LUTON TOWN 2 FOREST GREEN ROVERS 1
Blue Square Premier
Kenilworth Road
Tuesday March 9, 2010
7.45pm
Tom Craddock slots home the penalty in the first half
Tom Craddock came to Luton Town’s rescue for the second time in two matches with a late strike when the Hatters looked to have wasted another chance to rubberstamp a promotion push.
The Teessider’s 90th minute goal completed his brace and saw Town steal a win from the jaws of a draw in a game that should have been a routine three points against part time, bottom of the league strugglers.
Even Steve Basham looked to have done his parent club a great favour with a double to down league leaders Oxford United, as all but Stevenage dropped points at the top and Luton moved to third, but the Hatters don’t do routine.
They’d only had one shot on target when Forest Green Rovers were awarded a penalty, against the run of play, in the 81st minute.
The visitors themselves had only registered one shot tamely on target in the previous 80 minutes, and quite rightly once Conal Platt had slotted home from the spot, cries of ‘this is embarrassing’ rang out around Kenilworth Road.
But 13 soon became Luton’s lucky number though as their top scorer poked home which, on the grand scheme of things could prove to be the difference next season between League football or another term of drab encounters with little more than pub teams.
Craddock was one of three changes from the side that beat Hayes & Yeading. Ed Asafu-Adjaye returned to the starting line-up for the first time since the FA Cup third round defeat to Southampton. Kevin Gallen also returned and it was the two strikers who were pulling the strings in the early stages.
A turn and shot from the veteran flashed passed the post ten minutes before Claude Gnakpa fed him with an almighty leap to head on Mark Tyler’s goal kick, but the striker fired over, albeit from an acute angle.
But he was holding up the ball well and linking with Craddock, the best of which saw the pair play a one-two with the youngster’s curling effort inches high of the angle.
Sadly there was nothing on target in the first half and hour, but it was all one way traffic, and a 70-yard run from Gnakpa raised the noise levels at Kenilworth Road beyond a polite whisper. Again Gallen was the link man and a simple lay-off on the 18-yard line begged for a net-buster, instead the Frenchman was more Six Nations than six-shooter.
The breakthrough on 37 minutes came unsurprisingly from neat interplay between Craddock and Gallen. When the former outpaced Jared Hodgkiss inside the penalty box the Rover could only pull him down, though it looked soft. It gifted the top scorer a chance of his second in two matches from the spot, which he duly accepted to net his 12th of the campaign.
Matthew Barnes-Homer had a golden opportunity to double the lead 12 minutes after the restart when Craig Armstrong’s pass back to Danny Ireland was short, but the striker lacked finesse and blasted into the midriff of the keeper when a dink would have sufficed and eased nerves.
It was the former Kidderminster man’s last act as he was hauled off for Jake Howells five minutes later to cheers from the crowd who, at the moment, clearly think that Richard Money’s big signing is not worth the cash.
Town desperately needed the second goal but there had been precious little invention to match their dominance. The closest they came since Barnes-Homer’s indiscretion was when two last ditch blocks by Forest Green’s Ollie Thorne thwarted the impressive Craddock on 75 minutes.
A Gallen free-kick from 25 yards out minutes later kept to the script of missing the target and no sooner had the ball been retrieved from row Z than the inevitable happened – Forest Green got a penalty.
It was as equally soft as Luton’s when centre back Janos Kovacs slid in to block a through pass but saw the ball roll under him and end up in his armpit. Platt sent Tyler the wrong way in front of the pitiful away support of 42.
Then as hope looked lost Craddock popped up to find the net in with a strike that should ensure Barnes-Homer’s next born child is named Tom.
LUTON
Tyler, Asafu-Adjaye, Keane, Kovacs, Pilkington, Craddock, Hall (Jarvis, 45), Gnakpa, Gallen, Murray, Barnes-Homer (Howells, 62)
Subs: Blackett, Gore, Nwokeji
Referee: R Fletcher