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VENUE Kenilworth Road ATTENDANCE 8,013 REFEREE Mark Haywood (West Yorkshire) MATCH DATE 11 August 2007 KICK OFF TIME 15:00

LUTON TOWN Dean Brill   Richard Jackson   Chris Coyne Chris Perry   Alan Goodall   David Edwards   Steve Robinson   Matthew Spring Darren Currie   Don Hutchison 89   Paul Furlong   Sam Parkin 68   Paul Peschisolido   Paul McVeigh 77   SUBS NOT USED Drew Talbot   Keith Keane

HARTLEPOOL UNITED Arran Lee-Barrett   Jamie McCunnie   Michael Nelson Godwin Antwi   Robbie Elliott   James Brown   Willie Boland   Anthony Sweeney 78   Gary Liddle   Ritchie Humphreys   Joel Porter 59   Richard Barker   Ian Moore   SUBS NOT USED Ben Clarke   Ali Gibb   Jan Budtz

Match Report	11 August 2007
Luton Town 2 - 1 Hartlepool United

LUTON TOWN 2 Darren Currie '36 Alan Goodall '84  HARTLEPOOL UNITED 1 Richard Barker (pen) '90

CURRIE AND GOODALL GIVE LUTON OPENING DAY WIN...

Darren Currie and Alan Goodall goals got Luton got off to a winning start to the season and bagged Luton Town's first home win in six months.

Currie curled home a sublime effort in the 36th minute against the run of play to give Luton a half-time lead.

And after ex-Hatters' hero Danny Wilson's side squandered further opportunities Goodall pounced six minutes from time from a Currie corner.

Hartlepool struck back in stoppage time with a Richard Barker penalty, but Kevin Blackwell's men held on to secure the points and their first win at Keniworth Road since the 3-2 success over Sheffield Wednesday in February.

The Hatters handed full debuts to no less than seven players – Goodall, Richard Jackson, Chris Perry, Currie, Dave Edwards, Paul Peschisolido and Paul Furlong – as Town reflected the summer of change at the club.

Only Dean Brill, Chris Coyne and Matthew Spring remained from the team that lost 0-5 to Sunderland on the final game of last season.

Hartlepool fielded Robbie Elliott and Ian Moore, both signed from Leeds in the summer, and also included Liverpool loan man Godwin Antwi in the heart of the defence.

The Hatters started off keen to play the ball forward towards former QPR man Furlong at every opportunity.

It was the visitors who were more intent to keep the ball on the ground and just five minutes in James Brown latched on to Elliott's chipped pass and took the ball around Brill, but Luton escaped with just a corner as the winger ran out of angle.

Five minutes later Barker's flick from Willie Boland's pass released Moore in the area, but again the Pools striker was forced wide and could only fire an effort across the face of goal.

Hartlepool kept pressing and Boland slickly nipped between Edwards and Steve Robinson in the 17th minute to again play in Brown, running in from the right-flank, but Brill was quickly off his line to smother at the player's feet.

The visitors were dominant and should have opened the scoring in the 21st minute when, after head tennis in the area from an Elliott corner, Moore latched on to Goodall's short header back, but could only nod wide from five yards with just Brill to beat.

Luton finally woke up and Edwards volleyed a Spring cross wide from a tight angle in the 24th minute before Furlong headed a Jackson centre off target two minutes later.

"Luton then took the lead in the 36th minute"

Luton then took the lead in the 36th minute when Goodall's crunching tackle on the half-way line released Currie in the middle of the park and the former Ipswich man sidestepped his marker before curling a 25-yard, left-foot effort into the bottom corner of Aaran Lee-Barrett's goal.

Luton were lifted by the strike, however it was Hartlepool who ended the half the stronger as Ritchie Humphreys smashed two efforts high and wide from good positions on the edge of the area in injury-time.

Humphreys should have fired the equaliser just 20 seconds into the second-half when Jamie McCunnie's cross from the right was flicked on by Barker to Humphreys, who had time to tee himself up before slamming a left-foot shot past the far post from 14 yards.

Goodall saw a 20-yard effort saved by Lee-Barrett in the 55th minute after he was teed up by Currie.

"It was Goodall who had the next decisive act in the 86th minute"

It was Goodall who had the next decisive act in the 86th minute when he headed home Currie's corner past Elliott on the line.

Luton were made to sweat late on when Barker smashed home a penalty in stoppage-time after Chris Perry had fouled substitute Anthony Sweeney.

Blackwell's Comments	11 August 2007
Luton Town 2-1 Hartlepool United "I think if anything the lads were over-anxious, but when you look at the last game here last season, we had nine new players. Only Brill, Coyne and Spring played in the last game of last season. Every other player was different, and I think we just need two or three games to get a better understanding. "Other than that and the anxiety, I was really pleased with the boys. It's important to win your first game. We're still 65 to 70 per cent there. We saw the desire of the players who had come to the Club to do well. But when you've got seven people all trying to do that at the same time it can sometimes rub you up the wrong way. "I thought Hartlepool came and played well. They looked like a side that's been together for a long time and are on a good run. "Currie took his goal very well. He's probably one of the best technicians in the Football League with the ball at his feet, but he took it with some style. And the second one was a great set play move, something the lads have been working on, and to get a goal from it in your first game is really pleasing. "I could bring people on today from the bench who could make a difference. It gives you as a manager confidence to look behind you and beside you and know that you've got somebody who can make a difference, whether it's defensively, midfield or attack. I'm quite happy with what's there. "I think David Edwards can get better and better. The anxiety he showed on his face before the game, just to get out there and play his first game. I told him to calm down a bit more, but he just wants to get there, do things, please the fans. And he's pleased the fans today because he's showed just glimpses of what he's about and he was good enough to win the Man Of The Match. "Brill has got to grab it with both hands. I'm after another goalkeeper but it's like anything else in life. If you have a position, it's for you to lose it. I didn't think he had a lot to do today but what he had to do he did well. Fair play to him. "I will take gambles and risks. I wanted to have more striking options on the bench so I didn't have a substitute goalkeeper. It's up to us to win our home games. The chance of your keeper breaking down is always there but if you look at the stats it's few and far between and today I wanted to go out and be positive and get the win. Winning the first home game of the season is important. "Managers are never happy with what they've got. You can't be. That's the start of a hard season, but there's no slapping backs or anything like that. It's nice to win the game, because after a pre-season when we've won some games you start to get a little run of winning and we know that the run we went on last season of losing cost us our place. "We've got to build one brick at a time, one step at a time and the confidence will come by playing games and winning. "Hartlepool had some good possession but Brill didn't have a save to make. He had to sweep up behind and make a few punches from crosses but he didn't have a save to make. We pulled more saves out of their keeper Barrett. Coyney's was in, Furlong's was in in the first-half. "We've had an inquiry for Kevin Foley and we're considering it and if I were to accept it in the next few days, it would be wrong to risk Kevin. But we've done a bit of business to bring in Richard Jackson, who I thought played very well today."

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