Luton back in winning ways

A single Liam Hatch headed goal proved enough for victory at Barrow. It wasn't pretty at times but the Hatters kept to their task and were worthy winners.

Ironically, Richard Money was to have brought the target man off, to avoid overworking him ahead of the Oxford game on Tuesday evening, but an injury to Claude Gnakpa caused a recalculation, which proved ultimately to have been very fortuitous.

Mark Tyler returned in goal after a lengthy absence, and Matthew Barnes-Homer was unwell, but other than that the same side that lost at home to Ebbsfleet began the match and looked to make amends for that below par performance. Claude Gnakpa came in to the side and performed well before limping off after 78 minutes but Richard Money believes that the Frenchman was not badly injured and had had enough of the cold and mist! He is likely to be available on Tuesday!

Barrow are no mugs in this division and have seen some good results against top teams, but the Hatters aways looked a cut above despite failing to find the net until late on.

There were a few chances for both teams which were wasted but the Hatters always had the upper hand, but as the game wore on it seemed that a 0-0 draw was the likely outcome. However, a perfectly delivered corner by Kevin Nicholls was met with a diving header by Liam Hatch and at last the Barrow keeper's luck had been broken.

Luton might even have made it safe with 5 minutes to go but the tiring Hatch lofted the ball over from a decent position, but it mattered little as they hung on for the three points, leaving the manager to ponder why it is that they are a different prospect on the road than they are at Kenilworth Road. Perhaps it is the expectation of the crowd, or again that the visitors raise their game when coming to Luton. Whatever it is, if their home form matched their away form they would be a lot closer to Oxford and Stevenage than they are now - seven closer to Oxford and ten closer to Stevenage in fact!

However, other teams at the top are dropping unexpected points too, so there is still time to climb the table and put pressure on the top two.



uton: Tyler, Keane, George Pilkington, Kovacs, Murray, Gnakpa (Nelthorpe 78), Nicholls, Hall (Jarvis 67), Newton (Nwokeji 57), Craddock, Hatch.

Subs Not Used: Gore, Howells.

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