Hull City v Luton Town

Luton played well enough for the most part but failed to capitalise on some good chances, and in the end were happy to hang on for a point.

With Lewis Emanuel, Carlos Edwards, Ahmet Brkovic and Steve Robinson all unavailable through illness or injury, Luton’s plethora of midfielders came in handy. It is fortunate that the likes of Richard Langley, Dean Morgan and David Bell were able to fill the roles more than adequately.

Marlon Beresford was captain in the absence of Coyne and Robinson, as Luton took on the bottom team in the league, although it should be noted that Hull have had some very good results againt some decent teams.

After seven minutes of the teams’ pussyfooting around each other, Luton at last looked dangerous, with Dean Morgan crossing to David Bell, but although he struck the ball well, Bo Myhill made a good stop. On the counter, Leon Barnett misjudged his clearance and let in Jon Parkin, who looked odds on to score but Beresford spread himself well and cleared off his legs.

A Stuart Elliott free-kick led to Danny Mills getting a shot on target which beat Beresford, but Foley had read it and cleared off the line superbly. Within 90 seconds he did it again to clear a Forster shot from distance. Hull were beginning to look the most likely side to break the deadlock, but a combination of poor finishing, good defending from Luton and Hull’s seeming lack of confidence saw Luton out of trouble.

Fagan shot wide and a training ground Elliott free kick drew a good save from Marlon, but the best chance of the half fell to Luton.

David Bell went on one of those runs which caused Birmingham so much trouble on Saturday, getting into the box, and seeing that Vine was better placed, unselfishly slid the ball to the leading goal scorer only for the unlucky Vine to lose his footing at the vital moment.

Forster drilled another effort high over the bar and O’Leary made a good run and shot well, but unfortunately almost straight at the keeper.

Another mazy run by Morgan left two defenders in his wake, and a delightful cross found Bell, who headed across goal, but Parkin couldn’t get on the end of it.

The second half took an age to get going and eventually it was Hull who took up the challenge, with Coles striking one on the volley, but Marlon Beresford was up to the task. Then Jon Parkin challenged Beresford for a cross and although he got to it before the keeper, Marlon’s presence was enough to delay his shot and his effort never looked like going in.

Dean Morgan and Kevin Foley were working the flanks quite well and sent over some testing crosses, and Luton’s Parkin did well to head goalwards on a couple of occasions but again did not look like hitting the net.

David Bell found some space and passed to Morgan who was well placed, but he took too long to get his shot away, and Mills was able to challenge and put him off.

From half time, it was odds on a goalless draw, but towards the end, a cracking free kick from Mills saw Beresford make a good save, and as Welsh got onto the rebound the goal was at his mercy, but Beresford made a save that was bordering on the miraculous.

At the death Referee Graham Laws came to the town’s rescue, as Hull finally became the first team to hit the back of the net, when Stuart Elliott drove in a volley from close in just as the referee blew for a foul.

A draw was a fair result on the night although it would have been nice to have seen some goals. On the other hand, it is not often that the Town keep a clean sheet these days, so that is something to be grateful for.

The teams around us in the league did not fare much better, and Luton moved above Birmingham into seventh place, with trouble torn Leeds the next team to face the Hatters opn Saturday at Kenilworth Road.