Ice cool Hatters skipper kept his cool when placed on the spot

ICE cool skipper George Pilkington refused to let Wrexham’s gamesmanship get to him as he netted a decisive penalty in Luton’s 2-1 defeat at Wrexham on Monday as his side ultimately progressed into the play-off final, writes Mark Wood.

By The Newsroom

Published 9th May 2012, 16:35 BST

His calm and collected strike midway through the first half put the Hatters 3-0 up on aggregate, but he revealed Wrexham striker Jake Speight had done his best to put him off as two minutes elapsed between Alex Lawless winning the penalty and Pilkington converting.

He said: “There was a bit of gamesmanship, banter, whatever you call it, between their players trying to get in my ears. But I just walked away and tried to keep focused on what I needed to do.

“I think it was Speighty following me around but I just ignored him.

“I felt very confident and just tried to keep calm. Fortunately enough for myself it went in the back of the net.”

For the full story, see the Luton News/Dunstable Gazette on sale now.