Latics leave it late again!!

Oldham Athletic waited until the last minute of the season to snatch a point at Luton Town. Andy Ritchie's side rarely threatened the home goal in a tepid second half but were awarded an injury time penalty that substitute Matthew Tipton converted. Alan White was Luton's culprit, handling in the box after Scott McNiven's cross had sailed over the head over his fellow defender Julian Watts. White's intervention was costly and pointless because substitute keeper Nathan Abbey waiting behind him to collect the ball. Tipton sent Abbey the wrong way from the spot, side-footing coolly into the keeper's bottom left hand corner. The goal denied Luton their first clean sheet at Kenilworth Road for an amazing 23 games.

Earlier, Luton had taken the lead after just nine minutes when Phil Gray, likely to leave the club under the Bosman ruling this summer, headed in his 12th goal of the season. The former Northern Ireland international escaped his markers to rise unchallenged and direct Matthew Spring's corner into the roof of the net. Oldham almost replied immediately but Luton skipper Marvin Johnson cleared Mark Innes shot off the line. The game then swung from end to end with Luton's Paul McLaren showing clever footwork before curling wide and top scorer Liam George forcing two saves from Oldham's Gary Kelly. At the other end, Oldham midfielder Danny Boshell thudded the crossbar with an excellent curling free kick and flashed another great opportunity wide. Luton keeper Ben Roberts, on loan from Middlesbrough, then saved Craig Dudley's shot on the turn and it was his last action in the home goal.

Roberts will sign for a new Premiership club this summer and after taking a first half knock on his head he was replaced by Abbey at half time. Luton's young keeper was rarely tested until the penalty with his team-mate Johnson going closest, heading just wide of his own goal on 75 minutes. McLaren then sent a close range shot wide for the home team and Spring tested Kelly with a 20 yard drive. But Innes warned Luton that the game was not dead by volleying wide on 88 minutes before Tipton's last gasp conversion. Afterwards, Oldham boss Andy Ritchie said: "I am very pleased with the match. I thought we deserved a point and it was a fair result. I have been really pleased with our season. I am looking to strengthen the squad and will be hoping to bring a new striker here. But the lads can be proud of what they have done after the poor start we had.".

Luton 1, Oldham 1

Last three meetings Oldham 2, Luton 1 (9/10/1999) Oldham 1, Luton 1 (2/4/1999) Luton 2, Oldham 0 (17/10/1998)

Final

Final Results Luton 1 Oldham 1 Name, Minutes Gray, 9  Name, Minutes Tipton, 90 pen Yellow Cards Name, Minutes No Yellow Cards   Name, Minutes No Yellow Cards Red Cards Name, Minutes No Red Cards   Name, Minutes No Red Cards Match Stats 12 Goal Attempts 9 7 (On Target) 3 0 (Bar/Post) 1 7 Fouls 7 1 Offsides 8 5 Corners 4

Match Squads & Ratings  2 stars (out of 5) Luton Oldham G 1. Roberts - 7 D 2. White - 6 D 3. Watts - 8 D 4. Johnson - 7 D 5. McGowan - 6 M 6. Spring - 5 M 7. Locke - 6 D 8. McLaren - 7 D 9. Taylor - 7 F 10. George - 7 F 11. Gray - 7 G 1. Kelly - 7 D 2. Garnett - 6 M 3. Hotte - 7 D 4. Jones - 6 D 5. McNiven, S - 7 6. Boshell - 8 D 7. Duxbury - 7 D 8. Innes - 7 D 9. Holt - 6 D 10. Thom - 5 F 11. Dudley - 7 Substitutes Substitutes G 1. Abbey (46) - 6 D 5. Boyce (90) 12. Fraser 13. Kandol 14. Scarlett 6. Sheridan (62) - 7 D 10. Sugden (53) - 7 F 11. Tipton (75) 12. Whitehall 13. Miskelly *Players ranked from 4 (lowest) to 10 (highest) Referee: G. B. Frankland

 A goal from Phil Gray gave Luton the lead today, before Matt Tipton's 92nd minute penalty meant the game ended 1-1 at Kenilworth Road. The match felt like a low key, end of season affair and with the weather being hot there seemed to be a distinct lack of bite about the play, but the players could hardly be blamed.
Matt Spring's corner was converted by the head of an unmarked Phil Gray in the 9th minute whilst the best Latics had in reply in the first half was Danny Boshell's free kick from 18 yards which hit the angle of bar and post before bouncing away to safety. Mark Innes also had an effort cleared off the line after Ben Roberts had been beaten, but it was Luton who went in at the break 1-0 up. Luton looked the more likely to score in the opening exchanges of the second half. Phil Gray went close to adding to his earlier tally but was prevented by a fine challenge from Mark Hotte. Whilst at the other end Marvin Johnson headed just wide of his own goal. However, with time running out the Latics managed to avoid finishing on a sour note as Alan White handled Ryan Sugden's right wing cross and Matthew Tipton made no mistake with the spot kick.

And Oldham were even unluckier after 13 minutes when Danny Boshell curled a quick free kick over the Luton wall and against the bar. Only seconds earlier, Paul McLaren had almost added to Luton's lead when he slipped through three tackles before curling round the far post. Oldham were kept under pressure and in the space of three minutes the defence denied Liam George three times. Luton started the second half with substitute goalkeeper Nathan Abbey in place of Roberts who had suffered a kick on the head. And Oldham were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after 49 minutes when Johnson climbed all over Dudley in heading a back pass to Abbey, but referee Graham Frankland turned down the Latics' frantic appeals. Oldham tried to beef up their attack by bringing on Ryan Sugden for the ineffective Thom and John Sheridan was introduced into midfield for Danny Boshell. Luton's defence provided the best opportunity of the afternoon with a quarter of an hour to go, when Johnson headed past his outrushing goalkeeper, and was thankful to see the ball trickle inches wide of the post. Luton had a great opportunity to increase their lead only minutes earlier, when Matthew Taylor cut in from the left and fired in a fierce shot which Kelly fumbled away to safety. But Oldham got their last minute equaliser through TIPTON's penalty after Alan White handled Brian Sugden's cross.

Burnley, meanwhile, also trailed to a Scunthorpe side who had previously lost seven of their last eight matches, with Lee Hodges having given the Iron a 21st-minute lead. But the Turf Moor club fought back to equalise through Mickey Mellon four minutes before the break, with Little netting the winner in the 73rd minute for a 2-1 win at Glanford Park.Gillingham now face the play-offs for the second successive season - losing to Manchester City in last year's final - with Stoke their opponents in the two legged semi-final clash.Darren Caskey's 81st-minute penalty for Reading was enough to beat City at the Madejski Stadium, with the  Potteries outfit in the end-of-season shake-up due to Bristol Rovers' last-game defeat.

Rovers suffered their own 1-0 loss at already-relegated Cardiff, with Scott Young the goalscorer, opening up the door for Millwall to sneak into fifth place and set up their play-off clash with Wigan. The Lions held onto their 1-0 success at home to Oxford from the seventh minute, thanks to Neil Harris' strike and now face an Athletic team who staged a late rally at Bournemouth. The Cherries had taken a 2-0 half-time lead with goals from Wade Elliott and Claus Jorgensen, but finished with a point due to Pat McGibbon and Neil Roberts both scoring in the final five minutes.

Preston celebrated their title victory with a 2-0 win at Bristol City with goals from Brett Angell and Michael Appleton, leaving North End seven points clear of Burnley.

In other games, rock-bottom Chesterfield also salvaged a point from their game at another of the relegated sides in Blackpool, as they battled back from 2-0 down to finish 2-2. Danny Coid and Wayne Gill put the Tangerines in control, but Ryan Williams and David Reeves hit back to clinch some end-of-season pride for the Spireites.

Jamie McSporran struck Wycombe's winner four minutes from time in a 2-1 success at Cambridge, after Andrew Baird and Trevor Benjamin had exchanged first-half goals.

Oldham also left it late as Matthew Tipton's last-gasp penalty gave his side a point at Kenilworth Road after Phil Gray had put Luton in front in the ninth minute.

At Meadow Lane, Mark Stallard conjured up an equaliser in the 83rd minute after Baichung Bhutia and Chris Billy had scored within a minute of one another in the second half following Alex Dyer's 21st-minute opener.

In the only other game, Brentford were held to a goalless draw by Colchester at Griffin Park.