With a good following from Luton cheering the team on (officially just over 800, although the home crowd was apparently around the 1,000 mark and it didn't look like there were more home fans than away fans), Mick decided to change things from the poor performance at the weekend by starting with a 3-5-2 formation. Pilkington, White and Blackett were the three centre-backs, with Reynolds and Murray playing down the wing. But although the centre-backs were very good all game, the formation just didn't work, and too often the forwards were isolated and the wing backs were caught out of position. Burgess playing in the centre of midfield was also a waste as well, and Town created very little of note in the first half. The best chances came with two headers that went just wide of the target - one early in the half and one late in the half. Overall, the first half saw little from either team that was worth mentioning.
Mick reverted to the usual 4-4-2 in the second half, with Freddie Murray making way for Rossi Jarvis, Reynolds and Blackett playing as full-backs and Jarvis and Burgess on both wings, and suddenly the team started to play a lot better, albeit without creating many goalscoring opportunities. Blackett looked very dangerous going forward on the left, and with him and Burgess playing there, the two could potentially cause huge problems this season for defenders in this league. The goal resulted from a defensive mistake - one of the Forest Green defenders made a mess of a backpass, and Craddock was able to latch onto it and knock it past Terry Burton in the Forest Green goal for his third of the season so far. After the goal, Luton looked very much in control of the match, and it seemed like only a matter of time until we'd score another goal and put the match beyond doubt. And with about fifteen minutes to go, Blackett went on another excellent run before being brought down by a defender. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot - it was a definite penalty, but a very stupid one to give away considering Blackett was really going nowhere with the ball. In the end, it didn't matter as Tom Craddock struck the crossbar with his spot kick. That penalty miss changed the game - Forest Green looked revitalised and Luton lost their zip going forward, and it turned out to be a very nervy last fifteen minutes. Luton were reasonably comfortable at the end though, and Forest Green only managed to create a few chances, with the only ones on target comfortable enough for Mark Tyler, whose presence acted as a calming influence on the defenders in front of him.
The main thing is the result, and another win means we now have 10 points, something we didn't manage until February last season, we have our first away win of the season and we remain unbeaten in our four games in the Blue Square Premier. However, undoubtedly the performance in front of defence will have to improve. It was a long way from the excellent showing at home to Mansfield that we're capable of. Hopefully the presence of Newton and Nicholls against Chester will help, but with some tough matches coming up we need to improve the performances.
Man of the Match - Alan White. The man of the match could have been any of the defence (except perhaps Reynolds), but I thought White was the best player there. Didn't put a foot wrong and looked like a commanding presence in the heart of the defence, and was an integral reason for our first clean sheet of the season. His distribution also looked reasonable too.