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Luton Town v York City THE visit of York City was always going to be a tight affair and so it proved as we were unable to defeat the Minstermen and take advantage of our game in hand over leaders Oxford United.

A disappointing 1-1 home draw on a rainy Tuesday night under the Kenilworth Road floodlights was perhaps a fair result over the 90 minutes, but meant we dropped the chance to potentially claw back another 2 points on the U’s, as well as make up ground on Stevenage Borough, who only drew 0-0 at home to Wrexham.

The Matchday Programme (priced at £3.00)

My dad joined us again for this fixture – the second game in a row – and we arrived in Luton at 6.30pm, parking at the train station and making the short walk to “The Whitehouse” for some pre-match beverages. After a quick pint, we decided to go somewhere else for a change and I suggested going upstairs in the “Galaxy Centre” to see what the bar at the bowling alley was like up there. We had a couple of beers, but don’t think we will be going back up there again! Still, made a change.

We arrived at the ground at about 7.35pm after a walk in the rain up Kenilworth Road. My dad bought a pie and Batesy and I bought a burger and we then took our seats in the ‘David Preece Family Stand’ (the “New Stand’) for the evening’s action.

We made our first groan before a ball had even been kicked due to the players changing ends, meaning we were kicking towards the ‘Kenilworth Road’ end in the first-half, as opposed to the second-half, as we usually do. We prefer it when we attack the goal down our end second-half, but oh well, c’est la vie.

Luton Town Fans in the 'Kenilworth Road' end

The first-half was a very poor affair as we seemed to revert back to our long ball tactics, which we hate to see and never gets us anywhere. We had two great chances to take the lead as Tom Craddock beat three players before firing wide from inside the box and Adam Newton also missed a glorious opportunity when he blazed over the bar from inside the box when he surely had to hit he target; A very bad miss.

Unsurprisingly, York took the lead through Neil Barrett and we were chasing the game. Alan Neilson and Kevin Watson responded by taking off on-loan Ben Wright before the interval and replacing him in attack with young Ryan Charles, who has been looking a threat lately. They stated afterwards they felt we were playing the ball long to Wright too much, which was bread and butter for their central defenders. Charles looked good again, showing a willingness to run at the defence. He looks a good prospect.

The second-half saw an improved performance and we levelled on 65 minutes when the referee did well to play an advantage on the edge of the area, rather than give us a free-kick and Asa Hall thumped an unstoppable drive into the top corner from 20-yards out for his third goal of the season. It made a change to see some good refereeing in this league.

The 257 York City Fans in the 'Oak Road' end

We pushed for a winner without ever really looking likely to net it and with the very last kick of the game the visitors could have snatched the win as a left-wing cross when just inches away from their sliding forward in the six-yard box. We were very lucky to escape that one, and as soon as the ball went out of play the referee blew for full-time.

Overall, a mediocre performance against a solid side who will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. When the campaign has come to a close, it could well turn out to be a valuable point for us, but of course if you want to win this league then you have to win your home games. For me, the worry is that our forwards are just not getting enough goals. I feel we need a new striker or two and we will then be a real force.

The Sides in Action

Next up is the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round home match with Grays Athletic and due to our stand being shut for this game, Batesy and I will be sitting in the ‘Kenilworth Road’ end. Of course, we are expecting us to progress to the First Round proper. A good FA Cup run this season would go down a treat, so we can hopefully get some half decent grounds to go to!

We remain unbeaten since Neilson and Watson took over in their caretaker roles and I think any Luton Town fan would have taken the 10 points out of the 12 available we have gathered since Mick Harford was sacked.

If the rumours are true, a new manager will be appointed next week, with director Stephen Browne confirming we had over 60 creditable applications and interviews now having taken place.

If Neilson and Watson can keep producing the goods, then who knows what will happen?

COME ON YOU HATTERS!

James