Luton blunt Daggers

Luton returned to Victoria Road for the second time in a few weeks to take on Football League newcomers Dagenham & Redbridge.

Don Hutchison, Dean Morgan, Sam Parkin, Lewis Emanuel, Keith Keane and Drew Talbot were added to the lineup, while Alan Goodall, Paul Peschisolido, Darren Currie, Paul Furlong, Chris Perry and Steve Robinson were all rested.

The game was played in squally downpours which did not add to the quality of the entertainment, and the Daggers seemed happy to play hoofball to some very physical front men, but with Dean Brill confounding his doubters with a more than competent display, the home side rarely looked like scoring.

However, unless you had infra-red glasses in the second half I doubt you'd have seen it if they did. I would be surprised if the floodlights met with Football League brightness standards.

Keane lived up to his name again, and despite his doubters, has always tried and given 100% which is more than could be said for many Town players last season. Keith did OK alongside Coyne and the new boys who

layed looked reasonable again.

A nasty looking injury to Parkin looked to have put paid to his awaited return to Swindon on Saturday just before half time. Paul Furlong was an adequate replacement.

Drew Talbot showed some nice touches and made a claim for Parkin's position on Saturday with a goal in the second half which was not the crispest he'll ever score having deflected against a defender on the way past the hapless Roberts. Still, as I always say, when the results are read they never say how, just how many, and they each count 1 however they are achieved.

Having previously thought that Dean Morgan would rip this division apart with the right attitude, I was disappointed that he seemed to be disinterested most of the time, when he should have been fighting for a place on Saturday. Perhaps he can see the writing on the wall as Blackwell seems intent on playing his signings ahead of the players already here when he arrived.

Personally I don't mind that as long as we keep winning!

Despite having the ball for most of the first half, Luton did not really threaten Roberts all that often although Morgan missed a sitter and Parkin was unlucky on a couple of occasions having one blocked and one saved which might have settled the game before half time.

The referee, Mike Thorpe from Suffolk, looked as though he wished he was somewhere else at times. He allowed free kicks to be taken wherever they liked and several foul throw ins were ignored and huge yardage gained at restarts all over the place, but didn't seem bothered to intervene and the linos pretended not to see as well.

Brill seemed to have a personal vendetta against Rainford making a number of good saves from the unfortunate Daggers forward, one of which was at point blank range. In fact a Dagenham goal at that point may have livened up the proceedings, but the breakthrough happened at the other end when Jon Nurse unceremoniously dumped Talbot in the area and Spring stepped up to confidently fire the penalty into the Roberts' bottom left corner, with keeper on a day trip to his right.

Dagenham looked livelier as the second half began, although surprisingly one of their better players in the first half, Rainford was substituted.

A free kick was driven into Luton's defensive wall by Sloma, and Saunders was first to the loose ball and put it in the mixer for Nurse to hit the crossbar.

Furlong headed wide from a corner and then a move remeniscent of the Howard era led to Talbot scoring. On 70 minutes, Hutchison hooked a long ball to Furlong who sent Talbot away and as the middle opened up for him, his scuffed shot, arguably not going to be on target, hit a defender and wrong-footed keeper Roberts for a 2-0 lead.

The 2 goal cushion did not last long though, when Strevens poked in the rebound after Brill didn't hold a speculative effort from Moore.

Strevens almost levelled matters with a header from a looping cross, but couldn't get it on target.

To be fair, Dagenham gave it a go and had the Luton defence stretched for a while after their goal, but gradually Luton regained control and saw out the game.

Blackwell sent on McVeigh for Morgan, with about 15 minutes to go, and he looked calm and assured and showed not a little skill in the process. I think he will prove to be a great asset.

Luton Town:

Dean Brill - A few wobbles but looking tidier than he did last season.

Richard Jackson - classy at times and can tackle.

Keith Keane - Did well although a little shaky after the D&G goal.

Chris Coyne - solid

Lewis Emanuel - looked ok and gave real effort (but Goodall looks more of a defender). Still looks like he could shed a few pounds though.

David Edwards - Very astute signing. Another Carlos in the making.

Matthew Spring - looks interested this season. Worked hard and made some excellent passes and interceptions.

Don Hutchison - Better than I had thought he was going to be. Another useful addition.

Dean Morgan - Disappointing. Didn't look interested enough and should have been showing the boss what he CAN do.

Sam Parkin - Was doing OK if a little tentative and it may have been his reticence to make a full challenge that got him hurt. Didn't look too good when he went off, I hope it isn't the end of him.

Drew Talbot - Excellent, the Ginger Ninja was probably my man of the match. Covered a lot of grass and could have had a hat trick.

Subs:

Paul McVeigh - has class and will be a great aset this season.

Paul Furlong - had his best game for us yet. he is beginning to get into the swing of things and will also do well in short spells this year.

Subs not used - Chris Perry, Stephen O'Leary, Ahmet Brkovic.

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