pacey (Adam Harris 32), Pat Nelly (C), Karl Rodell (Craig South 9), Tom Albone, Jack Elston, Michael Weston, Robbie Smith, Chris Talanoa, Dave Brennan (Rik Hobbs 45), Steve Ellis, Jake Hobbs, Doug Fluker, Tom Mahendran.

Woodford: Stephan Eleftheriou (Samuel Mbene 42), Elliott Kayser, Charles Woollard, Charlie Simpson, Tim Saull (C), Mike Lawlor (Andrew Murphy 27), Edward Connell, Robert Connell, Jos Ferrari, John Dwight, Rae McRae, Alex Kane, Tom Duffy (Shameel Khan 56), Rupert Wood, Pete Hyett.

Referee: Max Barnard.

Touch Judges: Jeremiah Hanafin and Baden Clegg.

Star Luton Man: Michael Weston. His strong runs were the start of a lot of Luton attacks as he scored a hat-trick. However, he was pushed hard by Chris Talanoa who also scored a hat-trick and kicked seven out of his nine conversions in very windy conditions.

>> Dunstablians’ home match with Northampton BBOB in Midlands Two East South was postponed and this Saturday Dees go to Leicester Forest.