9,500 at the reborn Kenny to see the new stand, check whether the ground was ready for the Premier home debut against West Ham, and see the reserves hold off a spirited Gillingham in the EFL Cup.
Robbie made 8 changes from the Chelsea starting XI and it didn’t take long for one of those looking to get a start to make an impact. New signing Jacob Brown firing home in clinical fashion.
We then saw one of the best set piece goals I can remember Luton scoring. A free kick miles out saw a 1-2 started and finished by Alfie Doughty who curled an unstoppable shot into the top left corner.
Gillingham came back into and scored with relative ease before another superb finish, this time from Cauley Woodrow, made it a comfortable close to the game until the Gills pulled another back. Some good saves despite a few long balls and long throws to deal with saw the Hatters into Round 2 and a long trip to Exeter.
But we were there to see the ground improvements, and what a job the club have done to get them so close to completion in such a short time period. The new floodlights had been turned up to dazzling – it was well into the 2nd half before my eyes started adjusting. There must have been a delicate balance for the club in spending money where they had to, whilst realising some improvements have got a shelf life of maximum three years. The new scoreboard possibly a case in point.
All eyes and the world’s attention turn to Friday night under the lights as Luton Town for the first in history play host to the Premier League.
Town: Krul; Doughty, Giles (sub Kabore 60), Andersen, Lockyer (sub Burke 45), Bell; Mpanzu, Berry (sub Barkley 60), Woodrow; Brown (sub Adebayo 81), Ogbene (sub Nakamba 69).
Subs not used: Shea, Morris, Chong, Johnson.
Benno