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LUTON TOWN 1 HAYES & YEADING UNITED 1
Blue Square Bet Premier
Kenilworth Road
Bank Holiday Monday, 30 August 2010
3pm
Andy Drury rescued a point against for Luton Town in a game they should have won against part timers Hayes & Yeading United – a team they beat 8-0 last season.
The midfielder’s header on the hour drew the Hatters level after Bradley Pritchard had handed the visitors a lead six minutes earlier, but for the second home game running, Town were reduced to ten men late on when the goalscorer was shown a second yellow card.
How he received the first one though, was utterly ridiculous. The winger was furious that, for a free kick, Hayes' wall was not the full ten yards away, and when he marched out the distance himself, counting eight yards, he was cautioned amid jeers from the Luton fans directed at referee Barratt.
Nevertheless, it was another frustrating afternoon as Luton dominated, peppering the United goal with efforts but couldn’t produce a winner, even with half an hour remaining after the equaliser.
There were five changes from the Luton side that lost their first game of the season 3-1 at Tamworth two days earlier. The most notable ommission was Czech midfielder Pavel Besta, who gave away the ball for Tamworth's second goal on Saturday.Back came Keith Keane after serving his one match suspension. A first start of the campaign was handed to Shane Blackett, while Mark Tyler, Jake Howells and Danny Crow also came in.
The former Cambridge United striker was involved in Luton’s first chance early on after five minutes of pressure from the hosts. He headed an Andy Drury corner back across the face of goal but the ball bounced awkwardly and both Matthew Barnes-Homer and Zdenek Kroca missed it.
Tyler was at his acrobatic best soon after to keep Town on terms, when he pawed away Crawley Town loanee Michael Malcolm’s snap shot from six yards, as it looked to be heading into the top corner.
Hayes stopper Lee Harrison did the same for his team in the 26th minute when, from another corner, George Pilkington’s looping header had to be turned over the bar. Then from the set piece, Barnes-Homer saw a shot on the turn skim wide of the upright.
It was a big contrast to the last time the two teams met at Kenilworth Road, as by that stage last season the Hatters were 6-0 up. But in a somewhat subdued stadium this time round, the visitors had given as good as they’d got.
A Barnes-Homer header just after the half hour mark was easily dealt with by Harrison, before he set his team off on an attack. Blackett, thankfully, was alert enough to track Andy Yiadom’s run and as Peter Holmes crossed into the danger area the defender thwarted the striker with a superb covering tackle and deny him a tap-in from close range.
Three minutes later and Murray was presented with gift on the edge of the Hayes box that he squandered. Tom Cadmore slipped when trying to clear but the midfielder thumped his effort high over the bar.
It was however, the start of a concerted period of pressure for Town as they sought a breakthrough before half time.
Barnes-Homer did two good impressions of a winger – first crossing and picking out Crow, who flicked a header backwards only to see Harrison fingertip the ball away. Then, on the other flank, the striker centred for Howells, though his header was less impressive and straight at the stopper.
Rather less routine was the save Harrison had to make on 41 minutes when Drury struck the ball like an exocet missile from 25 yards. The keeper got a hand to it, but it was to be his last action of the day as the shot did enough damage to see him replaced by Josh Lennie.
Four minutes into the restart and Tyler twice kept the scores level. His first stop saw him get fingertips to a curling effort from Jamie Mulley that was destined for the top corner. From the resulting corner Yiadom drilled a scissor kick straight at the number one and he confidently plucked the ball out of the air.
The keeper was then beaten by a wonderfully taken goal from Pritchard. Tyler had initially punched away a lofted ball into his box, but it didn’t have great distance and the midfielder precisely lobbed the ball back over his head from 20 yards despite a a despairing dive and Keane covering..
It immediately saw Claude Gnakpa and Kevin Gallen replace Howells and Barnes-Homer and worked to the effect of upping Luton’s tempo.
It was from a set piece that the equaliser came. Keane launched a deep free kick to the back stick, Blackett’s leap wasn’t high enough but Drury, running in, judged the bounce to power a header into the net.
A looping Gnakpa header one minute later almost turned the score in their favour, but it dropped just over the bar.
All Luton’s threat was coming from dead ball situations and Kroca was denied a third goal for the club by the woodwork. The chance was still alive as the ball pinged around a congested penalty area before being eventually cleared to safety.
Hayes’ goalscorer had the ball in Tyler’s net for a second time 60 seconds later, but the linesman’s flag spared Town’s blushes.
Yet, rather than the all out assault and push for the winner that the home fans were expecting, it was United who steadied themselves for a push of the own, and Tyler was a full stretch to tip over Holmes’ long range drive.
Nine minutes from time, and Adam Bygrave’s hand blocked a Gallen effort inside the area but the referee didn’t flinch despite being right in front of the incident. The man in the middle’s inconsistency had the crowd up in arms soon after when a similar handball outside the area earned Town a free kick and Drury his first caution. After that, every time a free kick was awarded and a wall erected, the crowd mocked the official by counting out the yards.
As the ball ticked into the 90th minute Tyler twice kept Town in the match, first with a block from Adam Green’s free kick and then when Mulley raced into the box.
Drury was then given his marching orders in the third minute of five added on, when he scythed down Mulley.
Once the final whistle went, manager Richard Money called his men into a huddle at the end of the game, which left the officials to take a long walk to the tunnel with boos ringing in their ears.
LUTON: Tyler, Gleeson, Keane, G.Pilkington, Barnes-Homer (Gallen, 55), Drury, Kroca, Murray, Howells (Gnakpa, 57), Crow
Subs: Newton, Craddock, K.Pilkington
ATTENDACE: 6,354 (80)
