Alfreton Town vs Luton Town FC (8th Sep 2012)

ALFRETON 3-0 TOWN

The Town slipped to their first away defeat of the season as they were soundly beaten at Alfreton. The Hatters came into the game with a 100 per cent record on their travels but they were behind as early as the second minute when Anthony Wilson stroked home Nathan Arnold’s right-wing cross.

It got worse for the Town on 23 minutes when Dean Beckwith fouled the lively Arnold in the penalty area and Dan Bradley converted the resultant penalty. The Town had Mark Tyler to thank soon after when he tipped a goal-bound Arnold shot on the post to prevent it becoming 3-0.

With Scott Rendell and Stuart Fleetwood missing through injury, although Fleetwood was named amongst the substitutes, Paul Buckle gave a debut to Jake Robinson, signed on-loan from Northampton yesterday.

And it was Robinson’s persistence down the left that resulted in the Town’s best chance of the half that Andre Gray screwed wide on his left-foot minutes before the break.

At the break Buckle rang the changes, bringing on Fleetwood, Yaser Kasim and Connor Essam in a triple substitution that saw Janos Kovacs, Greg Taylor and Adam Watkins make way. The Hatters made a bright start to the second half with Gray sending a shot wide of the target two minutes after the restart.

But despite being better on the ball in the second period the Town couldn’t find a way through and Alfreton made it 3-0 when Tyler hit an attempted clearance straight at Wilson and the home forward slotted home into an empty net.

The Hatters huffed and puffed in search of a consolation but couldn’t find one and it was Alfreton who celebrated victory at the final whistle on a day to forget for Town.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/KLyXeObLcx0

Boss apologises after 3-0 defeat

Manager Paul Buckle apologised to the Town supporters after the 3-0 defeat at Alfreton – and admitted his side were second best. The Hatters were on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat thanks to two goals from Anthony Wilson and one from Dan Bradley.

And afterwards the Town boss was at a loss to describe his side's performance as they lost their 100 per cent record away from Kenilworth Road.

“I didn't see that coming,” said Buckle. “I have to apologise to the fans who have come here in their numbers.

“We need answers and quick because it was not good enough.

“The biggest thing for me is that we watch the DVD and see who was responsible for the goals. I have a pretty good idea who but we'll be in for training on Sunday.

“We conceded an early goal which put us in an awkward position and from there it just got worse.

“In the second half we made a terrible error but sometimes players under pressure make mistakes and Mark Tyler is a fantastic professional.

“But I trust the players – they know how bad they've been today. We weren't at it and now it's up to us to do something about it.

“We won't panic, though. We won't be the first team to put on a bad performance and we won't be the last. We need to get back on track as soon as possible, starting in training tomorrow.

“In fairness to the players their performance levels have been good – hopefully this is just a one-off.”

Hatters buckle after conceding early goal** **BY LAUREN ARCHELL

Luton Town slumped to their first away defeat of the season, losing 3-0 to Alfreton in a thoroughly disappointing performance.

Faced with a physical side that stifled their pace and passing the Hatters looked clueless at times, allowing Anthony Wilson to score two, and Dan Bradley to convert a penalty.

Despite the bold decision to make three substitutions at half-time, manager Paul Buckle was unable to shake things up enough for the Hatters to find their way back into the game.

Three changes had been made to the starting line up – Lathaniel Rowe-Turner, Stuart Fleetwood and Scott Rendell making way for new loan signing Jake Robinson, Connor Essam and Adam Watkins.

The Hatters got off to a bad start almost immediately after conceding within two minutes.

Despite assurances the team would be working on their defending this week, it seemed too easy for Anthony Wilson to tap the ball into the net after receiving a low right wing cross.

Neither team was able to gain the majority of possession, and the game turned in a battle of defence versus attack, with Luton unable to create any clear cut opportunities.

Their afternoon took another turn for the worse in the 23rd minute as they found themselves losing 2-0 – Bradley cooly converted a penalty after Dean Beckwith scythed down Nathan Arnold in the box. Alfreton could have had the three points in the bag just before half-time, but were saved by the fingertips of Mark Tyler and the goalpost.

Arnold managed to find enough space in the box to unleash a low strike, which the keeper managed to divert away.

The Hatters should have clawed one back in additional time, Andre Gray dragging his shot wide after claiming the ball in the box.

With Luton facing an uphill battle, Buckle make three changes at half-time, Yaser Kasim, Connor Essam and Fleetwood replacing Janos Kovacs, Greg Taylor and Adam Watkins.

The changes seemed to have the desired impact almost immediately with Luton starting the second period on the front foot. Chances fell to Gray who dragged his shot wide and Ronnie Henry, whose effort forced the keeper into making a low save.

However, despite an increase in possession and the number of efforts on goal, the game was put beyond the reach of Luton in the 66th minute when Wilson scored his second of the game.

Tyler came out of this goal to clear the ball, but his kick met the waiting Wilson who put his strike into the open goal as the keeper tried to track back.

Luton Town: Mark Tyler, Greg Taylor (Connor Essam), Dean Beckwith, Janos Kovacs (Yaser Kasim), Alex Lawless, Jake Howells, Adam Watkins (Stuart Fleetwood), JJ O’Donnell, Jake Robinson, Ronnie Henry, Andre Gray. Subs: Lathaniel Rowe-Turner, Dean Brill

Alfreton Town: Jon Stewart, Joshua Law, Connor Franklin, Darran Kempson, Anton Brown, Dan Bradley, Nathan Arnold, Leigh Franks, Dan Meadows (Simon Russell), Anthony Wilson (Paul Clayton) Theo Streete. Subs: Alistair Taylor, Ash Worsfold, Ben Tomlinson.

Attendance: 1,392 (786 Luton)

Hatters boss Paul Buckle apologised to Town’s supporters after they witnessed their side tumble to a limp 3-0 defeat at lowly Alfreton Town on Saturday, writes Mike Simmonds.

A terrible first half display from the visitors saw Luton behind after just two minutes through Anthony Wilson’s, before Dan Bradley’s penalty made it 2-0.

With over half the fans in attendance behind the visitors, Town made a slightly better fist of it after the break, until an error from Mark Tyler saw Wilson add a third as Town slid down to fifth in the table.

Buckle said: “I think we have to apologise to our fans. I know for sure we do because the fans turned out in the numbers on the back of us playing some really good football, showing some really good work ethic and all of the things that have got us to wins on the road.

“So everyone to a man, me, the staff, players need to apologise because we didn’t see that coming and need some answers because it wasn’t good enough.”

Hatters had won all three of their away matches in the league this season, and although Buckle was left at a loss as to just why his side were so poor, particularly in the first period, he wasn’t going to make any rash decisions ahead of next weeks clash with Wrexham.

The boss added: “The biggest thing for me is to not scream and shout after the game, it gets you nowhere.

“You’ve got to look at the DVD and I know who was responsible for the goals, I’ve got a good idea.

“We weren’t at it. To concede that early in the game you put yourself in an awkward position and it got worse for us.

“The second half we created some decent chances and made an error for the third, but I trust the players. They know how poor they’ve been and we’ve had a terrible day.”