Oh my, what a referee.......

Before commenting on the performances of the two teams I have to say that Saturday's refereeing performance was one of the worst I have seen since Andy D'Urso! Mr Davies seemed unwilling or unable to make any major decisions and in the first half in particular was very close to losing control of the match altogether. Major wrong or non decisions were instrumental in the way the match developed and had the correct decisions been made the outcome might have been so different.

I was amazed at the end when Curtis Osano was named man of the match because although he had a lot of possession and was involved a great deal in the match, he created very little and defended poorly. Having strode forward and lost possession or made poor attempts to cross the ball, he did get back very quickly proving he has the fitness and the 'engine' but when tracking back was constantly too far infield and left either Brodie or Vardy unmarked out wide and therefore found himself being bypassed by some accurate passing by Fleetwood Town, notably for the first goal.

The match began with Luton taking the game to their visitors but it was clear early on that the very big players of the Cod Army were not going to give Luton space and were very quick to press anyone in possession of the ball. That said, for 20 minutes Fleetwood looked all at sea in defence and with a little more luck Luton might have had a couple of goals and possibly two penalty kicks, one for a foul on O'Connor and another for a blatant handball in the area. O'Connor made it easy for the referee to fail to give a penalty in the 7th minute,  when he jinked into the box and played the ball beyond a hesitant defender who stuck out a leg tripping him. The boy was too honest and tried to stay on his feet and the chance was lost whereas had he gone down, the decision was an easy one, it had to have been a penalty kick.

Diminutive left back Brown was having a nightmare and it was very disappointing when he went off injured, because he was a liability, and Willmott, O'Connor and Fleetwood had already shown that he was there for the taking, and his replacement looked a whole lot more composed.

In the 9th minute the dangerous Vardy was sent through got a toe to the ball as Pilkington made his challenge sending the striker up in the air after the ball had long gone for a definite yellow card which duly came.

Then in the 11th minute a tackle on AMS just inside the Fleetwood half, in front of the Bobbers stand, was more GBH than tackle and not only was it a foul but a stonewall yellow and borderline red card offence, but Mr Davies waved play on. Immediately from this outrageous decision, Vardy was out wide left and Osano, who was tracking back on a line towards the left hand goal post instead of going to the right back channel, saw a superb pass from Clancy go sailing by him to Vardy, who was clear, and raced in towards goal. Tyler will know in retrospect that he would have been better staying between his posts but he was exposed and ran out leaving the in-form striker the easiest of opportunities to chip it past him into the empty net. It was more than they deserved but it would never have happened in the referee had done his job over the earlier foul. Up to that point all the good football had come from the Hatters and the disappointment of conceding the first goal was palpable.

Shortly afterwards, Vardy controlled the ball with his hand then drove the ball against the woodwork resulting in a free kick but then kicked the ball away and was booked. I'm not sure which offence he was booked for but they were both bookable offences but this referee was not about to take it that far. Tackles were now flying in all over the place as the players sensed that the referee's control was, to say the least, tenuous and it looked as though there would be a sending off sooner rather than later, if the referee didn't bottle it, but bottle it he did at least twice.

On 43 minutes, as the temperature of the game was reaching boiling point, Fleetwood put a foot in on Shaun Beeley and was deserving of a yellow card, but the referee blew for a free kick and was not going to book the Hatters striker. However, as the referee moved away, Beeley got up and set about Fleetwood, firstly thrusting his chest against him and then pushing his hand in his face. The experienced former Hereford player merely held his hands away from the action and did not retaliate, which was the correct thing to do. The Assistant Referee flagged and after the referee had consulted him it seemed the only course of action was a red card for Beeley. Incredulously, the referee gave a yellow card to both players, which seemed harsh on Fleetwood and lenient for Beeley, notwithstanding the original challenge.

The look on the referee's face as he came near to the touchline below where I was sitting was very stressed and he blew his cheeks out when yet another tasty foul went in and it looked as though he couldn't wait for the half to end. There was still time in the 5 added minutes for a very rash challenge from Pilkington, but it was  on Brodie so eminently forgivable! The referee went over to the two prostrate players and reached towards his pocket and took out his book. The correct decision would have been a second yellow for Pilks and an early bath, but upon seeing blood on Pilkington's face the referee repocketed his book and called Simon Parsell on to the pitch to deal with the injury. Pilks was led down the tunnel probably for stitches and the referee gladly blew for half time. The referee was then delayed in leaving the field having a conversation with a Luton player in the other half of the pitch, so was not handily placed when the tunnel extension began to rock back and forth as the players set about each other inside it. When the referee arrived he stood on the field looking as though he didn't want to see what was happening. God forbid he should have another decision to make. When it had all died down the three officials were escorted from the field and therefore did not have to deal with it.

The second half began with the Town once again attacking well and on 49 minutes the ball was crossed into the Fleetwood penalty area and was bobbling around until a hacked clearance went out to Willmott, who crossed again only for Jackson to attempt unsuccessfully to chest the ball but needed the help of an arm to stop it going past him and with no excuses whatsoever the well positioned referee ignored the offence and sprinted off into the other half. At that point you just knew that it was never going to be your day! It continued to be nip and tuck as the Hatters strove for an equaliser, but in the 66th minute a typical forward's challenge in the penalty area saw AMS get wrong sided, ironically by Jackson, the earlier handball offender in his own box, and as AMS made a challenge the Fleetwood player made sure that the hanging foot of AMS was hooked and he went down like the proverbial sack of effluent. The referee looked as though he was going to wave it away but the Assistant waved his flag violently and across his chest it went and the referee was forced to accept the advice and award a penalty kick.

Milligan netted for a 2-0 lead and regrettably the Town began to resort to desperation tactics and far too many hoofed long balls were delivered with the Fleetwood players now cock-a-hoop and able to deal with that quite easily. It wasn't until the last five minutes that Luton really got it on the ground and tried to play football again. With time all but gone a clipped cross from the left was headed sweetly into the top corner by Kovacs but the referee blew immediately after the restart.

It was not a great performance by the Town but it wasn't as bad as some have suggested. A draw would have been a fair result; but when push came to shove they scored 2 and we didn't. I imagine that the referee must have known what a 'mare he had and if he didn't the assessor will no doubt have pointed it out to him. I just hope he is not allowed near another BSP fixture until he learns to make a decision.