The FA Cup is all about dreaming so the fantasy of reaching the second final of their 138-year history remains alive for Luton following this scrappy elimination of Bolton.
There are still four rounds to navigate of course and in the next Rob Edwards’s team will take on the victor of Wednesday night’s replay between Everton and Crystal Palace.
The Hatters’ winner came from Chiedozie Ogbene who enjoyed an FAI Cup triumph with Cork City in 2016. Towards the end Dion Charles appeared to have punished a Ross Barkley dawdle that had him pickpocketed near halfway: the Trotters moved the ball along the right and Charles scored what would have been the equaliser but the assistant referee flagged for offside, and Barkley and Luton survived.
Edwards said: “In a way it’s better for us to play a Premier League team in the next round. We know we have to be at full tilt, that’s when we’re at our best. We just dropped off in the last couple of games and we can’t do that.”
Next for his men is warm weather training in Dubai.
Before this replay had been the sobering moment of a minute’s silence for Iain Purslow, the 71-year-old who died after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest during Saturday’s abandoned League One game with Cheltenham here. As a lifelong Wanderers fan he would have delighted in what occurred 11 minutes in. Victor Adeboyejo burned along the right and teed the ball up for his strike partner Charles, who beat Tim Krul.
Luton, reeling, went close to conceding in similar fashion virtually from the restart. Again it was Adeboyejo and again it was a breakaway down the same flank. This time he let fly but his radar was awry.
The best way for Luton to respond? Move down the other end and score: so, they did, via Tahith Chong who, put in by Jordan Clark on an angle nine yards out, finished to the left of the past Bolton goalkeeper, Nathan Baxter.
Two goals in the opening 15 minutes roused the modest crowd of just over 10,000 inside the Toughsheet Community Stadium. Before conceding Luton had dominated, claiming three corners, and with an XI including regular starters Barkley, Alfie Doughty, Teden Mengi, Gabriel Osho and Clark they again resumed control.
Yet when Carlton Morris burst in along the left a wild effort caused Baxter zero concern. The keeper certainly did have concern, though, when Clark had only him to beat. The winger snatched at the ball, missed and hung his head. For a while the tie flatlined until a 45-yard Adeboyejo chip nearly beat Krul, who tipped it away from under the bar.
Neither team wanted extra time so Paris Maghoma’s attempt to beat Krul from the metaphorical country mile was understandable but optimistic. When Luton next attacked Clark’s shot beat Baxter but not his post, before follow-up efforts from Chong and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu were repelled by the keeper.
In a carbon copy of the contest’s opening phase, the start of the second half was action crammed, Bolton again roving towards Krul’s goal where only a flailing Barkley intervention stopped Charles from shooting, before George Thomason twice saw efforts blocked.
Ian Evatt’s men were a white swarm all over those in orange so Clark, at the other end, should have done better than cross straight to Baxter after Chong played him in.
Now, though, Morris showed him how to, with a slide-rule pass for Ogbene to tap home the winner.
Charles was about to be removed – but not before his disallowed strike, the offside ruling seeming to take an age, much to the chagrin of the home support. Bolton kept pressing. Maghoma let fly from 25 yards but to no avail and, so, their visitors hung on – just about, that is.
Evatt said: “We started the game very fast but I’m quite frustrated we didn’t quite manage to do it.”
