Times are hard for depleted Luton as they lose again

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Luton Rugby’s disappointing start to the London One North season continued with a 41-10 defeat at Amersham & Chiltern on Saturday – their third straight loss.

The result saw Luton drop to second bottom of the table as they were hit once again with a growing injury list, most notably in the front row, making scrums a problem.

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Amersham took an early lead as they went through the phases and on five minutes, Joe Butler crossed, with Andy Fluker converting.

The visitors were threatening, particularly in the backs, as it took some solid Chiltern defence to prevent Ryan Doyle from scoring.

With Luton failing to take advantage of their pressure, the hosts the dominated as they extended their advantage, when Philip Blake fed George Wood to score, with Fluker adding the extras.

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Luton regrouped and, following some strong running of their own, were stopped illegally by Chiltern; Rick Hobbs landed a penalty to make the half time score 14-3.

The second half started in similar fashion as Amersham scored an unconverted try in the first minute after the resumption, Sam Portland strolling over in the corner.

A yellow card to Tom Mahendran in the 44th minute did not help the cause and Amersham secured the bonus point with the fourth try while Luton were down to 14 men as Andy Zair powered over.

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Fluker was successful with the boot once more too, making it 26-3 to the hosts.

An ankle injury to Alex Gabbidon saw Andy Davey take to the pitch, but as Luton’s injury woes continued, the replacement had to go off within five minutes due to a knee problem.

A reshuffle in the pack saw Steve Allen move into the front row so that Luton were not forced into uncontested scrums. It was no surprise when Zair was driven over the line for his second try of the afternoon, Fluker again adding the extras.

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Jordan Scott then went over for his side’s sixth and final try of the afternoon, with Joe Butler converting.

An outbreak of handbags saw Amersham’s outside centre Aaron Doyle go to the bin for punching Gary Jahn with seven minutes to go.

With a man advantage, Luton finally got some reward thanks to a cracking try from Michael Weston two minutes later, converted by Hobbs.

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However, Amersham wrapped up the scoring with a drop goal in the penultimate minute through Butler.

Luton host Ruislip this weekend.

Luton: Povey, Abaka, Soko, Doyle, Davies, Hobbs, Mahendran, Tompkinson, Hempson, Gabbidon, Trivino, Kerr, Jahn, Weston, Allen

Replacements: Davey, Knox, Carter.

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