LUFFS 4 DUDLEY 2 (09/02/02) @ The Drome The sun shone brightly and the rain ceased for the first time in a while down at The Drome on Saturday and Loughborough got back on the promotion trail with a convincing 4-2 victory over third placed Dudley and in doing so pulled themselves up into fourth place. It wasn't all sunshine and roses, twice Dudley took the lead and twice The Luffs equalised before eventually running down their high flying opposition by two clear goals. This one had been billed as the battle of two of the Midland Combinations divisional leading goalscorers, Dudley's Gavin Mole was lying in second place with 23 goals and Loughborough's Paul O'Callaghan lying in third place with 22 goals. This little side issue was settled by the Loughborough man by three goals to one, moving himself up into second place amongst all the divisions of the Mid Com. Des Cox of Littleton (Div Three) leads with 28 goals. Inevitable the first first chance of the game fell to O'Callaghan, glancing a header just wide ands almost immediately forcing a brave save from the Dudley keeper Dudgeon. Dudley soon caught up with the pace of the game and hit the post and netting with the rebound only to be brought back for offside. Understandably the going was heavy and this Loughborough side have struggled before in difficult conditions favouring the footballing approach but they knuckled down and made the best of it with Nev Bell creating a half chance for himself, The Luffs at home have yet to see the best of this new signing. For the visitors from the West Midlands, Smith put one just over the bar while the Loughborough youngster Gareth Rogers surged down the right flank to deliver a tempting cross which went unattended. Ian Stevenson made his full debut for Loughborough in this game and put in a good performance at wing back, another good addition to what has become a very impressive squad of players. The chance of the half fell to Paul O'Callaghan but with a one on one keeper Dugeon came off best this time, but with the Loughborough striker it is best to count the goals at the end of the game and the number of hat trick footballs he has in his living room before levelling any mild criticisms. The last time out it was Mcintosh with the hat-trick and some surging runs in this game might have brought a goal for him but too often he was forced inside off his trusty left foot and the threat dispelled. Dudley's Wakeman stumbled through the Loughborough penalty area and looked to have a chance on goal but keeper Springthorpe got his angles right and the shot could only find the side netting. O'Callaghan gave Mould a half chance but the Dudley defence closed him down quickly while Bell powered a header just past the post from Mcintosh's corner kick. Nil-nil was on the cards for this one at half time but it had a sting in the tail as Dudley's corner kick caught the wind and drifted down into the net for what can only be described as a fluke goal giving them a half time lead. Coming from behind isn't such a major problem for Loughborough these days and when Mcintosh delivered the free kick O'Callaghan was there with the final touch to level the scores at 1-1. Any plans of systematically dispatching the visitors were soon dispelled by that man from Dudley, Gavin Mole who latched onto a low cross to put his side back in the lead again. Nevertheles Loughborough were still on the ascendancy with Bell cracking a shot just wide and Mcintosh tempting the wind to float his corner strait into the net, Dudgeon tipped this one over the bar to safety. The second equaliser came from an unusual source, defender Carl Springthorpe found a bit of space at the back post and powered a header into the top corner from Mcintosh's cross. The writing was on the wall for Dudley, Loughborough were the better side and it was time to produce the evidence. O'Callaghan brushed aside the Dudley defenders to place the ball neatly past keeper Dudgeon and it was three two and the visitors were clearly on the back foot. The ball hung around the Dudley penalty far too long with a predator the likes of O'Callaghan around and he dipped his bread from close range for yet another hat trick. Managers Barrett and Hewitt showed off the strength of their squad bringing on Kearns, Patterdon and Edwards for the last quarter and the game was sown up at 4-2, it was just good to be back in action after a two week lay off. This week Loughborough travel to Burntwood Town for the away fixture and return the following week for the home fixture. Saturday's win saw The Luffs jump four places in the league, the next two places will be just a bit more difficult but certainly not impossible.