HYLTON IS LATE HERO FOR JONES
DEJECTED Mansfield Town boss Steve Evans insists his side gave Luton Town a lesson despite chucking away two points.
It looked like Mansfield Town were cruising to three points following goals from Rhys Bennett and Lee Angol.
But Luton scored two goals in the last five minutes through James Collins and Danny Hylton as they fought back from the dead to earn a point.
Evans said: “The lads will be disappointed in themselves. We have totally dominated this match and have dropped two points here.
“They will have to pick themselves up, We have not knocked them down because it was a great performance.
“We are told that Luton are going to be the champions but we have given them a lesson in passing football.
“We did not take our chances and we have been punished for that. Their keeper made a really good save.
“Nathan will know his side had a tough game. We just made too many individual errors.
“We are a good side. Luton got a goal from a counter because we switched off, we took the game back to them but did not take our chances.
“The ref has not had a good game here but it’s not why we did not win. I will not allow the individual errors to sour things.”
Bennett gave Stags the lead on 23 minutes when he prodded home from Joel Bryom’s cross, before Angol cooly finished after being put clean through on 71 minutes to double the home side’s lead.
Luton gave themselves hope when Collins tapped home from close range with five minutes left.
And the comeback was complete when an unmarked Hylton headed home from close range.
Jimmy Spencer then missed a penalty for the home side after Scott Cuthbert handled at the back post as the Stags had to settled for a point.
That point delighted Luton boss Nathan Jones, who praised the impact of his substitutes.
He said: “We pushed on and changed our shape. Luke Berry looked bright and the subs changed the game.
“After being 2-0 down we are delighted to have got the draw. We could have nicked it at the end, but we also could have lost it. We went for it to get the points at the end and it paid off.
“It should not have been a penalty as he headed the ball. It was a great penalty save. We would have felt aggrieved if we had lost it on that penalty, it would have been very harsh.
“We did not do ourselves justice in the first half. This was a big game and it is a marker for us. Mansfield are the favourites for this league. “To come back and show the character, fitness and desire we did is great credit to the players.”