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VENUE The Britannia Stadium ATTENDANCE 18,653 REFEREE Andy D'Urso MATCH DATE 20 August 2005 KICK OFF TIME 15:00

STOKE CITY Steve Simonsen   Carl Hoefkens   Marlon Broomes   Michael Duberry   John Halls   Luke Chadwick   Dave Brammer   Karl Henry   Martin Kolar   Kevin Harper 59   Mamady Sidibe   Bruce Dyer   SUBS NOT USED Thordur Gudjonsson   Lewis Buxton   Gerry Taggart   Ed De Goey

LUTON TOWN Marlon Beresford   Kevin Foley   Markus Heikkinen Curtis Davies   Paul Underwood   Ahmet Brkovic   Carlos Edwards 70   Steve Robinson   Kevin Nicholls   Dean Morgan   Sol Davis 45   Steve Howard Warren Feeney   Enoch Showunmi 62   SUBS NOT USED Dean Brill   Russell Perrett

Match Report	20 August 2005
Stoke City 2 - 1 Luton Town

STOKE CITY 2 Marlon Broomes '63 Dave Brammer '90  LUTON TOWN 1 Dean Morgan '9

LATE BRAMMER GOAL BREAKS TEN MAN LUTON HEARTS...

Dave Brammer hit an unstoppable long-range injury-time winner to break the resistance of brave ten-man Luton Town at the Britannia Stadium.

The Hatters had front-man Steve Howard sent off in the 26th minute for allegedly spitting at Stoke defender Carl Hoefkens after Dean Morgan had earlier given Luton the lead.

Warren Feeney hit the post before Potters full-back Marlon Broomes equalised just after the hour.

Brammer himself hit the join of crossbar and post before finding his range with his 30-yard pile driver that flew into the top corner at the death.

Luton lined up with Marlon Beresford back in goal for his first start of the campaign after suffering a toe injury in the pre-season.

But manager Mike Newell kept faith with the same outfield line-up that started against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Leeds United, with Sol Davis named on the bench after recovering from a thigh strain.

Stoke included ex-Watford front man Bruce Dyer in their side and the impressive Luke Chadwick on loan from West Ham United.

Both teams warmed up to the sounds of a Stoke PA system complete with skipping CD player.

And the home defence were just as jittery as their entertainment system as the Hatters made the better start.

Howard headed Ahmet Brkovic's pinpoint cross just wide in the fifth minute and then saw a low 20-yard effort gathered by Steve Simonsen.

"It was no surprise when Luton took the lead in the ninth minute"

So it was no surprise when Luton took the lead in the ninth minute as home full-back John Halls badly misdirected a back header straight to Dean Morgan and the Luton winger produced a deadly finish, volleying accurately into the bottom corner from just inside the penalty area.

The Hatters continued to play to the same attacking tune, with Kevin Nicholls seeing a curling 20-yard free-kick held by Simonsen in the 21st minute.

"Steve Howard was given a straight red card"

But the direction of the game changed completely in the 26th minute when Steve Howard was given a straight red card after an altercation involving Carl Hoefkens and Michael Duberry.

Little had seemed to occur between the players as they went to contest a Brkovic cross, but after awarding the home side a free-kick, referee Andy D'Urso immediately sent Howard from the field to the surprise of most of the players on the field. D’Urso later stated the sending off had been for Howard spitting at Carl Hoefkens.

Stoke immediately struck back with two long-range Brammer efforts that flew just off target.

Yet Luton almost grabbed a second in the 37th minute when Kevin Foley intercepted Marlon Broomes' poor pass and fed Warren Feeney who burst past Duberry, but saw his superb 20-yard drive bounce back off the post.

The Potters gradually began to make their extra man count and Chadwick shot just wide from 20-yards in the 61st minute after a neat one-two with Karl Henry.

A minute later the hosts were level with their first shot on target when substitute Kevin Harper's cross was only half-cleared and Broomes' 15-yard volley squirmed under the arms of Beresford.

Spurred by the strike, Stoke pressed on and Brammer unleashed a ferocious left-footed drive in the 71st minute that flew back off the top of the stanchion.

The Hatters didn't give up though and substitute Enoch Showunmi raced on to a long 77th minute Paul Underwood pass and beat Halls - only to see his close range effort blocked by Simonsen.

With Luton seemingly having done enough to earn a point, Brammer let fly with another long range special in the second minute of added-on time and this time the ball arrowed into the top corner from 30-yards to break Luton fans' hearts.

Newell's Comments	20 August 2005
Stoke City 2-1 Luton Town “My thoughts are that Howard was sent off for spitting at their number who doesn’t know anything about it. “He has been sent off for spitting which he hasn’t done and Howie wouldn’t do and I’ve asked him and I know my players and I know they’re honest and none of them are capable at spitting at an opponent and I only have to look him in the eyes and if any of them did, they’d be sent off quite rightly. I’ll be appealing against this. “We were the better side even with ten men. We’ve come away from home and played decent football. We’ve still created chances and we haven’t sat back and tried to defend the lead and we’ve tried to increase it and we could have done if we’d just had a little bit of luck and we’ve been done by a world-class goal at the end and it was worthy of winning any game. “Warren Feeney did well. It isn’t easy for anyone to play as a lone striker and he had a go and we saw he’d run out of legs and so we put Enoch on and he also had a go and they all had chances, Warren hit the post and could have had a penalty. “I don’t want to say too much about the referee – he’s sent off Howie the last time we had him at Brentford. “I don’t know what the referee was thinking but I know Howard wouldn’t spit at anyone and their number two doesn’t know anything about it and if someone spat at me, I’d punch them and their number two doesn’t even know what it is about. The referee is wrong, it isn’t the first time he’s been wrong and it has cost us the game without a shadow of a doubt. “I don’t think we’ll have any problems now – we’ve played some decent football and we’ve shown people we can compete and over the four games we’ve played in this League, we’ve shown people we’re not going to roll over and we need to be taken seriously. “Over four games it can’t be lucky or a novelty factor, we’ve been the better side on all four occasions, Leeds we should have beaten and today the sending off has cost us big time.”

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