Town boss rues first half display

HATTERS boss Gary Brabin couldn’t hide his bitter disappointment after Town surrendered their unbeaten record in tame fashion at York City on Saturday afternoon, writes Mike Simmonds.

A first half brace from Ashley Chambers, coupled with former Luton striker Jason Walker netting, saw the Minsterman race into a 3-0 lead by the break, which they never looked in danger of throwing away during the second period.

Brabin said: “I’m very disappointed. Three terrible goals we’ve conceded and I think it put us on the back foot straight away which we spoke about before the game.

“That’s the way they want to do things, try and get balls early, turn us, hope that we back off and that’s what happened.

“They scored three goals in the first half, the first two outside the box where they weren’t closed down which is disappointing.

“We’ve got a big game second half to claw our way back and I thought we were a lot better second half, but by then York have just shut up shop.”

Defeat saw the Hatters drop from leading the table to sixth, but Brabin didn’t feel the need to overly panic about the situation.

He continued: “It was only a week ago we played really well and were climbing up the table.

“Two very indifferent performances away from home and we’re on the back foot again. We’ve got to pick ourselves up again and go again.”

Midfielder John Paul Kissock was taken off with an apparent injury before the break, while former York player Alex Lawless, who was barracked from the home fans throughout, was replaced during the interval after suffering a broken hand.

Brabin said: “I wanted to change things anyway, but John Paul and Alex Lawless have both come off injured.

“Alex Lawless has broke his hand so he could be out for a bit of time now. John Paul, I don’t think it’s as bad but we’ll find out over the next day or two.”

On how the Lawless injury occurred, Brabin said: “It was a couple of little things, I’m still not really sure at the moment, so we’re going to have to speak about it.

“We don’t know (how long he will be out), we’re going to have to see, but he’s definitely broken his hand.”

Jubliant City manager Gary Mills, who saw his side leapfrog Luton, said: “If we do our jobs and do them well we win football matches and we’ve done it again.

“We didn’t get our rewards on Tuesday that I felt we deserved but we’ve gone and done it and got the goals and the three points that we absolutely deserved.

“With the tempo we played I thought we were superb.”

For a full report and interviews with Keith Keane and Aaron O’Connor, see the Luton News / Dunstable Gazette on sale Wednesday.

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