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VENUE Kenilworth Road ATTENDANCE 8,806 REFEREE Alan Kaye (Wakefield) MATCH DATE 28 December 2004 KICK OFF TIME 15:00

LUTON TOWN Marlon Beresford   Kevin Foley   Chris Coyne   Russell Perrett 72   Curtis Davies   Sol Davis   Ahmet Brkovic   Steve Robinson   Kevin Nicholls   Peter Holmes   Enoch Showunmi 75   Steve Howard Rowan Vine   SUBS NOT USED Calvin Andrew   Dino Seremet   Keith Keane

COLCHESTER UNITED Aidan Davison   Sam Stockley   Wayne Brown   Pat Baldwin   Liam Chilvers   Richard Garcia   Kevin Watson   Neil Danns   Gavin Johnson   Greg Halford   Craig Fagan SUBS NOT USED Gareth Williams   Ben Bowditch   George Elokobi   John White   Dean Gerken

Match Report	28 December 2004
Luton Town 2 - 2 Colchester United

LUTON TOWN 2 Rowan Vine '37, '48  COLCHESTER UNITED 2 Richard Garcia '34 Greg Halford '62

HALFORD HEADER DENIES LUTON HOME VICTORY...

Two strikes from Rowan Vine against his former club were not enough to give Luton Town victory against Colchester United.

Vine hit goals number six and seven of the season either side of the interval after the U's had taken a shock lead in front of the Hatters’ biggest home crowd of the season.

But the Pompey loan forward's brace was cancelled out as Greg Halford nodded an equaliser just after the hour and Luton were made to endure a nervy end to the game.

The Hatters welcomed back their three Powerade Player of the Month award winners Steve Howard, Rowan Vine and Curtis Davies after the trio missed the trip to Chesterfield through suspension.

Steve Robinson also returned after his recent hernia operation, replacing Paul Underwood who was missing with a thigh strain.

With the match completely sold out, it marked the first time Luton fans had sat in the Oak Road end for many years at Kenilworth Road.

Luton started brightly and Sol Davis saw a 20-yard strike deflected just over the bar off Wayne Brown's head in the fifth minute after Peter Holmes' cross had been half blocked.

A minute later Chris Coyne's header from Steve Robinson's in-swinging corner almost fell to Rowan Vine in the penalty area.

Coyne then let fly himself in the seventh minute when his 25-yard pile driver from Kevin Foley's pass whistled just past Aidan Davison's right-hand post.

A flowing 15th minute move involving Holmes, Vine and Ahmet Brkovic ended with skipper Kevin Nicholls picking up a half-clearance and drilling left footed just over the bar from the edge of the penalty area.

Colchester's first clear chance came three minutes later when Sam Stockley burst into the penalty area and laid off to Gavin Johnson, but with a clear sight of goal, the U's winger got his shot all wrong and the ball ended up screwing out for a throw in.

The Hatters should have gone in front in the 23rd minute when Howard's 16-yard shot from Vine's pull back was parried by Davison, but Vine could only hit the top of the bar from four-yards out after being first to the loose ball.

Instead it was Colchester who took the lead out of nothing in the 34th minute when Craig Fagan crossed dangerously into the penalty area and as Robinson and Richard Garcia challenged, the ball spun past Marlon Beresford into the bottom corner.

"But Luton were level three minutes later"

But Luton were level three minutes later when Nicholls' cross fell to Holmes, whose shot deflected into the path of Vine to stroke home from six-yards against his former club.

"Three minutes after the break Vine got his second"

Three minutes after the break Vine got his second when Nicholls charged into the box after a one-two with Howard and after Davison blocked the Hatters skipper’s shot, Vine followed up to fire home from nine-yards.

Beresford had to be alert in the 57th minute to save Garcia's header after ex-Hatter Johnson's cross from the left and 60 seconds later Fagan beat both Brkovic and Davies on the touchline but hit his shot high and wide from 12-yards after cutting inside.

The equaliser Colchester had been threatening duly arrived in the 62nd minute when Davison's long punt up field fell for Greg Halford to nod past the stranded Beresford from the edge of the area and earn the visitors a share of the spoils – although Luton go into the new year to of League One.

Newell's Comments	28 December 2004
Luton Town 2-2 Colchester United “I wasn’t too disappointed to draw today. It is always a point gained in my eyes and the fact that they hadn’t played on Boxing Day and were fresh for the game meant it was always going to be difficult. “It is a big demand on the players mentally and physically to play two games in three days and I don’t understand why we have to cram in so many fixtures at Christmas and New Year. We have played only four games in the whole of November and yet we will have played five games in only thirteen days by the time we play Brentford in the FA Cup. “We start the New Year at the top of League One and our aim is to obviously stay there. There is a long way to go and we have achieved nothing yet but the players should take credit for not only the results they have managed so far, but also for the manner in which they have gained them. “We believe that it is the way to play and that in the long run football will always come out on top but that said, there will be times in the second half of the season when we have to grind out results.”

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