The Lads went to fancied Luton Town and brought back a valuable and more than deserved point. After an injury-time Luton opener in a first half that saw us hit the post twice and the home side do likewise once, the return of Simms from the bench precipitated shakiness in the Hatters' defence and fellow sub Embo whacked in a deserved equaliser.
We'd done the train, and after our Ian's and Jade's wedding yesterday I was glad of the extra comfort. There was good craic with the locals, and fellow Mackems, at the "home fans only" Bricklayers Arms then the mile hike to the shambles that is Kenilworth Road. Apparently they're building a new ground in the town centre - well just hurry up, Luton, because your current home is not fit for purpose.
Patterson
O'Nien Wright Batth Cirkin
Neil Evans (c)
Armande Traore (according to Luton, Diallo according to the literate world) Pritchard Clarke
Dajaku
...and a bench of Bass (pronounced Base at Luton), Wright, Simms, Roberts, Embleton, Hume, and Michut
In pale blue, (why? Luton's orange) we attacked the end housing our fans, Diallo kicked off, and quickly took up the centre forward role with Dajaku on the right. Luke was at right back to accommodate the return of Wright to beef up central defence height-wise, although you can't really criticise Luke's efforts in that department. Luton forced a low save to his right right from Patto on 8, giving the Hatters a corner - from which a shot was blocked, and we broke only to be fouled on halfway, on 13 we broke again down the right, and Amad played it to Dajaku on the edge but it was a poor touch and the ball was cleared.
It was developing into an interesting game, with Diallo belying his stature by holding off bigger opponents as he moved around in a sort of deep-lying inside right to allow Clarke to twazzle in from the left.
On 15 there was a low take by their keeper after quick Diallo feet set up a cross from the right and we showed that we weren't going to sit back and just try to soak things up.
Two brilliant runs by Clarke got a corner on the left which was glanced across and wide by Cirkin's head; obviously spurred on by his recent scoring exploits
It looked bad on 22 when a header came off the inside of Patto's left post and flew across, then he produced a save low at the other side and soon after Luton shot wide we breathed a sigh of relief and gathered our thoughts on the pitch. There was a yellow for continuing to hack away at the ball when we'd been given a free on halfway, then one for Evans for continuing his complaints after Pritch's resultant free was headed harmlessly wide by Batth. Close, but not close enough.
Dajaku then danced inside and fired a left-footer off the foot of the keeper's left post as the half hour approached. There was an injury to their 12, Lansbury, but our defenders were coping quite well with their physical size advantage, particularly Luke who was up against a winger several inches taller. Off Lansbury went on 32, replaced by Freeman.
There was a good take from a free- kick by Patto, and a thunderous tackle by Luke then another yellow for a foul on Amad as we moved down the right. Pritch's free-kick was met by Batth at the back post - which he headed against. Getting closer.
There was a great left side move on 41, which ended when Cirkin was tripped - no free-kick, but another on right when Diallo was subject to the same treatment. He took the set piece himself only to see the keeper push it away from the foot of the near post for a corner. An identical shot and save came two minutes later, but this time from open play. Properly fired up, he shot well wide after another great run by Clarke who'd taken Patto's accurate long kick to our left well to run at the defence again and set up Amad.
Two added minutes were announced, and we roared at the Lads to get a goal before the break, but it went the other way when a low cross from their right was put in at the near post. Very much undeserved - OK, you could say we could have defended it better, but on the balance of play and chances created, we did not deserve to be behind...and a good deal of gratitude is due from Luton to the ref for missing a couple of blatant fouls near their box.
An observation from the halftime break is that the only health and safety rule that this absolute disgrace of a ground complies with is the provision of lifebelts in the toilets. The place really should not be allowed to stage football matches. I know it's quaint that you can see into people's bathrooms, bedrooms, and backyards from the away stairs, but it simply isn't safe.
There were no changes for the second half, but Dajaku was soon hurt in front of the park benches that pass for dugouts and we thought he might be replaced, but he regained his feet and played on.
Patto did well to tip away a high cross/shot, and we defended the corner to set up a break from which Clarke won one at the other end.
Roberts, Michut, and Embleton came in for Neil, Dajaku, and Pritch with half an hour to go, and that injected something different, as Michut sat deep and sprayed passes about without the forward gallops that Neil had produced. We shot into side netting from the right as Simms warmed up and their 9 had a sit down before leaving the field. On came Ellis for Evans to an almighty roar - if ever a stage was set, this was it.
He had the immediate and desired effect, giving their back line a different type of problem, and helping Clarke to get in a shot that was blocked off the line in a little spell of frantic action in their box. A few minutes later Clarke remained calm as the ball and the bodies flew about in the home box, and teed up Embo, who smacked it home to spark the usual manic celebrations amongst our fans. No more than we deserved, and just reward for Mowbray's tactical and personnel switch.
Twelve minutes to go and with the smell of victory in our nostrils we pressed forward, with Roberts running at opponents and Luke overlapping to back him up. Patto still had to be sharp off his like a couple of times, and they brought on Cameron Jerome - who's been plaguing our lives for what seems an eternity. In fact his shirt number has only recently been overtaken by his age (36). Luke was loving every minute of his defensive duties, smiling after every block or tackle and finding time to acknowledge opponents with a smile and a cuddle.
Roberts cut in and unleashed a left-footed curler that was a couple of feet off winning the game, and six added minutes were announced - killing off the possibility of making the scheduled 17:13 train. We hoyed bodies, sometimes two at a time, in the way of shots, we tackled like demons, and headed away when Patto told us to.
When the whistle did go, we acknowledged the efforts of the Lads in earning a point against tough opposition. For the ref, it was a game of two halves as his first half was, shall we say, decidedly sub-standard and his second half quite acceptable (with the usual moments of madness).
All in all, a satisfactory result. Man of the Match? Our defenders were, to a man, outstanding, with Batth and Wright coping well with a big attack and enthusiasm from the fullbacks making a solid unit.
For me, though, it was our little midfield general Amad Diallo.
