Blue Square Premier

Grays Athletic 0 (0) Luton Town 2 (1)

Professional Luton overcame atrocious conditions to grind out a comprehensive 2-0 victory against sorry Grays at the New Recreation Ground today.

The hosts hardly had an effort throughout the whole 90 minutes and Luton mixed hard work with just enough guile as they secured a comfortable win thanks to Tom Craddock's first goal since mid-October and Kevin Gallen's seventh strike of the season.

And it was a real team performance from the Hatters who performed well all over the pitch despite a gusting wind and a sodden pitch that started to cut up in the latter stages.

The Hatters made a total of six changes from the team that triumphed 2-0 at League Two high-fliers Rochdale in their FA Cup first round replay on Tuesday night.

Notts County loan keeper Kevin Pilkington went straight into the side for the unlucky to be left out Shane Gore, who dropped to the bench.

Freddie Murray and Shane Blackett came into the back four at the expense of Ed Asafu-Adjaye and Jake Howells, with the fit again Keith Keane replacing Asa Hall in the centre of midfield.

Claude Gnakpa and Adam Newton, meanwhile came in on the wings, with Rossi Jarvis and Andy Burgess dropping out of the squad entirely.

Luton kicked off into a fierce wind that made any form of constructive football virtually impossible.

Both sides showed plenty of endeavour but it wasn't until the 12th minute that a chance finally arrived. Gnakpa did brilliantly to beat his man on the right as he raced at the Grays defence before threading a ball through to Gallen. The veteran hitman just made it to the ball first and forced a half-decent stop out of former Town triallist Preston Edwards.

Grays were finding it difficult to cope with the gale at their backs and, when Kenny Davis did eventually find some space on the right, his cross was clawed away by debutant Kevin Pilkington and Town were able to clear their lines.

Chances were few and far between in a half dominated by the blustery wind and sodden pitch, but Town did almost find a way through on 32 minutes. After some neat build-up play it was a defensive error from Grays that let Newton in on the left, but Craddock couldn't quite connect and the wrong-footed Gnakpa could only skew his effort wide.

Luton had gradually adapted best to the conditions during the half and broke the deadlock out of the blue seven minutes before the break. Having finally gained possession in Grays' box, Gallen's fly-hack was toe-poked home into the bottom left-hand corner by a delighted Craddock, who hadn't scored from open play since Town's 3-0 home victory against Crawley Town on September 1.

Alan White then had to be alert to head clear a threatening Davis cross three minutes later, but Luton thoroughly deserved their half-time lead for a fine battling performance.

And the Hatters made a dream start to the second half, doubling their advantage after just five minutes. Having dominated the opening exchanges, Town skipper Kevin Nicholls did superbly to dispossess Daniel Bunce before finding Gallen, who made space in the box before squeezing a deflected shot past Edwards and into the bottom left-hand corner.

Fola Onibuje then forced Murray into an error, but Steven Reed could only wastefully fire his pull back well over.

A precise long ball forward from George Pilkington then sent Craddock clear on 57 minutes, but Edwards was quickly off his line, and his sliding challenge was just in the nick of time for the hosts.

Playing at right-back, George Pilkington caused more problems on the hour when he drove in a deep cross, but Edwards was just able to pluck the ball out from underneath his own bar.

The tackles started to fly in midway through the second half as Grays, managed by former West Ham and Liverpool hard man Julian Dicks, looked to rough-house their way back into the game.

Grays started to get more into the game and Luton were given a let off on 68 minutes when Onibuje got in behind the defence and tumbled under the attentions of Murray. However, Berkshire referee Steve Creighton waved away the appeals for a free-kick which would surely have been followed by a red card.

Substitute Mark Nwokeji, who joined the Hatters on loan from League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge until the New Year on Friday, then almost made an instant impact, but Gallen was just unable to reach his 70th-minute cross.

More good play by Nwokeji almost put Newton in before a mistake by Blackett presented Grays with their best chance of the game with 13 minutes left. The centre-half sold keeper Kevin Pilkington short with his backpass, but the on-loan stopper was bravely in to challenge Jamie Slabber and prevented the Grays hitman from getting an effort in.

The hosts finally managed an effort on goal with five minutes left when substitute Glen Poole's free-kick was headed weakly at Kevin Pilkington by former Paris Saint Germain man Alsseny Cissoro, but that was as good as it got for Athletic.

Newton fired straight at Edwards with two minutes to go after good work by Jake Howells and Gallen, but it mattered for little as, with the wind dying, the Hatters cantered to victory.

Blues: Preston Edwards, Cameron Mawer (C), Billy Crowther, Alan Logumbe, Daniel Bunce, Kenny Davis, Alsseny Cissoro, Harry Agombar, Steve Reed (Glen Poole 59), Fola Onibuje, Jamie Slabber. Substitutes not used: Daniel Charge, Petar Rnkovic, Charlie Mallmann, Richard Graham.

Hatters: Kevin Pilkington, Freddie Murray, Alan White, Shane Blackett, George Pilkington, Keith Keane, Kevin Nicholls (C), Claude Gnakpa (Jake Howells 70), Adam Newton, Kevin Gallen, Tom Craddock (Mark Nwokeji 66). Substitutes not used: Shane Gore, Ed Asafu-Adjaye, Asa Hall.

Referee: Steve Creighton (Berks).

Assistant referee: N Cooper and C Fitch.

Fourth official: T Goddard.

Bookings: Billy Crowther 26; Alsseny Cissoro 36.

Attendance: 1,668.

Star Hatter: Kevin Nicholls. There were plenty of contenders but Nicholls looked far more like his tenacious old self.