With no win since the home victory against Aldershot, and two home defeats in the league on the bounce, it was vitally important that Luton got three points as soon as possible to get the dream of survival in League Two back on track, and a win at high-flying Bury was just the boost that Luton needed. Tom Craddock proved to be the saviour for Luton on Tuesday night, and once again the Middlesbrough on-loan striker helped Luton a lot. Tuesday night saw Craddock score both Luton goals, one a last minute equaliser to give Luton a point at Blundell Park. Saturday saw the striker chip in with one goal and one assist to direct Luton towards their third away win of the season and helping the team to -14 points.
Yet things could have been so much different. Luton were definitely the team on top for the first half, but after just six minutes Chris O'Grady lobbed Conrad Logan after a Spillane miscue and saw his lob hit the bar rather than drop into the back of the net. Macclesfield scored from a similar situation in their match with the Hatters last month, and had the lob on Saturday dropped in, we could have been looking at a very different match. As it was, after that effort, there was only going to be one team who would break the deadlock. Youngster Jake Howells thought he had done it about twenty minutes in after a cross from the right had fallen in his path. Unfortunately for him, Chris Martin was in the way of his goalbound effort, and the goal was rightfully disallowed, although for some reason the linesman only decided to raise his flag after he had had a word with the referee. So after some premature celebrations from the Luton fans and players, the offside decision was given, and Luton had to start all over again. Unfortunately for Bury, both teams carried on in the same manner, and Claude Gnakpa's cross was turned in by Tom Craddock on 35 minutes to give Luton the lead. Brown in the Bury goal should have done much better with the youngster's effort, but the goal had been coming, and Luton were in a deserved lead. Although Craddock got a lot of luck with the goal, it has to be said that he did very well to control Gnakpa's cross and create space for himself.
Bury came back after Luton had opened the scoring, but the Hatters remained in control of the match for the first half, and extended the lead just before half time. Howells' corner had been won in the air by the Bury defence, but the Shakers' defence dithered on the ball and Martin nipped in to take the ball, Craddock delivered the cross and an unmarked Ian Roper headed past Wayne Brown and into the back of the net for the second Luton goal. The defending was very familiar to Luton fans, as the inability of a team to deal with a set-piece had been witnessed by Luton fans in the last couple of home games and at Grimsby. This time, however, Luton had been causing all the problems, and were good value for the 2-0 half-time lead.
The second half certainly wasn't as comfortable, to say the least. The Hatters did show some signs of attack in the early part of the second half, but Bury quickly got themselves back into the game when Roper mistimed a tackle on Richie Baker on 52 minutes, and Andy Bishop converted a penalty he never looked likely to miss. From that point on, Bury were the dominant team, and a Luton defence that had been breached so easily and so cheaply in previous matches had to stand up to forty minutes of pressure from the Shakers. However, Luton soaked up most of the pressure, with Keith Keane and Ian Roper shining in the back four in particular. Andy Bishop did put the ball in the back of the net at one point, but the referee had blown up for a foul on Keith Keane by Bishop just before. Other than that, Conrad Logan in the Luton goal was barely troubled, and for all Bury's possession, they couldn't get round Spillane and Roper to create any chances. Or at least they could get round Roper, but it would have taken a long time to run all that way. Bury probably did deserve an equaliser for all of the possession that they had, but they simply didn't create any chances. To be honest, I can't really comment on how the second half went, as I spent most of the second half watching the game with my hands over my eyes, or the scarf over my eyes. The only thing that matters to Luton was the result though, and a crucial three points was earned by Luton in a very good all round performance. It was a little bit worrying how we were on the backfoot for all of the second half, but encouraging that we let in no goals from open play in all that time. A victory over one of the top teams in the division is welcome in any circumstances anyhow.
Man of the Match - Keith Keane. The team captain combined very well with Claude Gnakpa in the first half to attack down the right, and stayed solid in the second half. Gnakpa wasn't as good in the second half with Luton on the backfoot, but Keane coped excellently on his own, and never looked like being beaten. Very encouraging when considering we were up against one of the best teams in the division, and any of the back four were worthy of being named Man of the Match. In fact, no one really had a bad game. Craddock and Martin worked well together up front, and Howells and Gnakpa looked very dangerous down the wings, and Roper looked a completely different player to the one that turned up against Port Vale.