14th March 2008
| Team: | 1XI Football |
| Competition: | Friendly |
| Date: | 6th March |
| Result: | Won 3-2 |
Man of the Match: Tom Orton
Going into this game the Gutho boys knew they were going to be up against it. Lutterworth had reached the last sixteen in the country in the ESFA National Cup and with England School Boys Callum Rilley playing the boys were going to have to bring their A game.
A new look starting line up with Jose Baldwin bringing in the youth and looking for to future, meant that Adam Hohn, Tom Orton and Oliver Breed all made their debut. Guthlaxton started well and controlled the early stages, some strong challenges from captain Tom Dowsing set the mark on the game and some excellent width from the new boys of Hohn and Orton meant that Guthlaxton had the better chances early on. However it was Lutterworth who scored first with a screaming half volley from twenty five yards, nothing keeper Ross Marsden could do but dive and watch the ball travel into the top corner.
Guthlaxton responded well and continued to push forward creating a number of chances, it was only a matter of time before they scored and they did just that. A great move started with Ben Murphy holding the ball up and feeding Adam Hohn, his diagonal ball found Tom Orton, Orton in turn feed Sumpter who played it back to Orton to strike, the defender blocked the shot, looked like hand ball, but the ball fell to Sam Shiels who bundled it over for the equaliser.
This just settled Guthlaxton more, Oliver Breed replaced Richard Hings, who’s fitness is always a doubt!, and the rest of the back four, Joe Dowsing, Joe Langham and Adam Hohn were managing any threat thrown at them.
Guthlaxton's second came from the vision of Tom Dowsing. Pete Sumpter feed Ben Murphy out wide, his precision pass found Dowsing Snr who slotted a pass between the centre back and the left back. Guess who was there again? Yes, Tom Orton to strike home his first and take Guthlaxton into a half time lead.
Jordan Lever came on at half time wide on the right to push Tom Orton into the middle with the experienced captain. Dave Mee continued to run and work tirelessly for the team on and off the ball and his partnership with Shiels was starting to become crisper. Guthlaxton continued to press and created chance after chance without looking under any pressure at the back. The best chance fell to Lever after some great work by the dynamic strike partnership of Mee and Shiels. Lever saw his shot slide just wide.
However Guthlaxton did score a third when Tom Orton pounced on a through ball by Adam Hohn and caressed his shot into the bottom corner. This was well deserved and meant that Gutho now had a comfortable lead.
Despite this Lutterworth still pressed on and created some great chances without troubling the target on most occasions. Then a well worked move found the centre midfield Putnam free at the far post to head home for their second. This meant the game would have a nervy last five minutes. The substitution of Lever through injury meant that Adam Williamson could have an impact on the game; Liam Hearne was brought on in goal but was only called upon twice to make saves.
A well deserved victory and one that shows true promise for the future. Adam Hohn was unlucky not to receive man of the match after making the England player out of the game, but Tom Orton’s two goals and solid performance just sneaked it. Well done to all those involved, especially the debutants, beating the top rated team in the county, Top effort!!!!