Dawid Gawel’s second half brace helped Town on to a 3-1 win over Stevenage at the Sports Hub
A first half own-goal and a lack of cutting edge in the final third saw the Hatters behind at the interval, with two strikes from Gawel and another own-goal in the second half turning the tide to wrap up the three points and keep Town in fourth place.
It was Stevenage who took the lead inside 20 minutes as a long ball over the top of the defence caused confusion between Riley Flynn and his defenders, with the final touch coming off a Town player to give the hosts the lead.
The Hatters fought hard in the remainder of the half, primarily through the wide areas with wingbacks Kyrese Richards and Benny Benagr providing outlets for the midfield. Gawel spurned a chance deep into the first half when he worked his way into the box but could only rifle his effort wide, while Ty Lesser couldn’t get quite enough on his pass to put Benagr through on goal.
While Town did have to weather some Stevenage attacks, the second half proved to be a much better 45 minutes of attacking quality. Just past the hour mark, a mix-up at the back for the hosts presented Gawel the opportunity to strike from range with lethality, the Stevenage goalkeeper only able to get a touch in tipping the ball into the back of the net.
Gawel’s second was less speculative but by no means lacked quality, with substitute Kyron Roberts-Edema managing to get beyond his full-back before curling a delightful cross into the path of the striker who finished excellently on the half volley to put Town into the lead.
The third goal came in the closing stages, courtesy of some lovely work by Archie Shepherd who managed to break into the box before firing a low driven cross across the edge of the area for a Stevenage defender to tap home under the threat of Roberts-Edema waiting to pounce.
The Hatters travel to Gillingham in their next Youth Alliance League fixture.
TOWN: Flynn, Evans, Norford, Barnes, Benagr, Knote-Reed (sub Sharp 63), Passley-James (sub El Gourja 75), Richards (sub Roberts-Edema 56), Shepherd, Lesser (sub Isufi 56), Gawel
Match Report: Liam Wilmot
