cardboardbox?Youwerelucky
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Luton vs Leeds 26th January 2008Taken from another forum
| Quote: | After last week's dismal display against our local 'rivals' Leeds fans were expecting more desire and determination as we looked to bounce back from that defeat at Kenilworth Road; a ground we had failed to win at on the previous two recent meetings between the teams. Few, myself included, who travelled to last year's match would want to remember the 5-1 trouncing we suffered to 'the small town in Watford' and today's game offered a chance to settle the scores.
It was to be Mick Harford's first home game in charge of the Hatters and as returning hero he would be looking to get his team out of the relegation zone against a backdrop of financial difficulties forcing the club into selling their best players and a 10-point deduction (no sympathy here). Harford had shown good managerial credentions at QPR earlier in the season and backed by a sell-out crowd it would ensure a tough game for The Mighty Whites.
However, the favourable results on Friday night surely would have spurred on tha lads, giving us the chance to sit in 2nd spot by 5 o' clock.
Having found parking spaces myself, my Dad and brother walked through the delight that is Luton town centre. I'm being sarcastic, of course. A reward for promotion this season would be not having to play in this s***hole of a place but that's neither here nor there. We found ourselves confronted by the now familiar if still unbelievable sight of having to go through the turnstiles in the middle of a row of houses in what seems to be just another street which leads to the ground.
Acknowledging the look of bewilderment on the faces of many-a-Leeds fan's face as we passed through this farcical entry to the ground, we then assessed the enclosure itself. In keeping with the tone of the town itself, Kenilworth Road is dire-3 small stands with too many seats and not enough leg room and a construction of what seems like portakabins to the left of us Leeds fans.
To the game: Kandol and Prutton in for Flo and Kilkenny. The inclusion of Prutton was comforting due to last week's terrible decision to accomodate Hughes in the team by playing him Right-Midfield. The fans were in great form as per usual and chanted gems such as 'We've had more points taken off than you', 'We're going up, you're going down again' and 'Where's your caravan?' to the bemusement (I think) of David Prutton.
Luton started the game in the ascendency for the first 20 minutes whilst we soaked up the pressure admirably-thanks to the excellent Huntingdon and Kenton. After this period we got back into the game and nearly scored through a superb move where Beckford headed to Sweeney who set up Kandol who outmuscled their defender before narrowly firing over with a chip.
Shortly after, Sweeney whipped in a free-kick which Huntingdon precisely headed home. Cue celebrations from the fans. About 8 Leeds fans had to be ejected from the Luton end for letting their emotions getting the better of them and a fair few Leeds fans were spotted in the hospitality area. A rare win at Luton now seemed on the cards and chants grew even louder.
The second-half started well with Ben Parker playing a number of one-two's before nearly setting up Beckford for what would have been a goal of the season contender if it had come to anything. As time went on it seemed possible Luton could pull a goal back so it was vital we took our chances. That chance came when Kandol bravely got past the defender but having done the hard part and with only the goalkeeper in his way he blasted over when he should have put the game to bed.
The catalyst for Luton's late pressure came when Dean Morgan came on. Taunted by chants of 'You're too sh1t to play for Leeds' he proved frustratingly that in fact this was not the case. On 90 minutes he put in a great cross and Leeds fans breathed a sigh of relief as Furlong headed wide. But we hadn't learned our lesson and an almost identical cross was sent in by Morgan only for Parkin to finish perfectly and sent the Lu'on (their fans are incapable of pronouncing t's) fans delirious.
On the face of it a draw was a fair result but having taken the lead it was hugely disapointing that we could not hold on to or build on it. Once again, when other teams have done us a favour we have not capitalized on the opportunity to move up the league.
We were left eager to leave Luton and hopefully we will not have to return to this cursed ground for a good while yet.
Player ratings:
Ankergren-5-Kicking was terrible and was nearly responsible for a Luton goal when he dropped a catch.
Frazer-6-Didn't see much of him.
Huntingdon-9-Man of the Match. A commanding performance.
Kenton-8-Defende bravely.
Parker-8-Looking more accomplished with every game.
Prutton-7-Solid performance.
Hughes-3-Terrible. Hope Wise leaves him out against Southend.
Johnson-6-Quiet. Contributed little.
Sweeney-6-Very quiet. Great assist for goal though.
Kandol-8-Worked hard-the perfect foil for Becks. Needs a goal badly though.
Beckford-7-Got caught offside a lot but tried.
(Sorry if you find this overlong. I've been wanting to do a match report fo a while so there it is.) |
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