Luton v Grimsby Preview

Luton Town will be remembered by many for those silly sods who warned us about Newell. Being a complete and utter... (Removed after legal advice) ... and he might as well keep the wheelbarrow after that. Also they will be remembered for their fans also rather sportingly offering York players some pack up for their journey back up north after their play off game. I shall mostly remember them as the team we continually hammered back in the mid 90’s. Them were the days.

Their History

The club merged in 1885 from 2 Luton based clubs Luton Wanderers and the rather cooler name of Excelsior. The club have managed well over a decade in the top flight in sporadic periods the most recent of which was in the early 90’s at the birth of the Premier League which saw a prolonged 10 year period come to an end up with the haves of football. Even more recently the club has been a textbook case of how not to run a football club. (A book Grimsby Town most probably wrote the Foreword in) The club dropped from the Championship to the Conference in less than 5 years. Boo Hoo -30 points and all that and after financial f*** ups of a Goldman and Sachs enormity are finally getting stable and boast the highest attendances in the entirety of Non-League.

Last Season

Plucky old Luton nearly did it and after been denied the chance of an immediate return to the League decided to show our d***heads what real hooliganism is by trying to knock seven bells out of York players who had just bested them on the pitch. Other than that the club finished second behind the rampant Stevenage but also enjoyed 3 games of scoring 6 or more goals. Good for them.

This Season.

The club would be quite happy if it wasn't for Crawley a game in hand over Wimbledon with a better goal difference and 3 points behind is pretty nifty until you notice Crawley have a further 2 games in hand and are 2 points further ahead and just 1 behind the Dons. While their home and away form are only matched and bested by the league leaders. It’s Crawley’s fantastic away record, which will be cause for concern once we come in to the home straight. The club have more recently drawn at home to Gateshead but also tanked York (5-0) and managed a tight 0-0 with Wimbledon.

Key Player - Claude Gnakpa (Number 18)

While Matthew Barnes-Homer will take the plaudits as leading goal scorer (11). The Mariners should really be worried about his partnering striker Claude Gnakpa. The French striker has been in form at the turn of the year and though his 3 goals behind his counterpart he’s bagged 3 more than him since New Years Day. Homer has yet to register a goal in the league since the New Years match against Rushden while Gnakpa has managed to clinch a winner against Hayes and snatch a point in the north-east against Gateshead. The man in form is the one to worry about.

Luton

1 Mark Tyler Goalkeeper
2 Daniel Gleeson Defender
3 Fred Murray Defender
4 Keith Keane Midfielder
6 George Pilkington Defender
7 Adam Newton Midfielder
8 Amari Morgan-Smith Striker
9 Matthew Barnes-Homer Striker
10 Taiwo Atieno Striker
11 Andy Drury Midfielder
12 Shane Blackett Defender
13 Zdenek Kroca Defender
14 Alex Lawless Midfielder
15 Jake Howells Defender
16 Ed Asafu-Adjaye Defender
17 Pavel Besta Midfielder
18 Claude Gnakpa Defender
19 Danny Crow Striker
20 Kevin Gallen (on loan to Barnet ) Striker
21 Charlie Henry Midfielder
23 Jason Walker Striker
24 Alex Lacey Defender
25 Godfrey Poku Midfielder
26 Jonathan O'Donnell Striker
27 Taylor Nathaniel Midfielder
28 Adam Watkins Striker
29 Dan Walker (on loan to Eastbrn ) Striker
30 Kevin Pilkington (on loan to Mansfld ) Goalkeeper
31 Lewis Kidd Goalkeeper
32 Jordan Patrick Striker
33 Cauley Woodrow Striker
34 Lloyd Owusu Striker

Grimsby

1 Kenny Arthur Goalkeeper
2 Peter Bore Midfielder
3 Lee Ridley Defender
4 Mark Hudson Midfielder
5 Darran Kempson Defender
6 Scott Garner Defender
7 Lewis Gobern Midfielder
8 Michael Cummins Midfielder
9 Charles Ademeno Striker
10 Lee Peacock Striker
11 Michael Coulson Striker
13 Nick Colgan Goalkeeper
14 Michael Leary Midfielder
15 Dwayne Samuels Defender
16 Steven Watt Defender
17 Alan Connell Striker
18 Serge Makofo Midfielder
19 Bradley Wood Midfielder
20 Josh Fuller Midfielder
21 Andi Thanoj
22 Mark Gray
22 Dean Sinclair Midfielder
23 Tom Corner Striker
24 Nathan Dixon Striker
25 Robert Atkinson Defender
29 Robert Eagle Midfielder
30 Steve Croudson Goalkeeper
40 Robert Peet Goalkeeper

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