Published: 31/08/2010 14:03 - Updated: 31/08/2010 14:09

Mark Tyler believes the referee missed a number of Hayes & Yeading hand balls in the penalty area that could have meant Luton Town came away with more than a point in their 1-1 draw.

Both he and fellow keeper Kevin Pilkington almost missed the match due to a crash on the A1, but a police escort got the stoppers to Kenilworth Road, only for Tyler to have one his busier afternoons in a Hatters shirt.

Part timers United, who lost 8-0 at Luton last season, scored first through Bradley Pritchard's well taken lob but Luton replied quickly when Andy Drury headed in from close range before getting sent off in extra time for a second caution.

After levelling on the hour Town couldn't force a winner, but it wasn't all one way traffic and Tyler had to make a string of fingertip saves to keep his side in the game.

Nevertheless, the keeper believes there were two cast iron penalty appeals turned down in quick succession when Kevin Gallen and Adam Murray appeared to have shots blocked with hands late on.

“If the referee sees the game, then I think there were a few hand balls that went unnoticed and that's why we were getting frustrated towards the end," said Tyler.

“I saw the blatant (from Gallen's effort) one and Murray’s one as well, but there ifs and buts and we should have come away with three points."

As for Drury's two yellow cards, Tyler, like most of the stadium thought it was laughable that the midfielder was shown a first yellow for pointing out, and measuring the distance of a Hayes wall for a free kick to be incorrect.

“Dukes (Andy Drury) probably wasn’t even swearing at the referee, but you could see he was getting a bit animated. At the end of the day it’s a stupid booking, but it shouldn’t have been given.

“He’s then made a tackle and got himself sent off and, at the moment, that’s the way things are going for us.

“Referees are strange people. We got used to it last year and hopefully we get some better ones in the next few games."

Though United's goal was a precision strike, Tyler believes that it could have been prevented, had he not punched away a ball into the box and allowed captain George Pilkington to deal with it.

“I shouted early for the cross but it died on me. I had a quiet word with George after the game and he said maybe he could have headed it.

“We had four on the line and he’s got it under the bar. These things happen but we got the goal back and I thought we could have won the game.

“Personally, I’d have liked it a bit more comfortable. It’s nice to be busy, but also nice to have a quiet game now and then.

“They set their stall out but we had maybe three or four chances in the first half and if one of them went in we could have won comfortably.

“They’ve improved a lot and had a few chances as well. At the end of the day, 1-1 was probably a fair result.

“It was one of the busiest games I’ve had, especially at home. To be fair, we should be winning games like this if we want to go up. We are still undefeated at home and are looking forward to Grimsby.”

Tyler was chosen over Pilkington, who played against Tamworth, with manager Richard Money continuing his early season theme of swapping his stoppers for each game.

“It’s the gaffer’s choice. He picks the team to win that game and that’s how it is at the moment. We are both experienced enough to get on with it.

“We back each other. There’s no rift between me and Kev. It keeps us on our toes."

One point from two Bank Holiday games was not the return Luton had wanted and, after their first defeat of the season 48 hours earlier in a 3-1 loss to Tamworth,  Tyler felt Luton weren't quite at their best.

“Tamworth’s a difficult place to go and we didn’t set our stall out from the start. The result wasn’t what we wanted.

“A defeat knocks you back a bit and it showed in the first half (against Hayes). We tried to win the game desperately but lost our shape towards the end and gave them a few more chances."