Chesterfield 1, Luton 0
Nationwide League Division Two, Saturday May 8, 2004
EVEN the wildest parties can be tinged with sadness.
And as Chesterfield celebrated retaining their Division Two status thanks to an 88th minute Glynn Hurst winner, it was a sad moment for around ten Luton players who might have played their last game for the club.
Club captain Kevin Nicholls, Steve Robinson, Chris Coyne, Emmerson Boyce, Alan Neilson and Adrian Forbes must have wondered where their futures lie as they saluted the travelling fans after yet another late sucker punch.
With their contracts up in the summer and the club's proposed take-over stalling, the hard-working six were treated to an emotional standing ovation from the 1,000-strong Hatters' army, who showed their appreciation for the players' efforts, if it was to be their last game.
Injury prone duo Russ Perrett and David Bayliss and long-serving fans' favourite Matt Spring must have similarly had lumps in their throats as they watched proceedings from the stand, wondering too if they are to be offered new terms for next season.
If they do move on in the summer due the club's financial constraints, it was a disappointing way for it to end with defeat condemning Hatters to a 10th place league finish in a season that had promised so much more.
Mike Newell made one change to the team that beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2, with Enoch Showunmi coming in for the injured Steve Howard, who was not risked after picking up a knock in training.
How Luton missed him.
Youngster Dean Brill continued in goal in place of the dropped Morten Hyldgaard, who is certain to leave after a series of clangers in recent games.
Chesterfield started the game brightly and almost took the lead in the first minute, when veteran David Reeves' shot was deflected just wide of the post.
Alan O'Hare's goal-bound free-kick drew a decent save from Brill in the Hatters' goal ten minutes later, after Boyce was yellow carded for bringing down Brandon.
Stephen O'Leary was booked too for a foul on Chesterfield's Dawson on 23 minutes, as Luton struggled to get to grips with the game.
In fact, Hatters did not muster any kind of effort at goal until seven minutes before the break, when Forbes' 25-yard strike flew just over.
Minutes later the ball was given away to Robinson on the edge of the Chesterfield box, but his snap-shot flew just over Carl Muggleton's crossbar as the half petered out.
Chesterfield came out fired up for the second half, knowing that a win could give them a chance of staying up if results at Grimsby and Rushden went their way.
Centre half Ian Evatt had the first effort when he headed just wide of the Hatters' goal minutes after the restart, and moments later an O'Hare effort was saved well by Brill.
A goal mouth scramble nearly saw Chesterfield take the lead five minutes later, but determined defending by Hatters saw a number of players throwing themselves in front of the ball before it was eventually hacked away.
Showunmi, who struggled to get into the game, had a golden opportunity to put Luton into the lead half way through the second half when his close range effort was deflected just wide after a mix up in the Chesterfield defence.
Defender Dawson was lucky not to be sent off for a foul on Showunmi with 15 minutes remaining, as the big striker looked set to break clean through.
But the home team survived the danger and their prayers were answered two minutes from time when Hurst popped up out of the blue to score an unlikely winner, which kept them in the division.
A routine ball over the top was not defended properly by Town, and Hurst found himself in space to flick the ball past the helpless Brill.
The goal sparked a wild pitch invasion from the home faithful, who can now look forward to games against the likes of the Hatters, Wimbledon and Bradford next season.