A late change came about with Jamie Goddard falling ill in the warm up and Danny Horton taking his place. New striker Ryan Hollingsworth turned his ankle in training in midweek so Danny North returned to lead the attack alongside centre half turned target man Matty Wilson.

The early exchanges were quite even but the game exploded into life when a rash challenge on Kallum Smith resulted in Dynamo midfielder Young receiving a straight red.

The Whites then applied pressure and a superb jinking run and near-post cross cross by Jack Wightwick was tuned in by the energetic Kallum Smith after 25 minutes. Smith was involved in everything at this stage and just before the break he forced a Loughborough defender into a mistake and Danny North converted the resulting cross to double the lead.

Manager Steve Housham will have told his team to keep it tight after the break but the Whites did the opposite allowing Curtis Burrows to score on 46 minutes and give the away side much encouragement. Unlike against Newcastle however United showed great resolve to firstly hold out and then take the game to the opposition once more.

Whites nerves were settled on 75 minutes when the dominant Mark Gray buried a header from a right-sided corner and the icing on the cake came in added time when substitute Noel Burdett scored the goal of the game cutting in and driving the ball past keeper Jason Alexander from 20 yards.

This was a superb display from United and they will gain much confidence in beating a good Loughborough side so convincingly. The team spirit in the squad was a huge factor in this win and manager Steve Housham and assistant Nathan Jarman deserve great credit for instilling it so well.