London One North: Luton 25 (18) V Brentwood 28 (14)
Luton’s frustrating start to the season continues as they were defeated 25-28 by Brentwood at Newlands Road on Saturday.

Brentwood could not have asked for a better start to the game when centre Adam Thomas crossed within 41 seconds after some soft defence allowed full back Darryl Worster to break through before placing a kick behind Doug Fluker for Thomas to gather and score a converted try.

Luton hit back in the sixth minute when Rik Hobbs converted a penalty after the visitors were caught offside at the ruck.

The visitors started to take control of the game as Luton struggled to complete any of their own set pieces due to the enthusiasm of Brentwood’s forward pack, but the hosts took the lead in the 19th minute when Tom Mahendren found himself in open field before drawing in the full back to feed Dave Brennan who raced to score an unconverted try.

Luton scored again in the 28th minute when Mahendren’s quick tap penalty created room for himself before re-gathering his own chip kick over the top too feed Michael Weston to place down, Rik Hobbs converting to take the score to 15-7 Luton.

Rik Hobbs added another penalty in the 33rd minute to extend the hosts lead but the visitors struck back just before half time when hooker Terry Snooks crashed over for a converted try to take the score to 18-14 to Luton at the half time break.

Paul Allen, Director of rugby at Luton would not have been totally happy with his sides first half performance despite being in front, due to the way his forward pack had been overpowered by the opposition.

Luton could not have asked for a worst start to the second half when they knocked on from the restart to gift Brentwood with possession and a few plays later, Brentwood’s’ Josh Woodcock crashed over for an unconverted try.

Brentwood continued to dominate Luton’s forwards and took full advantage of the greater territory and ball possession to extend their lead to 10 thanks to three successful penalties from Aaron Stanier.

Luton continued to struggle with their set pieces, but they gave themselves some hope of getting something out of the game in the 75th minute when substitute Dan Blinkhorn crashed over after a good break from Brennan got the hosts close to the visitors try line. Rik Hobbs converting to take the score to, 25-28 Brentwood.

Luton could not find another way through Brentwood’s defence as they squandered possession as they looked to create room for themselves out wide.

Luton Team: Jack Elborn, David Irvine (Dan Blinkhorn 40), Sam Pacey, Ryan Staff, Tom Albone, Matt Yang (Khrys Speedy 40), Kevin Scales, Michael Weston, Tom Mahendren (c), Rik Hobbs, Will Affleck, Tom Wilmore, Jake Hobbs, Dave Brennan, Doug Fluker(Aidan Kenny 65). T: Brennan, Weston, Blinkhorn. C: Rik Hobbs 2. P: Rik Hobbs 2.

Brentwood Team: Matt Northall, Terry Snooks, Clinton Dorling (Chris Stewart 38), Josh Woodcock, Rob Hobbs(Steve Killington 45), James Metcalf, Anthony Sherwood, Marc Chandler, Luke Green, Declan Gillett, Aaron Stanier, Adam Thomas, James Cowen, Jack Smith, Darryl Worster(John Wylie 11). T: Thomas, Snooks, Woodcock. C: Worster, Stanier. P: Stanier 3.
Referee: Gary Malpas
Touch Judges: Jeremiah Hanafin and Unknown

Luton Start Man: Tom Mahendren. Luton’s only real spark in attack and created two of his sides tries.

Adam Busfield