Football: Gray brings colour to Luton

Luton Town. . . .2

Bristol City. . .0

THE only satisfied spectators at Kenilworth Road last night must have been the scout from Derby, who will face Luton, the winners of last night's dire FA Cup encounter against Bristol City, in the fourth round on Saturday. Neither of these clubs have ever won the Cup, and if their first meeting in the competition last night is any indication it will be some time before they improve on their runners-up medals gained in 1959 and 1909 respectively.

City had won the League encounter at Kenilworth Road earlier in the season, and the opening manouevres suggested they were the more likely lads.

Martin Scott tested Alec Chamberlain with a cross-shot on nine minutes and the left-back then supplied a curving cross which Wayne Allison headed narrowly over.

These were scraps of action on a night hardly brimming with the heady warfare the FA Cup is supposed to engender. The only reminder of battle seemed to be a pitch sanded in the pattern of a combat uniform.

After 25 minutes Allison, put through by Andy Cole, again had a chance but his shot was parried by Chamberlain and cleared by Trevor Peake, like City's Russell Osman, a previous Wembley winner.

Peake and Cole were booked shortly before the interval but by then Luton had taken an undeserved lead. David Preece supplied a rare moment of skill here, controlling a hurried clearance, advancing to the byline, and then squaring into the path of Phil Gray.

Ian Benjamin, who had seen precious little of the ball in Luton's front line during the first half, may have been caught cold when he was presented with a glorious chance after 53 minutes.

The striker was all on his own inside the area when Jason Rees's cross reached him, but he somehow contrived to head the ball into the ground and over the bar, not an easy feat on this spongy surface.

This frustration was nothing compared to that felt by Scott on 70 minutes. The full-back was cruelly mown down by Gray, and reacted badly, leaping to his feet and putting his hands forcibly into the forward's face.

The referee, Gary Willard, was soon dealing out the cards, yellow for Gray and red for Scott. Three minutes later Osman's tackle on Gray also saw him go into the book. Nine minutes from time City's sorrow was complete. Paul Telfer crossed from the right and Ceri Hughes thumped the ball in off the underside of the bar.

Luton Town: Chamberlain; Dreyer, James, Johnson (Harvey, 81), Hughes, Peake, Telfer, Benjamin (Oakes, 81), Rees, Gray, Preece.

Bristol City: Welch; Harrison, Scott, Llewellyn, Bryant, Osman, Shelton, Mellon (Rosenior, 54), Allison, Cole, Gavin (Aizlewood, 89).

Referee: G Willard (Worthing).