Town boss left frustrated by refereeing decision as Barnsley hit back to claim a late point

Hatters boss Nathan Jones couldn’t hide his frustration with referee Dean Whitestone after Town were held to a 1-1 draw by Barnsley at Kenilworth Road this evening.

With six minutes to go, Luton were looking like they were going to take a crucial three points in their battle to stay up, until Whitestone signalled for a corner when Elliot Simoes flashed a drive across goal.

Keeper Simon Sluga didn’t appear to get a touch, and when the set-piece wasn’t cleared, Simoes turned it back into the box for fellow sub Aapo Halme to net with his first touch, earning the Tykes a point and dashing Luton's chances of making significant inroads in the gap to safety.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “We felt the ref gave the corner and we felt he guessed at it really.

“We had one the other day where the referee said ‘I didn’t know, so I gave it to the defensive team.’

“We would have liked that, we felt it wasn't a corner, but that's decisions that go against you.

“It’s one of those things, we’re disappointed as it was a pretty even game in terms of chances and it’s such a big game.

“It’s just we're leading going into the 84th minute, you want to hold out and make sure you win the game.

“I thought we were a lot better second half and I’m just disappointed we didn’t hold out.”

Despite taking the lead through Berry, Town struggled in the first period, with Barnsley’s wastefulness and one excellent Simon Sluga save keeping them ahead.

They were much better in the second period, and even after Halme equalised, should have claimed all three points when Harry Cornick went clean through, only to be denied by Jack Walton.

Jones added: “I'm disappointed because of the lateness of their goal and how it came about, because I couldn't see them scoring.

“You always fear the worst as a manager but I couldn't see them scoring, I really couldn't.

“First half we gave them a little bit too much space and we didn't get close enough to them to meet balls in our box, but second half I thought we were excellent.

“Tactically we were really good, it's just late on, it came from a corner that's the really frustrating thing and then having the best chance of the game straight after to win it, you're just frustrated then.”