Luton hold Carlisle

The Football League, in their infinite wisdom, paired Luton at home to Carlisle on a Tuesday evening, and of course the away fixture at Carlisle will also fall on a midweek evening. Yet again no consideration is given to the fans who have to make the journey!

Carlisle arrived on the back of an excellent home win against the previously unbeaten Leeds United and were expected to be a difficult opponent for the Town, and so it proved.

However, Luton are a difficult proposition on their own turf and they gave a good account of themselves.

On six minutes Bell curled a powerful cross cum shot from the right flank which did not miss by much with the keeper looking beaten.

On ten minutes, Bell found Currie on the left and he put in a good cross which Edwards was not far short of reaching but good defensive cover cleared for a corner. From the corner Bell struck the bar with the ball somehow coming back into the keeper's grateful arms.

Luton were taking the game to their visitors and Bell looked up for it, but the second ball was just not falling for the Hatters.

Carlisle seemed intent on trying to stifle Luton's forward play and then catch them on the break. One such effort after about 20 minutes saw Garner cross from the left but with the goal beckoning Gall allowed the ball to go under his foot and the Town cleared the danger.

Almost immediately, Hackney crossed for Garner to send a bullet header goalwards but Dean Brill tipped it over the bar.

Calvin Andrew had probably his best game in the first team and was holding the ball up well and winning headers quite regularly, but Carlisle were defending very well and deep and were making it very hard for Luton to penetrate.

The young striker nipped in to clip the ball to Currie in the box and from inside the six yard box Currie thought he had opened the scoring but somehow a defender blocked the shot on the goal line.

An Edwards speculative volley from way out missed the goal by about 18 inches and Edwards again nearly scored just before half time when he flicked the ball up to make a volley on the turn which would have graced any game and deserved better than to drift wide yet again.

As the first half was drawing to a close, both teams would have been happy to have been going in level but in true Hatters form, they conceded a free kick in a dangerous area just before the whistle, and fro just outside the box Murphy drilled the ball low and hard on target and Brill made a very good save diving to his left and palming it to safety.

For the second home game in a row, there had been no goals but no shortage of entertainment, and the second half continued in the same vein as the first. Bell cut inside his marker and fired one of his trademark shots from outside th penalty area which the keeper managed to parry away and Calvin Andrew deserved a goal for some clever play ending with a cracking shot which Westwood saved superbly with a full length dive.

The visitors seemed less interested in going forward as the second half progressed appearing to have settled for hanging on to the one point, but they were dangerous on the odd occasion they did counter attack. Garner drove one from distance on the hour which Brill saved well, but most of the atacking was coming from the home side.

A corner from Currie was met by the head of Coyne and was looking like a classic top corner goal until Westwood made another full length dive to tip it around the post for a corner. Coyne came close again when Livesey managed to clear off the line again after a Bell free kick and by this time the match had 0-0 written all over it!

Both sides had half chances to grab the points but nothing clear cut until injury time when Garner somehow found space and looked odds on to win it but fortunately for the Town did not make a clean connection and the ball rolled slowly past the post.

On the whole a draw seemed a fair result and Luton can feel pleased with the standard of their football and with their defending for a clean sheet, but how the game screamed out for a goal poacher in a Town shirt. Peschisolido would have had a field day!



Luton Town: Brill, Perry, Coyne, Fojut, Jackson, Bell, Robinson, Spring, Currie (Talbot 72), Edwards (Morgan 81), Andrew.

Subs not used: Hutchison, O'Leary, McVeigh

Carlisle United: Westwood, Raven, Aranalde, Bridge-Wilkinson, Livesey, Murphy, Gall, Lumsdon, Graham, Garner, Hackney (Smith 62)

Subs not used: Carlton, Arnison, McDermott, Howarth

David Bell - 8- most of the good stuff came via him, but no one had a bad game. Despite the worries beforehand, Richard Jackson acquitted himself very well at left back, probably well enough to keep the position for Saturday!

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