Luton turn on the style... but no cigar for Allen
hands to keep Barnet in the division after he made another shock return to the Bees to replace Graham Westley, who lasted just two months after securing two wins from 11 games.
The Mad Dog is no stranger in trying to keep his beloved Bees in the Football League after he defied all the odds to keep them in League Two back in 2012.
The former West Ham star is back once again and the challenge could not be harder as his side remain seven points adrift of safety and are enduring a shocking run of form which has seen them win just two of their last 17 games.
The Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthous could not have been clearer in his message to Allen on his return, saying he needed to “clear the decks, get everyone focused and win matches”.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and Allen responded straight away by reducing his squad to just 20 players, allowing four players to leave on loan.
The 52-year-old would have certainly wished for an easier first game.
Nathan Jones’s Luton side have hit a sticky patch in recent weeks with no win from their previous five games but had a major point to prove in front of the televised cameras.
As expected they bossed the early exchanges with the outstanding Olly Lee producing two great chances to score in the first 20 minutes.
First, he curled a shot just wide and then later fired a low 25-yard shot which produced a fine save from Craig Ross, diving low to his left-hand side.
Lee went even closer on 38 minutes when he struck a superb 35-yard volley which flew inches past the post.
Luton finally found the breakthrough on 47 minutes when Alan Sheehan’s free-kick was headed back across goal by Dan Potts and Hylton made no mistake from close-range — directing a header into the back of the net for his 18th goal of the campaign .
Any hopes that Barnet had of staying in the game were dashed when Collins doubled Luton’s lead on 67 minutes, after he burst clear and fired home a shot through the hands of Ross.
Then Alan Mccormack almost made it three but his thunderous shot produced a superb save from Ross.