Howells hits late on to grab Town a draw

Darlington 2 (1) Luton Town 2 (1)

LUTON Town missed out on the chance to move to the top of the table as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Darlington on Tuesday night.

It had looked like the Hatters would be on their way to defeat once Aaron Brown struck late in the second half, but Jake Howells rescued a point with his first goal of the season with 10 minutes remaining.

Hatters manager Richard Money stuck with the same side that defeated AFC Wimbledon, although Dan Gleeson was fit enough to make the bench, while youngster Godfrey Poku was also named among the substitutes.

The visitors started very positively, forcing two corners in the opening minutes in what was a sparsely populated Northern Echo Arena.

The Hatters stepped up the tempo and were inches away from taking the lead on 13 minutes as Andy Drury’s free-kick was met by Claude Gnakpa whose header beat goalkeeper Sam Russell but bounced back off the bar.

The Quakers clearly hadn’t heeded the warning though as Russell got himself into a muddle to concede another corner and Drury’s delivery was powerfully headed into the back of the net by Gnakpa for his first goal of the season.

Within moments it was almost 2-0 as Matthew Barnes-Homer’s long-range free-kick was blocked, but the ball found its way through to Taiwo Atieno. His toe-poke seemed a certain goal, but despite already being grounded, Russell showed superb reactions to somehow stick a hand out and flick the ball on to the post.

With their first attack, Darlington were level after 26 minutes as a cross was swung into the box and ex-Hatter Liam Hatch was on hand to send his header into the corner of the net.

The goal pepped up the hosts as Gary Smith broke into the box, but Mark Tyler was out sharply to save at his feet. Darlington had huge shouts for a penalty when Barnes-Homer blocked Paul Arnison’s volley with a raised arm, although when the ball broke, Gary Smith’s deep cross was met by Hatch, but Tyler got down well to tip his header behind.

Hatch was starting to cause all sorts of problems and another scuffed effort was scrambled away by Tyler.

The Hatters were having their moments on the counter-attack too, with Howells moving out to the wing as Drury dropped into central midfield, and it needed a diving block from Danny Hone to deflect Gnakpa’s low drive away for a corner.

After the break, the hosts had two great chances to instantly move ahead, but Gary Smith shot over from the edge of the box and then Michael Smith sent his volley off target.

Hatch also tried his luck, only for Tyler to easily hold his effort.

With 51 minutes gone, Money made another tactical change, replacing Atieno with Gleeson, as Adam Newton moved to the right wing, and Gnakpa joined Barnes-Homer up front.

Drury sent a 20-yarder into the gloves of Russell, before a good move involving Gnakpa and Newton saw Barnes-Homer shank his effort horribly wide.

George Pilkington also went close, but couldn’t direct his header on target from Newton’s curling cross, while Gnakpa was the first player into the book after a lunging challenge just after the hour mark.

He was soon followed by Newton, who talked his way into a yellow, as the second half degenerated into a kick and rush affair, particularly from the home side.

Michael Smith sent his curler wide, but the Quakers went ahead on 73 minutes when Brown showed tremendous technique to thunder a left-footed volley through a crowd of players and into the net.

The goal saw Money make another reshuffle, with Danny Crow replacing Shane Blackett, as Pilkington moved to defence, Newton to the left wing, Gnakpa to the right and Howells back into central midfield. It paid dividends right away as the ball dropped to Howells just outside the box and his volley took a slight deflection to wrong-foot Russell.

The Hatters ended the game on the front foot, but failed to make the most of Drury’s late free-kick as they were forced to settle for a point as they slipped to fifth in the table.