Nothing But Pride

Luton Town 5-1 Hendon

FA Cup 4^th Qualifying Round

Saturday 29^th October 2011

Kenilworth Road

For the third time in our last four appearances at this stage of the FA Cup, Hendon came away defeated, with five goals conceded and with at least one man dismissed. For the first time though, the feeling of mild embarrassment wasn’t there as I left the ground and made my way home. Instead, I felt a strange sense of pride. We’d gone against one of the three or four best sides in Non League football, taken the lead and although ended up well beaten, had by no means disgraced ourselves.

There were some negatives to come from the afternoon, namely with the loss of three more midfielders through injury. Carl McCluskey, Casey Maclaren and more worryingly Jamie Busby all departed the scene with various ailments, Busby in particular appears to be very serious as he requires an operation on a suspected broken cheekbone. The chances are that will keep him out of action for quite some time. With Kevin Maclaren seeing red as well and facing a suspension for the Canvey Island match, even the 36 strong squad named on the website is looking pretty stretched. All this, and the manager suffering from blood poisoning as well. Arsene Wenger has it easy.

There was a fair contingent of Greens fans who made the trip up the Thameslink / M1 behind the goal in the Oak Road end all of whom were in good voice (albeit some more eloquent than others). The official number was given as 193, perhaps not the biggest number of fans ever to follow us away from home but it certainly constitutes a decent home gate for us these days. Green shirts, hats and scarfs were widely visible and the overall crowd of 2,329 wasn’t far short of the 2,500 that many behind the goal estimated.

With Sean Thomas defending the goal in front of us in the first half, hopes (as opposed to expectations) were that we would be able to sing his praises whilst he bolstered the visiting support to 194, and watched wave after wave of Green attacks flooding and overwhelming the orange clad hosts. For 90 or so glorious seconds Hendon fans experienced ecstasy as Scott Cousins’ free kick saw McCluskey guide in unmarked and bury a header from 10 yards or so to give us an unlikely lead.

Was it a penalty or wasn’t it? That was the debate behind the goal and to be honest, for everyone that looks at the video I suspect maybe 40% will say it was a penalty and 60% will say it wasn’t. (Judge for yourself below) The referee was exceptionally well positioned to make the call and there was definitely contact with Dean Beckwith and there is a school of thought that if you feel contact in the box, you’re entitled to go down. Given that we’ve benefited from two pretty generous penalty awards this season already, I don’t think we’re in too much of a position to grumble too vociferously. 

Anyway, Aaron O’Connor stepped up and netted Luton’s first successful spot kick of the season, sending Thomas the wrong way and within 20 minutes, the tie was probably as good as over. Luton were excellent in this spell, spreading the ball and pushing the full backs on in support of the two wingers O’Connor and Jon-Paul Kissock. They were very neat and tidy in possession and had the Greens back 4 and midfield at full stretch trying to stay in touch. The second goal arrived on 12 minutes when James Dance burst a gut to get into the box and launch himself at a Curtis Osano cross for the right to power a header into the top corner of the net. Thomas had no chance, it was a quite brilliant header although unfortunately for the Luton man, he appeared to collide with a Hendon defender and was carried off with the first suspected broken cheekbone of the afternoon.

The third goal came midway through the half with Tommy Wright nodding home after Thomas had blocked a low shot through a sea of bodies from Osano and with another goal being chalked off after Stuart Fleetwood tapped in from a yard or so whilst standing offside as O’Connor’s low drive was already heading in, there was a sense of dread oozing from the pores of those Greens faithful behind the goal that a score-line of Rugby League proportions might be in the offing. That didn’t happen though, which I think was part because Luton took their foot off the pedal and partly because Hendon worked their socks off and managed to get to grips with the hosts. Getting a bit tighter to their opponents, breaking up attacks and beginning to get a bit of possession under their belts.

Before half time, Elliott Charles fashioned himself a half chance to get the Greens back in the game, but his driven cross-shot took a touch from Jake Howells and fizzed wide of the Luton goal. Half time came and went with nerves slightly more settled than they’d been 20 minutes previously and Carl McCluskey and Casey Maclaren joining the ever lengthening injury list.

Levels of pride increased greatly over the next 25 minutes or so after the two sides re-emerged for the 2^nd period,. Luton didn’t settle into any rhythm and the Greens were able to enjoy their best spell of the afternoon. James Parker was unfortunate to see an overhead kick bounce narrowly wide of Kevin Pilkington’s far post before Rankin and Busby had efforts blocked and Belal Aite-ouakrim fired wide. There was more purpose and belief about the Greens performance.

Then, a couple of sucker punches. Kevin Maclaren, having already seen yellow in the first half for a disagreement with Jamie Hand over the quality of the former’s socks then slid in and caught a Luton player slightly late. It was a needless challenge, perhaps a little silly given his previous booking and the referee had little option but to brandish another yellow card and then the inevitable red to ensure that neither Maclaren brother ended the match on the pitch just like neither Burgess finished the game at Stevenage 6 years previously. Coincedence? Yes, probably.

Busby then suffered his injury and whilst being treated off the pitch, and with Hendon down to 9 men, Luton took the opportunity to extend their lead with a pair of goals in consecutive minutes. Fleetwood broke the offside trap this time to get onto Howells’ through ball, rounded Thomas and finished well before O’Connor added a well deserved 2^nd goal. He really was a class apart and I don’t think anyone would have quibbled had he picked up the match ball for his efforts.

Burgess finally replaced Busby to return us to vaguely full strength, the veteran making his first appearance of the season and 323^rd of his Hendon career (I’m sure I’ve read recently that he’s passed 100 matches as an unused substitute as well) to give him a well deserved experience of ‘the big time’. Luton, with a four goal advantage were happy to play out time. Fleetwood curled an effort narrowly wide of Thomas’ left hand upright and despite the best efforts of Charles in particular, the Greens could gain no further reward.

The game ended, and the Greens fans rose to applaud their players. It was a gallant effort considering the disruption caused by various injuries and the fact that on the day, Luton’s attitude was absolutely spot on. 5-1 felt slightly harsh considering our efforts in the 2^nd period in particular, but the quality of the home side’s approach and finishing really was a class above. So although disappointed to have taken a bit of a beating, all those in Green could leave Kenilworth Road with their heads held high. I asked on Friday for them to do me proud, they gave it absolutely everything. All that was left for me to do was wonder just what Aveley was like in late October.

We could have won a home tie with Northampton Town, against whom we enjoyed our record home attendance, also in an FA Cup 1^st Round tie some 49 years ago. On the evidence of Saturday, the Cobblers will enjoy a tough journey down the M1. Luton are a good side and although Northampton will provide a sterner test, I certainly wouldn’t be laying money against another home win and further progression for the Hatters. I certainly wish them the very best of luck.

For the Greens now, it’s back to league football and with a pair of home matches approaching against Horsham (who lost 5-0 at Hastings on Saturday, their 3^rd 5 goal beating in their last 4 matches) and Leatherhead (who gained an impressive 3-3 draw at Sutton on Saturday). With the two sides currently occupying the bottom two spots in the division, Gary Mac certainly couldn’t ask for a better chance to get the season back on track. Yes, there is a long injury list and yes, we’re scratching around for midfielders, but if we have any hopes of pushing on in the league this season, then success is a must. On we go.