Luton let good start slip at Ruislip

The home side came into the match after a narrow defeat to Ipswich in their previous match, (33-31), whereas Luton had to overcome Thurrock at Newlands, (31-28).

Going into the fixture, Luton had every reason to feel confident, as this was the side they dismantled last season (0-59) and the home team had managed just one win from their previous five matches. Likewise, it was the perfect chance for Paul Allen’s team to pick up their first victory on the road this season, having lost the two other fixtures.

Luton took control of proceedings as early as the fifth minute, through Teshurn Edwards, who scored a fantastic try after a mazy run where he dodged two tackles to escape the Ruislip backline. Rick Hobbs followed up with a well-executed conversion to make it 0-7 to Luton.

Luton’s tempo and urgency paid off again in the 18th minute as Edwards darted through a shambolic backline to score his second try of the afternoon. Rick Hobbs missed his conversion though, but Luton led comfortably 0-12.

The visitors could not further extend their lead and the home team slowly started to build momentum and grow into the game with their diagonal kicking and winning line-outs in the visitors half. It was not long before their pressure paid off and in the 25th minute prop Jack Coleman found space in the middle to give the home fans something to cheer. Ruislip’s Stuart Pearham followed up with his first conversion of the afternoon.

The game’s tempo slowed and Paul Allen’s team went into the interval leading 7-12.

In the second period, the home team picked up where they left off and two quick-fire tries changed the whole nature of the game. Firstly, fly half Connor Mullen used his pace to burst past Luton’s backline, Pearham followed up with a conversion. A second try came from number eight Jonathan Fieldhouse, with Pearham adding the extras to give the home team a 21-12 lead.

Luton tried to get back into the game but any fluency was lost by a series of knock-ons. In the 68th minute, Ruislip were awarded a penalty that Pearham duly converted and Ruislip running out winners 24-12.

After the match, Luton’s director of rugby Paul Allen was none-too pleased. Although Luton are sixth in the table Allen lamented the stop-start nature of the campaign and the failure to pick up an away win: “It all fell apart in the final 50 minutes. We blew our scoring opportunities in that first half, and once Ruislip scored early in the second period, the team just panicked.”

Luton RFC will be away to Peterbrough Lions this weekend in the East Midlands Cup competition.