CAUL ANSWERED
Woodrow nods home to earn Hatters plucky point
CAULEY WOODROW’S last-gasp leveller kept lucky Luton’s relegation fight alive and kicking.
A 97th-minute header from the Hatters super-sub rescued a point for Rob Edwards’ strugglers – and halted their rotten four-game losing streak.
Snatching an underserved share of the spoils here will be a massive morale booster after last weekend’s sickening defeat at the death to Aston Villa.
But while Edwards’ men, now three points from safety, celebrated wildly at the conclusion, the mood of Crystal Palace and their new boss Oliver Glasner was one of total shell-shock.
The Eagles had enough chances to have won this contest before the break.
French hitman Jean-philippe Mateta produced a breathtakingly, deft finish on ten minutes to put them in front.
Having rounded keeper Thomas Kaminski, Daniel Munoz suddenly lost control but, rather than shoot, he wisely cut back for Mateta to reverse back-heel into the far corner.
For the remainder of the half, the Hatters struggled to contain Palace without kicking them.
The big surprise at the interval was Issa Kabore was their only name in the book of Sunny Singh Gill (below) – the first British South Asian to referee a Premier League clash.
By then Mateta could have grabbed the match-ball with a hat-trick. He missed a similar opportunity to the one he had finished so beautifully before chipping wide after intercepting Jordan Clark’s careless 43rd-minute pass.
Which, of course, meant sluggish Luton still had a puncher’s chance throughout a more even second period.
Even so, their hopes of salvaging anything looked to have died after Gabriel Osho headed high, Carlton Morris’ effort flew into Sam Johnstone’s hands and sub Daiki Hashioka then volleyed over.
However, as the clock ticked down two more replacements introduced by Edwards came up trumps.
Andros Townsend’s cross was perfect, so too Woodrow’s glancing header as it spun inside Johnstone’s post.