Town U18s fell short in an entertaining but ultimately disappointing nine-goal-thriller against Cambridge in the EFL Youth Alliance League at The Brache.
Archie Shepherd’s hat-trick wasn’t enough to secure the points for the young Hatters, as four goals from Samuel Okolie and additional strikes from Dempsey Crace and Lohan McDougald made sure the visitors would be leaving the happier of the two sides.
In a tough opening half for Town, Cambridge struck early when a free-kick that wasn’t dealt with allowed defender Crace to nod in from close range.
It wasn’t long before the visitors doubled their lead when another set-piece managed to squirm through Town's defence, allowing Okolie to bag his first of the morning by converting at the near post from a low driven free-kick.
Bad turned to worse for the Hatters when Okolie again managed to burst down the right side of the Town backline before finding the net with another tidy finish.
Following a slight change of shape and the introduction of Tate Takawira following an injury to defender Troj Mehmetaj, Town fought back when a quick throw from Oliver Pipa sparked a quick counter-attack, unfortunately Shepherd could only force a smart save from visiting shot-stopper Massoud.
Just after the half-hour mark, the Hatters finally got onto the scoresheet, with Shepherd turning the visiting midfield and driving towards goal before the ace midfielder provided a cool finish into the bottom corner to renew hope before half-time.
In the second half, Jerome Passley-James recovered brilliantly from a misplaced pass to win the ball back and find Town's number ten, with Shepherd curling a beautiful finish into the top corner to bring it back to 3-2 just before the hour mark.
Unfortunately for the Hatters, Cambridge struck twice in quick succession, with Okolie being slid through on goal in the 63rd minute to slot his third past Pipa, before a marauding run down the right allowed a cut-back to find McDougald on the edge of the Town box to lash home the visitors' fifth, just ten minutes later.
Town ate into the oppositions lead again in the 77th minute as Shepherd scored an almost identical beauty to his second, again finding space to cut in and curl another wonderful goal past the visiting goalkeeper.
It wasn’t to be though for the Hatters, as just a minute later, Okolie was put through on goal yet again to score his fourth and Cambridge’s sixth, concluding a goal-frenzied morning at the Brache.
Report: Liam Wilmot
