Penalty goal in 77th minute seals victory for Latchford

A 77th minute penalty goal from Matt Barker saw Latchford Albion take the spoils 22-24 in a pulsating encounter at Folly Lane.
With a couple of senior players absent through injury, coach Martyn Ellis utilised his squad and there were stand out performances from the club’s under 18s players while recent signings also gave a great account of themselves.
It was one of the new signings who opened the scoring in the 15th minute when, 17 year old centre, Dylan Kelly showed great pace to collect the ball 20 yards out and round the oncoming defence to cross over in the corner.
In a tense opening 40 minutes a solitary Folly Lane score success the half time scores locked at 4-4.
As with the first half Albion struck first after the interval and it was the returning half back Chris Griffiths who dummied his way over near the posts, Matt Barker converting .
A mistake from the kick off gifted the home side possession and field position which they took full advantage of to immediately bring the scores level, however this seemed to spur Latchford on and they hit back with two quick fire tries.
The first came when hooker, and captain Phil Woollacott scooted from dummy half where he spotted a napping Folly Lane defence to race under the posts, Barker again converting.
With the visitors in the ascendency, they increased their lead when centre Jack Probert showed great strength to hold off two defenders and plant the ball down and register his first try for the club, the score giving Albion a 10 point advantage entering the final quarter of the game.
The hosts hit back with a converted try before a Barker penalty kept the scoreboard ticking over in the visitors’ favour.
On 70 minutes Folly brought the game level with a further converted try and as both teams pressed for victory, it was the visitors who were provided the opportunity when the hosts were penalised for a high tackle.
Up stepped Matt Barker to coolly slot over the resulting kick from 30 yards out and the Albion defence repelled a late final onslaught to come away with a hard fought victory.
It was a successful weekend for the five under 18s players who backed up Saturday’s performance with a second victory yesterday when they defeated Orrell St James under 18s 34-18.
Team: Alex Davies, Jake Ashton, Dylan Kelly, Jack Probert, Reese Forrest, Chris Griffiths, Matty Ellis, Dave McGuinness, Phil Woollacott, Matty Connelly, Jack Foulkes, Morgan Nicholas, Jack Phillips, Matt Barker, Charlie McCurrie, Joe Clarke, Ian Johnson