Ten-man Melton Town see off high-flying Lutterworth Town

Melton Town turned on the style to beat high-flying Lutterworth Town despite playing more than half the game with 10 men.
Supersub Kieran Clayton sealed the win with two late goals in four minutes EMN-180116-152626002Supersub Kieran Clayton sealed the win with two late goals in four minutes EMN-180116-152626002
Supersub Kieran Clayton sealed the win with two late goals in four minutes EMN-180116-152626002

Kieran Foster was sent off five minutes before half-time in Saturday’s match with Melton holding a narrow 2-1 advantage.

But Kieran Clayton’s late double sealed a 5-2 win for the hosts and continued their run of good performances against the leading sides in United Counties League Division One.

Lutterworth arrived at Digital Deadline Park in sixth place and as one of the league’s in-form sides after an impressive run of eight wins in nine matches.

But Town had happy memories from their most recent meeting when they dumped Lutterworth out of the Senior Cup with a 4-1 away win.

History looked to be repeating itself as the home side raced out of the blocks.

Melton skipper Chris Hibbitt put the home side in front after just seven minutes, and Matt Hendey added to the lightning start with his ninth goal of the season just six minutes later.

Yet the game took a turn for the worse with half-time approaching when the visitors pulled a goal back, and then two minutes later were given a man advantage following Foster’s dismissal.

Town supporters could be forgiven for fearing the worst having seen their side surrender leads several times this season.

But Josh Clarke produced the perfect response when he restored the two-goal lead on the stroke of half-time, stopping the Lutterworth momentum in its tracks.

The visitors made it 3-2 with 20 minutes left to set up a potentially nervy finale.

But Clayton climbed off the substitutes bench to poach Melton’s fourth with eight minutes left, and then finally killed the game off three minutes later with his second.

Melton remain in 14th after the win, but opened up a more comfortable eight-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three,

Shane Jarram’s side will attempt to win back-to-back league matches for the first time since August when they travel to Burton Park Wanderers on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Burton lie 16th and are having an equally inconsistent season, having conceded 14 goals in their last four outings.