Feed

Football: Seven heaven for super Town

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:39:36 +0000

LEIGHTON Town have enjoyed a dream few days – scoring seven goals and conceding just one on their way to six priceless league points.

Craig Wells’ men comfortably saw off Chertsey Town in a 3-1 home win on Saturday before sending Uxbridge on their way in an even more impressive 4-0 Bell Close victory on Tuesday night.

The Town boss had targeted eight points from the club’s four home games on the spin, but it’s now looking like they’ll do even better than that, with bottom side Marlow next to visit this Saturday.

Those six points in three days have done wonders for confidence at Bell Close, and also given the Evo-Stik League Division One Central table a better look to it from Town’s perspective.

They may sit 16th in the table, but Town now have a seven-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three.

With their recently postponed fixture against Aylesbury also rearranged, Town now have no less than five home matches in succession.

League leaders St Neots Town represent the most difficult of those games on paper, but no side will particularly fancy coming to Bell Close, especially after the manner in which Leighton sent play-off chasing Uxbridge packing on Tuesday night.

New recruit Layne Eadie scored on his full debut in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Chertsey, and he picked up where he left off with another excellent performance, scoring twice more against Uxbridge.

His 17th minute opener set the home side on their way before Simpson doubled Town’s lead and McBride added a third five minutes before the break to cap an incredible first 45 for Town.

Eadie added his second with a quarter of an hour left to play – by which time Uxbridge were well beaten and Town had their second win in three days.

A double from Ben Gallant completed the Town scoring on Saturday, with Chertsey’s only response a consolation from the penalty spot.

After scoring just three goals in five games in January – including two wins, two defeats and a draw – Town’s have shown fantastic improvement in their last two outings, and now few would bet against them making it a superb hat-trick of wins when basement boys Marlow visit on Saturday.

They are without a win in nine games, although they did earn a creditable point from their trip to North Greenford United on Tuesday night – three days after losing at home to the same side.

Hatters rated v Barrow

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:06:27 +0000

Mark Tyler: 6 – Largely untested and no chance with the goal.

Greg Taylor: 7 – (pictured) Energetic running and battling spirit meant he saw most of the ball.

Keith Keane: 6 – Great to see him return and fitted in seamlessly at right-back.

George Pilkington: 6 – Coped well with the Barrow barrage without ever dominating.

Alex Lawless: 6 – Harried by the opposition which, coupled with the poor weather, meant his composure counted for little.

Craig McAllister: 6 – Made his mark in the first half, but desperately needs a goal and could have had a couple.

Stuart Fleetwood: 6 – Looked quick and threatening but provided more service than he received.

Aaron O’Connor: 6 – Tireless runner but should have put Town ahead with a close-range header.

Jake Howells: 6 – Not as prominent in a midfield that was at times redundant.

Andre Boucaud: 6 – In the thick of the action but couldn’t unlock the solid Bluebirds.

Janos Kovacs: 6 – Put under pressure by Barrow’s direct approach and harshly booked for an ‘elbow’.

Adam Watkins (sub): 5 – Struggled to get into a game where the midfield was bypassed.

John Paul Kissock (sub): 5.5 – Tried to carry the ball, in the thick of the action and had Town’s only real second half effort.

Ratings by Mark Wood

Beckwith open to loan move

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:52:29 +0000

FRUSTRATED centre-half Dean Beckwith has admitted he would be open to going out on loan to play first team football if he can’t get it at Kenilworth Road, writes Mark Wood.

Signed in the summer from League Two neighbours Northampton Town, Beckwith was a regular fixture in Luton’s defence before getting sent off in the game against Lincoln on September 17.

Since then he has struggled to get past the successful centre-half pairing of George Pilkington and Janos Kovacs – signed in his absence – and a calf injury that ruled him out for almost two months has further added to his woes.

While Beckwith has his sights set on winning back his place in the Luton starting 11 he would also be prepared to look elsewhere in order to play.

He said: “Maybe I can go out somewhere and play some games. I’m 28 years old and I don’t want to be not involved.

“Training’s good for your fitness but there’s nothing like playing games and getting match fitness that way.”

For the full story, see this weeks Luton News/Dunstable Gazette on sale now.

Town title hopes are dead and Barrow-ed

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:48:21 +0000

Blue Square Bet Premier

Barrow 1 (0) Luton Town 0 (0)

TOWN’S hopes of promotion fell flat as a pancake as they lost 1-0 to Barrow on a wretched evening in the north west last night, writes Mark Wood.

Victories for the top two of Fleetwood and Wrexham look to have all but killed off Luton’s automatic promotion hopes, while Alex-Ray Harvey’s late second half strike vanquished Hatters on as Barrow beat them for the first-ever time in the Conference, ending Town’s 13-match unbeaten league run.

Before kick off, Luton’s directors handed out scarves to the 70 travelling supporters who had made the mammoth journey to Holker Street where the crowd of 925 was Barrow’s lowest of the season.

Town made two changes from the team that beat Tamworth 3-0 at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.

Right-back Curtis Osano was ruled out through injury and John Paul Kissock dropped to the bench as in came Keith Keane at full-back with Craig McAllister leading the line.

Young keeper Lewis Kidd, meanwhile, was named on the bench following the shock retirement of Kevin Pilkington.

Hatters started with a strong wind at their backs and McAllister turned well in the opening moments but dragged his effort wide, while a flowing move saw Aaron O’Connor have his shot deflected over.

The conditions were having a telling influence on the game and Luton had another opportunity on 10 minutes when McAllister burst on to Janos Kovacs’ ball over the top but he could roll tamely at Shaun Pearson.

A Keane cross was then headed goalwards by McAllister but it was again too easy for Pearson, before the Hatters should have taken the lead on 20 minutes.

A good passing move ended in Greg Taylor picking out O’Connor in the six yard box but he could only glance his header straight at the keeper.

The tackles began to fly in midway through the half as the game developed some bite, while O’Connor and Stuart Fleetwood combined well on 25 minutes but Jake Howells was just unable to get on the end of the cross.

In a scrappy half, Luton were the only ones playing with any real quality as McAllister was just unable to connect with a hanging Howells cross.

The Bluebirds finally threatened after half an hour. Jack Mackreth having his effort blocked and the lively Richie Baker firing straight at Mark Tyler.

Another good chance went begging for the visitors 10 minutes before the break when O’Connor’s flick fell for McAllister, but the target man blasted wide of the mark.

With the wind at their backs Barrow looked a different side in the second half.

Andy Cook robbed Kovacs five minutes in but flashed wide when he should have found the net.

O’Connor had shouts for a penalty turned down just past the hour as the game continued to simmer, but there was little quality on a dreadful night.

Referee S Duncan was struggling to keep control of the game and Mackreth almost unlocked the Luton defence when he got in behind on 71 minutes, but his low cross went begging.

Accustomed to the conditions the hosts finally made the breakthrough two minutes later when the ball was pulled back to Harvey and his low shot crept inside the far post.

Substitute Kissock almost threaded Fleetwood through but he was just beaten to it by the keeper.

Town pushed for an equaliser as Kissock’s low free-kick was straight into Pearson’s midriff with two minutes to go.

The Bluebirds almost added a second in the last minute when Paul Rutherford wriggled free on the left and Cook would have found the bottom corner but for a combination of Tyler and the post.

Both sides squared up in the second minute of injury time and the final whistle soon followed as the Bluebirds’ victory was given a rapturous reception by the gleeful home supporters.

Bluebirds: Shaun Pearson, Paul Smith, Gavin Skelton, Phil Bolland (C), Danny Hone, Jack Mackreth, Richie Baker, James Owen, Alex-Ray Harvey, Andy Cook, Chris Turner (Paul Rutherford 67). Substitutes not used: Alex Cairns, Andy Nicholas, Andy Ferrell, Cliff Moyo.

Hatters: Mark Tyler, Greg Taylor, Keith Keane, George Pilkington (C), Alex Lawless, Craig McAllister (John-Paul Kissock 80), Stuart Fleetwood, Aaron O’Connor, Jake Howells, Andre Boucaud (Adam Watkins 63), Janos Kovacs. Substitutes not used: Lewis Kidd, Danny Crow, Shane Blackett.

Bookings: Kovacs 30, Boucaud 56, Fleetwood 61.

Referee: S Duncan.

Assistant Referees: M Dicicco and S Hudson.

Fourth Official: K Mulraine.

Attendance: 925 (Hatters 70).

Star Hatter: Greg Taylor. Solid and forward thinking on a night where quality was at a premium.

For all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our {http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/sport/football/hatters-microsite|Hatters Microsite|Click here for the Hatters Microsite}.

Boucaud hoping for a better outcome at Barrow

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:11:25 +0000

HATTERS midfielder Andre Boucaud is hoping for a better outcome when he takes to the field at Holker Street with Luton Town tonight, writes Mike Simmonds.

Back in November, when playing for York City, the 27-year-old was sent off in the 90th minute along with former Luton striker Jason Walker as the Minstermen were held to a 0-0 draw.

Boucaud, who impressed on his Hatters debut at the weekend, said: “I got sent off about three or four months ago there, so it’s not the greatest of places but that’s gone now.

“I’m at Luton now and I want to go and get three points for Luton.”

Speaking about the game with Barrow, who are still in with a shout of the play-offs themselves, Boucaud added: “It’s going to be difficult with the conditions of the ground and the pitch isn’t the greatest.

“But you have to stand up and be counted. You’ve got to go and get a result which is the main thing and I think we’ll do that.”

PREVIEW: Hatters out to end Barrow’s proud home run

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:13:26 +0000

BARROW have been one of the major surprise packages in the Blue Square Bet Premier this season, writes Mike Simmonds.

An 18th place finish with 50 points to their name last campaign, gave little impression of a potential promotion push this time round, but they are currently sitting pretty in 11th place, just two points from beating their previous points tally with 14 games to go.

Nabbing a play-off spot isn’t beyond them either as the Bluebirds are ony seven points behind another team many didn’t expect to feature at the top end of the table this year in Southport.

Off the pitch, the club have been in a period of change during the last few weeks with joint manager Darren Sheridan first suspended from his duties following an internal investigation and then swiftly leaving by mutual consent.

Sheridan had been part of a double act with former Luton defender Dave Bayliss for the past five years, leading the club into the Conference, but Bayliss has since confirmed he remains committed to the role.

Recent results have been up and down with Barrow beating Kettering at the weekend, but losing four of their last seven matches, including being dumped out of the FA Trophy at Wealdstone.

On home soil they remain an extremely tough proposition though as they haven’t lost in eight matches, and that was a 2-1 home defeat to League Two Rotherham United in the FA Cup on November 12.

You have to go back even further for the Bluebirds last home league defeat, a mightily impressive 11 games when they went down 3-2 to Mansfield on September 17.

Strikers Adam Boyes and Andy Cook have been in scintillating form, with Boyes on 14 in the league this year, and Cook netting 15.

The club have continued to strengthen too with former Accrington and Burscough winger Chris Turner signing after impressing in a practice match,

Burnley duo Alex-Ray Harvey and Joe Jackson also joined on loan, while Leeds goalkeeper Alex Cairns has been brought in on a month-long deal.

Games between the two sides haven’t exaclty produced a flurry of goals in recent times either, apart from the 5-1 demolition handed out by Luton at Kenilworth Road earlier this season.

Three out of the four times the sides have met in the Conference, Luton have won by just the single goal, with the other match ending 0-0.

Town have conceded just once in their last five meetings home and away, although Barrow did enjoy better luck when they were a Football League club, beating Hatters 2-1 and 3-0 back in the 1960s/70s.

Team news: Hatters are still without joint leading scorer Amari Morgan-Smith and midfielder James Dance, while defender Dan Gleeson is also struggling as is Curtis Osano who was substituted with a tight hamstring on Saturday.

Keith Keane, Dean Beckwith, Charlie Henry, Shane Blackett and Ed Asafu-Adjaye are all fit though while young keeper Lewis Kidd may be on the bench after Kevin Pilkington left to join Notts County as a goalkeeping coach on Monday.

For Barrow, Kelvin Lomax is available after his suspension, but Adam Boyes and Joe Jackson are both banned.

In charge: Dave Bayliss – Liverpudlian centre half who made his name at Rochdale, playing over 150 times for the club, before a spell on loan with the Hatters, where he made 37 appearances between 2001-2005.

Eventually moved to Barrow, where he became player manager in 2007 and has been an undeniable success, leading the club to the Conference and also an FA Trophy Final win over Stevenage in 2009.

View from the opposition: Manager Dave Bayliss - “We want to make sure our home ground is a fortress and to get to 10 wins is a really good achievement so far. But there is many more games to come and we have to make sure we get more wins.”

One to watch: Andy Cook – young striker who has been a revelation at Holker Street this season.

Started life at Carlisle before two loan moves to Barrow ended in a permanent deal in January 2011.

Began with a bang this season, notching a hat-trick in a shock 4-0 win over Fleetwood, before another treble followed against Hayes & Yeading.

Netted another two in the victory over Kettering on Saturday and has six in his last six games, making it 15 in 26 league appearances this season.

Last time out: Hatters battled their way to a 1-0 victory last season thanks to Matthew Barnes-Homer’s 37th minute winner.

The game saw a Town debut for midfielder Godfrey Poku against a Barrow side indluding former Luton striker Jason Walker.

Hatters: Mark Tyler, Dan Gleeson, Freddie Murray, George Pilkington, Zdenek Kroca, Jake Howells, Claude Gnakpa (Godfrey Poku 66), Keith Keane, Andy Drury, Matthew Barnes-Homer (Taiwo Atieno 75), Danny Crow (Amari Morgan-Smith 60).

Attendance: 1,416.

Kovacs: It wasn’t my goal!

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:25:29 +0000

OVERJOYED Janos Kovacs admitted his excitement got the better of him as he celebrated Francino Francis’ own goal like one of his own in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Tamworth, writes Mark Wood.

Kovacs had already netted his third goal of the season to put Town 2-0 up, but conceded he had no claims over Francis’ late deflection.

On the number of goals he scored, the defender said: “One, just one. The second goal was an own goal so I just ran away to celebrate it, because as soon as I saw the ball was going into the net I was just happy and ran away and celebrated like it was my goal, but it was an own goal.”

For the full story, see the Luton News/Dunstable Gazette on sale tomorrow.

Brabin could tinker with a winning side

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:31:24 +0000

HATTERS boss Gary Brabin hasn’t ruled out changing a winning team when Luton travel to Barrow tonight, writes Mike Simmonds.

Town eased past Tamworth 3-0 in their Blue Square Bet Premier clash on Saturday, but after the game, the likes of Keith Keane, Craig McAllister, Dean Beckwith, Shane Blackett, Charlie Henry, Ed Asafu-Adjaye and Godfrey Poku all took part in a mini-training session on the deserted Kenilworth Road surface.

With an almost fully fit squad to choose from, bar Amari Morgan-Smith and James Dance, Brabin now has plenty of selection headaches to contend with.

He said: “The lads who played have got to do the right recovery, get themselves right and up for it.

“Then the lads who haven’t been involved, we need to get them right and vying for places as there’s no guarantee people will be keeping the shirts.

“I genuinely picked a side that I thought was worthy and capable of winning the (Tamworth) game.

“It was pleasing we’ve achieved that, but that’s not to say that we take the lads on the fringe of things lightly.

“We’ve got Craig McAllister who’s come on and did really well, he’s going to be vying for a spot as well as Keith Keane who was disappointed he wasn’t in the 16.

“Danny Crow is back fully fit, we’ve got Dean Beckwith and Shane Blackett, Craig Henry and Ed, so we’ve got some players on the fringe of things who are desperate to play football.

“That’s what I want so lets see how the preparation goes.”

The right back position could be a quandary for Brabin with Curtis Osano needing to be substituted early on at the weekend, but despite Dan Gleeson looking like he’ll miss out too, the boss has plenty of options.

He said: “It does help when we’ve got a settled back four. It’s just the right back position that seems to be the problem.

“Gleeson is definitely struggling and we’ll see how Curtis is. Hopefully we’ve brought him off in time, it’s not too much of a problem and if not we’ll assess the situation.”

On whether Keane coud slot straight back in at full back, Brabin continued: “Keith just wants to play football for the club, he doesn’t mind where he plays. I’m sure if he had a start on Tuesday he’d gladly take the right back shirt, but there’s a few things we’ve got to look at and Keith is certainly in our thoughts.”

Opponents Barrow have been in turmoil recently after joint-boss Darren Sheridan left the club by mutual consent after five years in charge at Holker Street.

The 44-year-old had been suspended by the Bluebirds for undisclosed reasons while the club launched an internal investigation.

Former Hatter Dave Bayliss is now in sole charge and Brabin, who signed striker Jason Walker from Barrow last season, said: “We’re quite friendly with both the management duo and I haven’t really had a lengthy conversation so I don’t know what’s gone on behind the scenes there.

“They’ve done well over the years, got Barrow back in this division, so I’m sure they’re both gutted about what happened, but I’m sure there’s a reason for it.

“David will be gutted losing his partner, but I’m sure he’ll relish doing it on his own as equally as he was doing it in a partnership.

“I’m sure he’ll be right up for this game.

“We’ve just got to take that out of the occasion, we know when we go up there, we’re another big scalp for them, and weve got to make sure we’re right.”

Town won 1-0 at Barrow last year, thanks to Matthew Barnes-Homer’s strike and this season, the Bluebirds have impressed, sitting in 11th position, still in with an outside shot of making the play-offs themselves.

Brabin added: “I’m expecting it to be tough. All the things which we’ve got to expect against teams who look at us as a big scalp. They’re going to make it hard for us, we know that’s the norm now.

“We’ve just got to rise above that and try and put in another performance like we did on Saturday and get the right result as well.

“I know a lot of their players, they’ve got some good players, so it’s not going to be easy but no game is in this league.

“I’m delighted with the last few games and the last few results and we’ve just got to continue that.”

Football: Impressive Town return with three big league points

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:27:38 +0000

THREE first half goals gave Leighton Town the perfect return to league action after an enforced three-week rest as they saw off Chertsey to put further distance between themselves and the Evo-Stik Division One Central relegation zone.

Buoyed by the signing of prolific striker Lawrence Bunker from South Midlands League Premier side Berkhamsted, Town’s first half performance was particularly impressive.

But maybe due to the three-week bad weather break, they were unable to maintain the pace and intensity after the interval and the visitors secured a consolation goal from the penalty spot to deny Town a clean sheet in their 3-1 Bell Close win.

Manager Craig Wells recalled goalkeeper Kevin Marsh after missing the last two games, while Bunker – who has netted 21 times for Berkhamsted this season – was only named amongst the substitutes, but got on for his debut in the second half for the best part of half an hour.

Leighton started at a high tempo and the visitors’ keeper was called into early action as he blocked one effort at the expense of a corner almost straight from kick-off.

And the Town fans didn’t have to wait too long for the opening goal – coming in just the fourth minute when keeper Norris was unable to hold on to the ball under pressure and Layne Eadie – another recent arrival making his home debut – was able to fire into an empty net.

Town fans were happy with the bright opening and they had even more to cheer about just two minutes later when Lewis McBride’s superb cross was met by the unmarked Ben Gallant who headed home the second goal.

Leighton were well on top, playing some excellent passing football on a very difficult pitch which had been saturated by heavy rain from about an hour before the game.

And they added a third goal in the 29th minute when Gallant calmly curled the ball around the keeper and into the bottom left hand corner of the goal after being set clear by a Shane Hill pass.

At this stage of the game it looked as if Town could easily reverse the 5-0 loss they suffered at Chertsey earlier in the season as they dominated proceedings and left Marsh a virtual spectator in the home goal.

The pace of the game was noticeably slower in the second half though and the visitors were more involved in the game, but Town could easily have gone further ahead in the 56th minute when Eadie ran onto an Enzo Silvestri free-kick, rounded the keeper, but fired well wide of the unguarded goal.

Two minutes later McBride was forced off through injury after an excellent display, and in the 60th minute Jack Copson replaced Eadie who looked tired after an encouraging performance from the wide man.

Chertsey enjoyed a spell on top after the changes and were soon handed a chance to get back into the game after a Copson challenge on the corner of the penalty area was adjudged to be a foul by the referee.

The penalty was coolly slotted home with Marsh diving in the opposite direction, but it sparked Leighton back into action, rather than giving the visitors a lifeline.

With a quarter of an hour to play, Jake Bewley – who was moved forward into the midfield when Eadie was substituted – ran past his marker but then put his shot wide of the near post with Leighton players queuing up for a cross.

And any hope Chertsey had of getting anything from the game disappeared in the 80th minute when Pomroy was sent off for a stupid and pointless second yellow card after handling a Leighton free kick.

Then visiting keeper Norris had to leave the pitch after sustaining an ankle injury after a Leighton corner. And replacement Shipperley had only been on the pitch four minutes when he was also injured following a tackle by Bewley.

Unfortunately the young keeper had to leave the field on a stretcher with a bad ankle injury. The referee, after consulting with his assistant, ruled Bewley’s challenge to be serious foul play and the youngster was sent off – the only sour note on an otherwise great day for Town.

Town saw out the remaining couple of minutes and secured three welcome points in their fight against relegation – they stay sixth from bottom of the table but with a bit more breathing space between themselves and the sides below them.

Despite a better showing from Chertsey in the second half, Wells’ men were never in serious trouble and in fact neither keeper had much to do in the second half.

But this was a good all round Leighton display and even on a tricky playing surface they moved the ball with precision and pace, and it would not have flattered them if they had been five goals in front at the interval.

And they will need to carry that sort of form into Tuesday night’s difficult fixture against Uxbridge. They beat Daventry Town 5-2 on Saturday and come to Bell Close with a play-off place in their sights. Leighton then host Marlow on Saturday.