BARROW 1 LUTON TOWN 0
Blue Square Bet Premier
Holker Street
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
7.45pm
A second-half Alex-Ray Harvey strike brought Luton’s 14-game unbeaten run to an abrupt end at Barrow as former Hatter David Bayliss celebrated a scrappy victory at Holker Street.
Bluebirds boss Bayliss, who spent four years as a player at Kenilworth Road, watched on as on-loan Burnley midfielder Harvey slotted home from the edge of the box and all but ended Luton’s automatic promotion hopes.
With Gary Brabin’s troops looking to keep the pressure on leaders Fleetwood Town, they had much the better of the first-half but were left to rue missed opportunities, in particular Craig McAllister.
Brabin set his side up in an attacking fashion with Keith Keane and McAllister returning to the starting line-up from the 3-0 victory over Tamworth on Saturday and they got off to a bright start with Aaron O’Connor looking dangerous.
The forward hooked an early shot wide before strike partner McAllister wasted a good opportunity after breaking behind the Bluebirds defence.
McAllister then latched onto a Keane cross but his header found the grateful arms of Shaun Pearson.
The forward, on loan from Newport County, was proving a real threat in the air but failed to connect with a Jake Howells centre as the visitors kept up the pressure.
McAllister again had a chance to break the deadlock just after the half hour mark, but he blazed over from inside the box after neatly turning his defender.
In a late first-half flurry, Greg Taylor’s curling cross-cum-shot hit the bar with Barrow keeper Pearson static but Town went into the break level.
Brabin’s side were almost caught napping straight after the restart when Hungarian defender Janos Kovacs allowed Andy Cook to dispossess him inside area, but his right-footed shot flashed wide of the goal.
Andre Boucaud was then booked on the hour as the game turned scrappy, the Trinidad and Tobago midfielder joining Kovacs into the referee’s notebook, and he was lucky to escape further punishment for a first-half elbow on Cook.
With both sides struggling, it was Bayliss’ side beginning to get a foothold as Jack Mackreth’s right-wing cross evaded everyone – but on 73 minutes their pressure told.
Harvey benefited from a generous ricochet and flashed a low shot beyond the despairing dive of Mark Tyler and in off the far post.
Despite pressing for an equaliser, Luton were fortunate not to go further behind as Tyler did well to divert a low shot onto the post and they must perform better to secure a play-off spot.
LUTON: Tyler, Taylor, Pilkington, Howells, Kovacs, Keane, Lawless, Boucaud (Watkins, 63), McAllister (Kissock, 79), Fleetwood, O’Connor
Unused subs: Kidd, Blackett, Crow
