Ipswich v Luton

Luton crashed to an uncharacteristic 5-0 defeat at Portman Road, but, in the overall scheme of things, it is difficult to be critical or even care about the result, or the poor decisions by the officials, which helped to shape the match.

With the news coming out, after the match, that Sol Davis was so ill and may have had a stroke, the result of a football match pales into insignificance. News of his condition seems positive, and he is comfortable and improving, but the reported prognosis of a full recovery in six months seems optimistic if, indeed, it is a stroke that he has suffered. Some rumours are circulating that it may have been a reaction to the virus which has been circulating among the players, in which case, perhaps it is not as serious as was first thought, but in any event, I am sure that we all wish him the speediest of recoveries.

Luton were without Coyne, Heikkinen, Parkin and of course Sol, and Lewis Emanuel came in for Davis, and Keith Keane for Heikkinen.

Luton began the game well and looked as if they might overwhelm the opposition, but slack marking from a corner allowed Legwinski to steal ahead of his supposed marker, and glance home the first goal.

Luton seemed to be disinterested for long periods, and it is difficult to rule out the possibility that their minds were elsewhere, with their colleague.

However, they were fortunate not to be further behind when the woodwork was struck by Ipswich on no less than three occasions, and Marlon Beresford made two outstanding saves, so 1-0 was not a bad score at half time.

Early in the second half, a clever through ball to Carlos Edwards sent him clear down the right. At the moment the ball was released to Edwards, Rowan Vine was in an offside position on the far left. As Carlos bore down on the unprotected keeper, Vine sprinted up with play, and Edwards squared the ball for Vine to run onto and smash the ball into the roof of the net. Celebrations were cut short when the Assistant Referee raised his flag for offside.

At first, I thought that the official ruled that Vine was ahead of the ball, which was clearly not the case, and at no time was the Assistant up with play during the move. That is not a criticism because Edwards left everyone for dead including the officials, however, pundits on TV showed that Vine was in an offside position earlier and mooted that the official was correct in giving offside as Vine took part in the second phase of the move. This is incorrect to Law. In the Laws of Association Football, under ‘questions and answers`, it clearly describes the exact incident, and states that the referee should award a goal in those circumstances.

Soon afterwards, Lee climbed to head a steepling cross from the left, clearly holding down Beresford as he did so, and when the ball broke to Peters and was hooked into the net, I was just waiting for the referee to give the free kick, but it did not come.

So in a few minutes, it should have been 1-1, but had become 2-0, and to Ipswich`s credit, they tore Luton apart as the Hatters` heads dropped. Had those decisions gone the way of the Town, I would have bet money on Luton going on to win the match.

As Luton went into damage limitation mode, Lee scored two goals, and as the game moved into time added on, the final insult was a penalty decision to Ipswich that should have been a free kick to Luton. Gary Roberts clearly pushed his hand into Foley`s face and then fell down in the box as the players came together, and the penalty decision was harsh even allowing for the referee`s having missed the first foul by Roberts. Sometimes it is just not your day!

Now the lads have to pick themselves up and prepare to meet in-form Burnley at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday evening.