This match report was kindly provided courtesy of the superb Luton Town news Website www.lutontoday.co.uk.  Lutontoday.co.uk kindly allow us to use their match reports, and, as Hatters fans, we'd urge you to check out their excellent Website, which always contains up-to-date Luton Town news, views and match reports.  The photos are also with the kind permission of Luton Town Football Club and their excellent photographer Gareth Owen.

VENUE Layer Road ATTENDANCE 5,083 REFEREE Joe Ross (London) MATCH DATE 26 December 2003 KICK OFF TIME 15:00

COLCHESTER UNITED Simon Brown   Sam Stockley   Liam Chilvers   Alan White   Andy Myers   Craig Fagan   Thomas Pinault Kemal Izzet   Rowan Vine   Wayne Andrews   Scott McGleish   Jamie Cade 74   SUBS NOT USED Scott Fitzgerald   Joe Keith   Gavin Johnson   Richard McKinney

LUTON TOWN Marlon Beresford   Kevin Foley   Emmerson Boyce   Chris Coyne Sol Davis Lee Mansell   Peter Holmes 88   Matthew Spring   Steve Robinson   Ahmet Brkovic Steve Howard Adrian Forbes SUBS NOT USED Dean Brill   Dean Crowe   Enoch Showunmi   Ian Hillier

Match Report	26 December 2003
Colchester United 1 - 1 Luton Town

COLCHESTER UNITED 1 Scott McGleish '12  LUTON TOWN 1 Lee Mansell '28

MANSELL STRIKE EARNS HATTERS A BOXING DAY POINT...

Luton Town had five players booked as they shared the points with Colchester United at Layer Road in the Boxing Day clash.

The Second Division game saw skipper Chris Coyne and Sol Davis receive yellow cards after fouling danger man Wayne Andrews in the first-half.

Then Ahmet Brkovic was booked in first-half injury-time for a foul and Adrian Forbes (63 minutes) and Steve Howard (80 minutes) also went into the referee's book.

Lee Mansell scored his third goal of the season to earn the Hatters a point - but they dropped from seventh to ninth place in the table.

Port Vale, 3-2 winners at Sheffield Wednesday, and Wrexham, who won 1-0 at Stockport County, went above Mike Newell's men.

The Hatters fielded an unchanged side for the third match in a row and there was still no place on the bench for club skipper Kevin Nicholls, who recently fell out with Luton boss Mike Newell.

"Mansell struck in the 28th minute"

Mansell struck in the 28th minute after Scott McGleish had headed Colchester United in front.

"McGleish struck in the 12th minute"

McGleish struck in the 12th minute when he found himself completely unmarked following a Wayne Andrews right-wing cross.

He headed home powerfully from eight-yards, giving Hatters keeper Marlon Beresford no chance.

McGleish's provider Andrews gave the Hatters a torrid time with his pace and he came close on two other occasions as The U’s edged the first-half.

In the 38th minute, Hatters goalkeeper Marlon Beresford did well to push away an Andrews effort drilled in from a tight angle on the left.

And Beresford again came to the rescue, saving with his legs when Andrews raced clean through on to McGleish's clever through ball four minutes later.

But Luton had their moments, too, and that Mansell goal and a couple of long-range efforts from Matthew Spring and Kevin Foley kept the travelling fans happy.

The Luton goal came when another Spring effort looked to be going well wide but the ball hit Colchester defender Andy Myers and fell perfectly for Mansell to drill home with his right foot from inside the penalty area.

The Hatters enjoyed long spells of possession in the second-half, but Colchester piled on the pressure in the last 15 minutes.

And Luton had goalkeeper Marlon Beresford to thank for their point when he produced a super save, low to his left, to deny Andrews yet again.

Newell's Comments	26 December 2003
Colchester United 1-1 Luton Town "For all the play they had I didn't think they created any clear cut chances. "I was happy with the way that we played, it is a difficult place to come and they've had some good results at home this season. "I thought that we looked comfortable, apart from the goal, with everything they had to throw at us. Most of the problems which we had to deal with were problems that we caused ourselves. When you're away from home you expect teams to come at you more and I thought we handled them well. "We've now played everyone in the Division and I don't think that we have anything to fear. I am fairly happy with the point today and after we had been beaten by Barnsley I thought they responded in the right way. If we get a result against Notts County then we'll have a return of four points from the two games over Christmas and I would be happy with that."

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