Rochdale (Away) (FA Cup Replay)

RUSHING out of work to watch the mighty Hatters on a cold and rainy Wednesday night at Rochdale in an FA Cup First Round replay wasn’t what I had been expecting to do when we led 3-0 on Saturday, but that’s exactly what ended up happening.

After a couple of pre-match beers, we sat down for the evening’s entertainment at about 7.45pm, ready for the 8pm kick-off.  The ground looked empty and there were only approximately 150 travelling Hatters.  With the game being rearranged at such short notice for live coverage on ITV4, it was no surprise that only a brave few made the long journey to Spotland.

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With the hosts flying high in League Two, we were worried that we were going to get a thumping.  The ground itself looked a tidy little place, with a new stand at the side of the pitch that was pillar-free and housed the travelling Luton Town supporters, and the opposite stand a slightly older construction that had several pillars which restricted the home supporters’ view somewhat.  Behind one goal was a small, terraced stand where the majority of the Rochdale fans congregated and the opposite end was a larger seated stand that again had posts.  All in all though, it looked a smart little ground and more than adequate for the 2,500 average home attendances Rochdale are getting.

The game kicked-off and we looked very poor.  Rochdale absolutely battered us with wave after wave of attack, their movement and passing too good for us.  Our midfield looked slow and unable to get close to the home side’s players and we were thankful to goalkeeper Shane Gore for two vital saves.  In particular, the Rochdale wingers Adam Rundle and the highly impressive Tom Kennedy were causing us all kinds of problems.  Kennedy’s set-pieces were also very good and it was a miracle that we went in even at the interval.

However, much to the surprise of the travelling hardcore Hatters fans, we came out in the second-half like a different side.  We weathered the storm early on, Gore making another splendid save, before taking the lead against the run of play through a well worked goal.  Burgess picked the ball up down the left and fed in Craddock who centred for Kevin Gallen – my favourite player this season – to slide in at the near post and give us a lead we hardly deserved.

However, from that moment on we looked the better side and Rochdale’s heads seemed to drop after we took the lead.  We extended our advantage through Gallen again.  A Nicholls corner was headed back at the far post by Pilkington.  The 16-year-old Dale goalkeeper Taberner could only parry the ball out and there was Gallen to head home from all of a yard out and seal the away win.

The game petered out after that and the few Hatters fans who had made the long journey continued to sing their hearts out until the very end and, as the whistle blew for full-time, it was surprisingly the mighty Hatters who would travel to another high-flying League Two side, Rotherham United, in the FA Cup Second Round.

All in all, it was a satisfying, but perhaps slightly fortuitous win.  However, my view was slightly impaired during the match because… we weren’t actually there!  Yes, unfortunately, for the first time this season we missed a match.  We had planned to go to Rochdale on Tuesday 17th November, but when the game was brought forwards for live coverage on ITV4, I was unable to get out of work commitments at such short notice.  Batesy also already had tickets to go to the 02 to see wrestling (gimp – how old is he?) that his girlfriend had brought for him, so it was impossible for us to go.  Still, I watched it on TV.  We are slightly gutted that we missed the game, but the aim was always to go to every league game first and foremost and it was out of our hands being able to go to Spotland at such short notice.

Oh well, we’re into the Second Round most importantly.  I also ensured the evening was as realistic as possible, making my dad charge me £14 to watch the TV, cooking a burger and leaving it to go cold before I ate it, enjoying a few beers and urinating on the toilet floor at half-time.

COME ON YOU HATTERS!

James

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Rochdale (Home) (FA Cup)

FIRSTLY, I would like to say welcome to Luton Town to Richard Money and co. If the last 8 seasons are anything to go by you are in for a crazy ride.

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It was Saturday the 7th November and I was so excited. FA Cup day was here!  I left Chelmsford at around half 11 and headed to Stevenage to get James. After a quick chat to Mr and Mrs Garley we headed off to Luton. On the way we had a quick chat about where we were going to go for pre-match drinks. After some debate I thought it would be a nice change of pace to go ahead to “Stooges” (formerly the “Nelson’s Flagship”). The pub was nice enough but was not too busy. This then led me and James to have a discussion as to why the attendance would not be great today, James saying that the money aspect might be the reason and I was saying that maybe people just thought we would lose (myself being one of them).

Anyway, after a few drinks we headed for the ground at half two, picked up our tickets, programmes and then food. At this point James decided to be different and get a pastie rather than the tried and trusted burgers we have been enjoying all season. What was amusing was that he asked for a cornish and then after getting to our seats realised that it was in fact cheese and onion. This I found highly amusing as, for anyone who knows James, would know he is very set in his routines which prompted me to say “HAHA that’ll teach ya for being different”.

The team sheet was announced and I wasn’t really surprised with the line-up, although Steve Basham starting did shock me a bit. After hearing that Mark Tyler had got injured in the warm-up I just hope he is back soon as he has been quality this season.

Before the game we had a minutes silence, in which both sets of fans were impeccable throughout. The attendance was lower than we had anticipated and we were quite surprised with this bearing in mind it was Money’s first game in charge.

Luton Town Fans in the 'Kenilworth Road' end

I wasn’t feeling overly confident that we could beat Rochdale so it came as a huge surprise to me when Basham headed us in front after only 4 minutes. It was lovely play down the left from Gallen and Murray and the cross from Newton was perfect for Basham to head home. What a start! Rochdale tried to put a few attacks together after the restart and I was kind of worried that after taking such an early lead we would try and sit back and soak up the pressure. How wrong could I have been! After breaking up a Rochdale attack the ball broke to Burgess just before the halfway line. After a quick look up he then fed an absolute peach of a pass between the centre-half and right-back to Newton. After a quick first touch, Newton lifted the ball over the oncoming keeper and the ball dropped in the back of the net. 2-0! I could not believe it! Where had this Luton team been all season? Even with so many ‘so called’ first-team players either on the bench or injured we were playing like a league club!

After a quite deserved celebration, the game restarted and Rochdale had a lot of possession as they tried to get a quick goal back. Gnakpa burst down the right and the ball ended up in the box and found its way to Basham, who dispatched a great finish into the far corner of the net. I thought I was dreaming. 3-0 up after 29 minutes. Absolutely sensational. Although we had enjoyed much possession in the early stages of the game, we had been ruthless in front of goal, something we hadn’t been all season. The players then tried to play keep ball and get to half-time without conceding, which we managed to do. The fans were bouncing along and Richard Money must have thought that life could not get any better.

The 355 Rochdale Fans in the 'Oak Road' end

At half-time, after I had been for a cheeky ciggy, James and I briefly reviewed the first-half, as you do, and both came to the conclusion that we were actually quite fortunate having such a healthy lead due to the fact that Rochdale had just had a lot of the first-half possession. But, like most of the season, we had looked solid at the back. White and Blackett were dominant in the air, Burgess had taken the role of playmaker well and Keith Keane was absolutely immense. I then proceeded to text my workmates, West Ham fans, the following: “Bring on the big boys. Easy, easy, easy!” God how I wish I hadn’t! As soon as the second-half started you could tell it was going to be just one-way traffic and, as the game got to about 50 minutes, both Basham and Gallen were starting to get tired. With Keane also having to be taken off at half-time, we had lost our steel in the centre of midfield. So it was no surprise when Rochdale pulled a goal back after 55minutes through Craig Dawson. Please god, don’t let them comeback, I was thinking. Don’t let them come back to 3-3 because then we have to bloody head up there on the 17th!

Then came the moment that, in my eyes, turned the game. We had a corner swung in by Burgess and, after a bit of a scramble, the ball fell to White. He struck it hard towards goal and the ball clearly struck a defenders arm. Now I don’t blame the ref for not seeing it as he was outside the box looking at the back of White but the linesman really should have spotted it. If we had been given that then I have no doubt in my mind that at 4-1 up we would be heading for the Second Round. Instead, this seemed to spur Dale on even more and they were enjoying the majority of the ball. Basham was taken off for Craddock, which I really didn’t see the point of. For those of you who have read these blogs from the start, know I am not Craddock’s biggest fan right now but I really felt that Charles coming on would have been a better thing to do. He has more pace and harasses defenders quicker than Craddock.

The Two Sides in Action

Rochdale continued to press for a second and they duly got it after 86 minutes through Thompson. It was a sloppy goal and one I am sure that the defence would not be happy with conceding. Then the moment that cost us the game. After a Dale attack broke down, Craddock came forward with the ball and, after a neat one-two with Gallen, found himself through on goal. With only the keeper to beat he shot low but way too close to the keeper and it went behind for a Luton corner. Again he has missed a one-on-one. How many is that for the season, I’ve lost count! I know he was a good player last year but I have stressed all season to James and anyone else I have chatted to about Luton this year that Tom Craddock will not score the goals we need to get out of this league. He has 5 this year, 3 penalties, 1 where he latched on to a poor back pass and the header he scored earlier in the season would have been saved by any half decent keeper. I take the majority of peoples point of view that all he needs is a goal and he’ll be back to banging them in. This may be the case, but how long can we wait until that happens? It could be weeks before he scores a goal. All of the best teams in this league have got a striker that is scoring goals. This was made even worse for me after learning that ex-Hatter Chris Martin scored 4 today for Norwich. Alright, it was only against Paulton Rovers, but you still have to put the ball in the back of the net. If only we could have kept him, although with Martin that was obviously not possible.

Anyway enough of my Craddock bashing, after the second had gone in it was inevitable that they would get a third. Our boys looked tired after all the ball chasing in the second-half and Dale scored a third after 89 minutes through Thompson again.  All three goals came from out right-side, so disappointing. Obviously I was gutted, but after the final whistle went I had to admit that we were out played in the second-half by a team that are challenging for promotion out of League Two. As much as I hate to say it, we are now a non-league club, regardless of where we were previously or what players we have. If they were that good we would be leading the table and we are not!  The final whistle also brought about some boos, although not from us.

So after a pulsating 90 minutes, James and I started heading back now knowing that we would be making the long trip to Rochdale soon on a cold Tuesday night.  More annual leave days wasted at work.  Great (not)! On the radio on the way home, we heard a call come in to BBC Three Counties asking why Money had not bought on Ed Asafu-Adjaye for Gnakpa seeing as he was clearly tired – a point I feel was valid and would like to think that this is just because Money is new to this job and needs time to work out who he likes where etc.

I am not getting on his back, I just hope he gives all of the squad a fair crack of the whip and he is bold enough to make changes at the right time. The last thing we need is another manager who has a set 11 players starting week after week and who doesn’t change things around every now and then. I was also surprised to hear in Money’s interview that he feels that Nicholls and Keane can not both play in midfield.  Something I concur with, but have we the have the balls to drop Nicholls? Keane is a far better holding midfielder in my view and he definitely has the temperament. Only time will tell.

So, Grays Athletic away next Saturday and lets hope we give them a good hiding. They have by far been the worst team I have seen all season.

UP THE HATTERS!

Batesy

The Matchday Programme (priced at £3.00)

Luton Town Fans in the ‘Kenilworth Road’ end

The 355 Rochdale Fans in the ‘Oak Road’ end

The Two Sides in Action

Rushden & Diamonds (Home)

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THE last match under the leadership of Alan Neilson and Kevin Watson ended in another new low as Rushden & Diamonds inflicted a home defeat on the Hatters in a dire afternoon at Kenilworth Road.

We have now lost at home to local ‘rivals’ Stevenage Borough and Rushden & Diamonds this season – and the worst thing was that Rushden deserved their victory on their second-half performance.

Batesy and I left Stevenage at about 1.20pm, heading for “The Castle” pub at about 2pm, which we thought would make a change from our regular watering hole, “The Whitehouse”. After a couple of swift pints, we made our way to the ground. Batesy bought an old Luton shirt for £5 from outside the club shop to add to his collection of Hatters shirts (geek) and then we made our way through the turnstiles. Just as I was plucking my £3 from my pocket, we noticed there were no programme sellers so we couldn’t get a programme, which was annoying as we’re trying to collect them all from this season.

We purchased a couple of burgers and then made our way to our seats, sitting down just before kick-off (why do we keep leaving it so late before we get into the ground?) in anticipation for a home win. Oh dear.

Luton Town Fans in the 'Kenilworth Road' end

We started well enough and Tom Craddock had two glorious chances to give us the lead. On the first occasion he fired against the post when put clean through by Kevin Nicholls. On the second occasion, he saw his shot saved by ex-Hatter Nathan Abbey. He really should have netted one (if not both) of the opportunities. Batesy is beginning to lose his patience with Craddock and doesn’t think he will get enough goals to earn us promotion. I have been sticking up for him, but have to say I am leaning towards agreeing with him given the number of chances he is missing. I really thought this season that he was going to walk all over this league, but it is just not happening and I am not sure how much longer it can continue before I have to just say he is not good enough. Obviously I am desperate for him to come good, but every week I think, “Craddock will do it today” and he never does.

He also had two goals disallowed, the first a tap-in that was given as offside against him, and the second a thumping finish that, to be fair, was a fantastic strike but the whistle had already blown.

There was no sign of new manager Richard Money or new chief scout Gary Brabin in the dugout, it was left to Neilson and Watson to lead the team for this final time before Money takes over for the Rochdale FA Cup clash next Saturday.

I fully expected us to come out and get the win in the second-half but we were woeful – I can’t even remember us having a shot in the second 45 minutes. Rushden controlled the game and passed the ball better. In short, they looked like they wanted it more.

They took the lead in the 84th minute. Kevin Nicholls, who was well below his best again, made the vital mistake. When we should have been attacking the visitors goal, we dallied around with the ball at the back and a square pass to Nicholls on the halfway line saw the Hatters skipper slip over as he attempted to control the ball. He desperately tried to kick the ball forwards, but could only contrive to kick it into the shin of the impressive Lee Tomlin, who then ran at the Luton defence at pace. He then fired the ball past Tyler from the left corner of the penalty box with a fine finish. It was no more than they deserved to be honest.

The 402 Rushden & Diamonds Fans in the 'Oak Road' end

As we chased the game looking for an equaliser (without ever threatening to actually get one), Rushden sealed their win in stoppage-time as a ball through left Mark Byrne clear on goal and he chipped the ball over Tyler and it rolled into the net and was the cue for a mass exodus of Hatters fans, all of whom were, like Batesy and I, grumbling as they walked out of Kenilworth Road.

And so another home defeat against a local ‘rival’. The reign of Richard Money now starts. Please, just please let it be better than the last few years.

We face Rochdale of League Two on Saturday in the FA Cup First Round. They are 2nd in League Two and won 4-0 at Bournemouth on Saturday (and Bournemouth are top)! I really never thought I’d see the day when we were the underdogs at home to Rochdale! I am just desperate for us to get to the Third Round so we can hopefully get a decent away trip like Manchester United or Chelsea. Or maybe even Watford!

Richard Money and Gary Brabin are saying we can win the league still, but after Saturday, we’re 11 points behind Oxford United and we’ve played the same games. I just can’t see Oxford blowing it, although they do have to come to us yet.

According to the Walsall fans, they have said to expect under Money a lot of tight games, lots of 0-0 draws and 1-0 wins, he doesn’t give a lot away. They said “Don’t expect free flowing football and expect 1 up front with a 5-man midfield, but what you can expect is a man who loves to give youth a chance, and who is absolutely meticulous and methodical in his approach and you will get a side that is extremely well organised and gets results. It probably won’t be pretty, but you’ll get results and I would be amazed if he doesn’tg get you up this season.” I for one will take that!

Keep the faith.

James

Luton Town Fans in the ‘Kenilworth Road’ end

The 402 Rushden & Diamonds Fans in the ‘Oak Road’ end

Hatters Fans in the ‘Main Stand’

Hatters Fans in the ‘David Preece Family Stand’

The Sides in Action

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