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VENUE Kenilworth Road ATTENDANCE 5,560 REFEREE James Linington MATCH DATE 11 October 2008 KICK OFF TIME 15:00

LUTON TOWN Conrad Logan   Ed Asafu-Adjaye   Ryan Charles 58   Michael Spillane   Harry Worley   Jake Howells   Claude Gnakpa   Asa Hall   Keith Keane   Rossi Jarvis   Garreth O'Connor   Chris Martin   SUBS NOT USED Dean Brill   Ian Roper   Paul McVeigh

DARLINGTON Simon Brown   Neil Austin Alan White   Steve Foster   Tim Ryan Jason Kennedy   Rob Purdie   Ricky Ravenhill   David Poole   Gregg Blundell 60   Billy Clarke   Robin Hulbert 89   Liam Hatch SUBS NOT USED Ian Miller   Adam Proudlock   Przemys³aw Kazimierczak

Match Report	11 October 2008
Luton Town 1 - 2 Darlington

LUTON TOWN 1 Claude Gnakpa '31  DARLINGTON 2 Billy Clarke '15 Gregg Blundell '90

LATE DARLO GOAL DENTS HATTERS SURVIVAL HOPES...

Lacking firepower, a youthful Luton Town were dealt a cruel blow as Darlington grabbed victory in the last minute at Kenilworth Road.

Robbed of their most experienced players, a late Greg Blundell strike capped a frustrating afternoon for the Hatters who had battled so hard throughout and had earlier cancelled out Billy Clarke's strike through Claude Gnakpa's header.

Luton made just one change to the starting XI that beat Brentford in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy via the first-ever penalty shootout at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night.

Manager Mick Harford opted for the 4-5-1 formation that served the Hatters so well in their 1-1 draw at Bradford, with captain Keith Keane coming back in for striker Ryan Charles and Chris Martin ploughing a lone furrow in attack.

The Quakers started to cause problems for their hosts from as early as the second minute when David Poole's cross was allowed to run right across the face of goal before Ed Asafu-Adjaye could clear it behind.

Luton were struggling to really impose themselves on the game, but Keane should probably have done better when he headed Rossi Jarvis' corner over on 12 minutes.

But Luton were hit with a hammer blow when Darlington took the lead out of the blue on 15 minutes. Asafu-Adjaye gave away a pointless free-kick on the right and Rob Purdie's cross was met at the front post by Clarke who easily turned the ball past the exposed Conrad Logan.

This strike seemed to wake the Hatters from their slumber and Asa Hall's speculative long range effort on 20 minutes easily looped over the stranded Simon Brown, but sadly dipped wide of the right-hand upright.

"Gnakpa levelled the scores with his first goal for the club on 31 minutes"

With just one man up front, Luton were playing far too much football outside of Daro's box and rarely threatened the visitors goal until Gnakpa levelled the scores with his first goal for the club on 31 minutes. Having been fouled on the right, the Frenchman rose highest in the Quakers' box to glance home Jarvis' free-kick into the top left-hand corner.

And the Hatters should have been in front with a beautiful flowing move six minutes later. Jake Howells was quickest on to Garreth O'Connor's intercepted pass and his lovely inside pass set Martin free inside the box, but his close range effort was well saved by Brown, who also managed to get to the loose ball first with Howells lurking.

Clarke tested Logan again with a good shot on the turn from outside the box with six minutes left, while in the dying moments of the half Michael Spillane could only turn another Jarvis free-kick wide of the post.

The second-half started in much the same way with disjointed Luton struggling to create much with only one up front.

In a bid to inject some impetus, Harford threw both striker Ryan Charles and winger Marc Pugh into the action on 58 minutes at the expense of Asafu-Adjaye and O'Connor.

Suddenly Luton seemed much more likely in attack and almost seized the lead on 66 minutes. Jarvis met Howells’ great cross from the left, but his shot was straight at Brown.

The game began to open up and Purdie was inches away from giving the visitors the advantage three minutes later. The winger roasted Harry Worley down the right before cutting inside and clipping the bar with a great effort from 20-yards out.

And Darlo went close again with just 15 minutes left. The lively Clarke got the better of Gnakpa on the left and Liam Hatch headed his cross just wide.

The action started to swing from end to end, and Charles should have tested Brown with 10 minutes to go. A nippy Luton counter-attack ended with Pugh crossing invitingly for Charles, but the young striker failed to connect properly when well placed.

Substitute Blundell burst into Luton's box seconds later and forced a decent stop from Logan with a ferocious drive.

With eight minutes left the Hatters carved out another glorious opportunity. Jarvis fired in a fantastic cross from right but Spillane's sent a bullet header wide at the front post.

"And the Quakers snatched it in the last minute"

And the Quakers snatched it in the last minute with a great striker from Blundell. Jason Kennedy's pass released the substitute and Blundell made no mistake as he rippled the net from 10-yards out.

Luton still had one last chance to level when Worley's surging run opened up the heart of Darlo's defence, but the Asa Hall's effort rattled the bar and the Quakers cleared the danger as they hung on for victory.

Harford's Comments	11 October 2008
Luton Town 1-2 Darlington "I think it has been well documented that we have a young team. The majority of our experienced players are out through injury. "That's a massive, massive thing to deal with and I just think they are young kids who will be good players but unfortunately they've been thrown into a situation where they deserve a bit of guidance. "I don't think we deserved to lose today but to give two goals away in the way we did is very disappointing. You've got to be vigilant and hang in there when you come into the last minutes of the game. "We've been sloppy defending a throw-in and the guy has got in there. "We've got one striker who is fully fit. If we had had two who are fully fit we would play two. If Ryan (Charles] had played games he would play, but he is not 100 per cent fit. "Young Jake Howells was exceptional today. He was the best player on the pitch, but the position we are in we need to win games. "It's irrelevant what age they are and what experience they've got. At a vital stage of the season we've got a calamitous injury list. "We've got to cut giving sloppy goals away - we created enough chances. "We had to win today. It sets us back a bit, but we will bounce back. "These fans are brilliant. They've been through a lot of shit the last couple of years. They deserve better and we are trying to give them better."

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