Luton Town were beaten 3-2 by Coventry City after letting a two goal lead disappear.
The Hatters had held a two goal lead at the CBS Arena through goals by Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo in the first half.
But Ellis Simms and Victor Torp scored goals to cancel out the Hatters’ advantage and after Hatters defender Tom Holmes was sent off, the home side snatched the points through Haji Wright’s injury time winner.
Defeat meant that the Hatters were leapfrogged in the table by the Sky Blues, with results elsewhere seeing Luton slide into the relegation zone in the Championship after 12 games, and the team are 8 points off the Championship play-off positions.
Luton had been looking to build on positive qualities shown in a midweek defeat by league leaders Sunderland as they faced Coventry 17 months on from beating them at Wembley in the Championship play-off final.
But the visitors began their trip to the West Midlands on the back foot, with Josh Eccles and Milan van Ewijk denied by Thomas Kaminski and Ben Sheaf firing wide.
Against the run of play, however, the Hatters would take the lead. Tatsuhiro Sakomoto brought down Tahith Chong in the box, with the referee awarding a spot-kick and from 12 yards, Morris beat Coventry goalkeeper Oliver Dovin despite the Sky Blues’ custodian guessing the right way.
Chong nearly made it two when he held off his man to just create room for an effort that was thwarted by Dovin.
Coventry had looked likelier to grab the game’s next goal, with Simms denied by Kaminski in their best chance, but Luton pulled a surprise on the hosts when they moved 2-0 up with 37 minutes on the clock.
Having scored his first of the season against Sunderland in midweek, Adebayo grabbed his second in as many games when he was played through by Tom Krauß’s low pass and although Dovin got a touch, Adebayo’s finish found the bottom corner in front of the travelling supporters.
Despite one messy goalmouth scramble, Luton entered the break maintaining their two goal advantage. The pattern continued after the break, with Kaminski denying Sheaf and Wright seeing a strike deflected over.
Coventry got a goal back just before the half hour mark, as Simms rose highest to meet Jack Rudoni’s corner and score.
With just over 15 minutes of the 90 to play, Coventry then broke through again to wipe out the Hatters’ two goal lead. Substitute Torp received a pass, turned and duly dispatched a fine strike from range beyond Kaminski’s grasp to bring Mark Robins’ side back on level term.
Luton nearly hit Coventry with another sucker punch when Dovin denied Jacob Brown on a counter-attack, but a foul by Holmes on Wright would see the Luton defender sent off and the Hatters forced to endure injury time a player down.
The Hatters would be unable to see out stoppage time, however, as Wright scored at the second attempt after Kaminski had saved his initial strike, and with an offside appeal against in the build-up rejected, it meant victory for Coventry and defeat for Luton.
MK Dons came from behind to record a 3-1 win over Grimsby Town in Lincolnshire.
The Dons fell behind to Danny Rose’s first half goal, but came back after the break as a quickfire double from Alex Gilbey and Scott Hogan put them in front before Connor Lemonhaigh-Evans wrapped up three points in stoppage time.
Victory at Blundell Park means three wins in a week for the Dons ahead of next weekend’s FA Cup tie with rivals AFC Wimbledon.
Scott Lindsey’s side will enter the league’s FA Cup break sat in 8th in the League Two table, with the team now one point and one place off the league’s play-off positions.
Having beaten early strugglers Morecambe and Accrington Stanley over the preceding week, MK Dons faced a tricky test as they faced a Grimsby side that began the weekend in the play-off places in League Two.
But it was Grimsby who made the brighter start, and they would open the scoring just after the quarter of an hour mark. Denver Hume’s short free-kick released Rose, who skated in ahead of Joe Tomlinson to prod the ball past Tom McGill.
MK Dons had started slowly but offered more as the half wore on, although their positive qualities mainly manifested as half-chances that didn’t land on target.
In the opening minutes of the second half, however, MK Dons tilted the contest in their favour with two goals in four minutes to go from trailing to leading.
Grimsby had come close to a second when McGill denied Luca Barrington in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Dons equalised within four minutes of the restart.
The returning Tommy Leigh picked up the ball down the Dons’ right hand side, and his cross was perfect for an unmarked Gilbey, who crashed a header into the back of the net for his second goal in as many games.
Then the Dons took the lead through Hogan, who grabbed his second goal in three games when he tapped the ball home after Grimsby goalkeeper Jackson Smith failed to cut out Aaron Nemane’s cross.
Much of the second half saw the Dons contain a Grimsby threat that they had struggled to keep under control in the first half, and the visitors confirmed their third win in a row in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Lemonhaigh-Evans was able to sweep home a first time shot from Ellis Harrison’s pass to grab the Dons’ third and with it confirm three points for their return down south.
Milton Keynes City Council has announced they are providing funding to organisations that give young people social opportunities and wellbeing support outside of school hours.
At an event this afternoon (24/10), the City Council brought together dozens of youth clubs and organisations to discuss how they will work together to continue helping young people. During the meeting, the council shared its ideas for a three-year youth sector strategy which aims to ensure that future support meets growing demand.
The funding is around an extra £150,000, and is part of a draft strategy that will be taken to MK’s first Youth Participation Summit on 8 November.
At this summit, young people across the city will get the chance to have their say and input into the plans.
Tony Gallagher OBE, Chair of the National Youth Sector Advisory Board, said, “I am delighted to see that Milton Keynes City Council is working hand in hand with its valued partners to rebuild youth clubs and activities in the city. At the very time when youth work support is most needed, too much provision, locally and nationally, has disappeared during recent years of financial austerity.”
Councillor Joe Hearnshaw, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, added, “Our young people deserve the very best, and to achieve this, we need to work in true partnership. This is why we are bringing together the expertise, resources, and passion from across our city and the sector. Alongside developing extra provision in the form of clubs and support services, we remain committed to working with our partners and finding new ways to innovate as our city expands.”
To receive funding, organisations had to demonstrate that appropriate safety and safeguarding measures are in place. The City Council’s Youth Provision Safe Practice Mark helps parents and carers to make informed decisions about local clubs for children and young people.
To learn more about local youth provision and the Safe Practice Mark, visit www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/YPSafePractice
Police are appealing for witnesses and dash-cam footage following a road traffic collision on the M1 in Milton Keynes.
The incident happened at around 6.30pm yesterday evening (23/10) on the M1 southbound carriageway between junctions 14 and 15.
A yellow Honda Jazz and a white Nissan Qashqai were involved in a collision
Thames Valley Police confirmed that tragically, the driver of the Honda, who was a man aged in his thirties, died of his injuries at the scene.
The driver of the Nissan, who has been identified as a man in his forties, sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital, but has since been discharged.
The passenger of the Honda, a man in his thirties, sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment, where he remains at this time.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Julia Stroud, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said, “First and foremost, our thoughts are with the family of the man who has tragically died in this collision.
“We are in the early stages of our investigation and are still trying to establish the full circumstances.
“Therefore, I am appealing to anybody who was driving in the area at the time of the collision and has any information that can assist this investigation to please get in touch with us.
“If you have a dash-cam in your vehicle, I would ask you to please check this and contact us to provide this to us. You can upload any footage to the dedicated portal for this investigation.
“Anyone with information about this incident can make a report online or call 101, quoting reference number 43240512338.
“I would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding while the M1 was closed and we conducted our extensive enquiries at the scene.”
Luton Town have condemned racist abuse sent to their striker Elijah Adebayo.
The club said they were “angry, upset and frustrated” at racially abusive content sent to the Luton player on Instagram during the Hatters’ match against Sunderland on Wednesday (23/10) night.
Adebayo reported the abuse to the club after the game, with Luton saying they have reported the content to Instagram owners Meta and to local police.
The incident comes just over a year after Luton said Adebayo was “tired” after he had been sent racist abuse on social media during a Premier League match against Spurs.
In a statement, Luton voiced their anger with the incident.
They said, “After Elijah notified us following last night’s game with Sunderland, in which he scored his first goal of the season, we reported the incident to the Police and to Meta. It is now being investigated.
“Just like we said a year ago, and just like we will do WHENEVER a player or staff member is subjected to abuse, we will stand by and support Elijah unequivocally.
“To the individual who cowardly dropped into Elijah’s DMs: We know who you are and you know who you are. You’re not a faceless account, one which we have sadly become accustomed to reporting in recent years.
“But as if you have the balls to come to Kenilworth Road and say it to his face. We dare you. If you do, you’ll be faced with everyone at Luton Town Football Club, standing side-by-side with Elijah.
“Abuse of any kind is unacceptable. But does everyone know that? It’s why we are doing our bit to educate everyone that racism and all forms of abuse is abhorrent and unacceptable.”
