Past Meetings: Lincoln City v Luton Town

A rivalry that stretches back to the Victorian era has swung wildly between thumping wins, gritty draws and late drama.

The first league clashes came in 1897, and the head-to-head now reads Lincoln 6 wins, 13 draws, Luton 21 wins, a ledger that hides plenty of Imps highs as well as a few bruises.

Recent Clashes

From an Imps perspective, the modern memory most supporters reach for is New Year’s Day 2018 at Kenilworth Road, a chaotic League Two meeting that turned twice before slipping away late on. We led early through Michael Bostwick after six minutes, then traded blows in a madcap first half that saw James Collins level and Matt Green reply before James Justin made it 2-2 at the break.

Alan Sheehan’s red card after four minutes had already put the Hatters on the back foot, only for our own Harry Anderson to walk on 36 minutes, and the game rebalanced. In the final quarter, the hosts found the extra push, Danny Hylton finishing neatly on 72 minutes and Harry Cornick settling it on 82, a 4-2 defeat that stung because we had been right in it.

That same season’s meeting at Sincil Bank in September was altogether tighter. We kept Luton at arm’s length in a hard-fought 0-0, the back line standing firm, and Alex Woodyard anchoring a midfield that never allowed the game to become stretched. If New Year’s Day was breathless, this was measured and disciplined, a point earned rather than two dropped.

Roll back to 2013 in the Conference and the margins were just as thin. At Kenilworth Road that September, we were excellent for 50 minutes, Alan Power guiding one in and Ben Tomlinson doubling the lead just after the break. Mark Tyler’s saves kept the hosts alive, and the tide turned late, Luke Guttridge pulling one back before Mark Cullen struck twice, the second on 80 minutes, to flip a 2-0 advantage into a 3-2 defeat. The return at our place in January was a 0-0 that owed plenty to organisation, our shape denying Guttridge space between the lines.

One of the grittiest contests came in September 2011, again in Bedfordshire. The Hatters lost Dean Beckwith to a red card after 23 minutes, we stayed patient, and it looked like a classic away smash-and-grab might develop. Instead, Stuart Fleetwood nicked it on 84 minutes, and to compound things Mitchell Nelson  (remember him? No?) saw red in stoppage time as frustration spilled over. Fine margins, late pain, and a long drive home that felt even longer.

There was late drama of a different sort in December 2008, a 3-2 reverse in which Chris Martin scored twice before the break for Luton, Lenell John-Lewis hauled us back into it, and Ian Roper’s header restored the gap on 50 minutes. Adrian Patulea’s late strike gave us hope, yet the clock beat us.

Those trips to Kenilworth Road have rarely been dull.

The late Nineties added a couple of cherished entries for the Imps scrapbook. In April 1999 we pinched a 1-0 at Kenilworth Road through Lee Thorpe on 61 minutes, a proper away performance, stubborn and streetwise.

Only months later in November we battled Luton to a 2-2 in the FA Cup, Gavin Gordon drawing first blood, Dave Barnett forcing the issue late on, and Gary Doherty’s brace reminding everyone that the Hatters always carried a punch. The replay swung their way, a reminder that cup tales often split into two acts.

Earlier Meetings

If you want a lift, skip the modern era and head straight for December 3, 1966 at Sincil Bank. On a bitter afternoon in Division Four, with spirits low and crowds thin, City produced one of the most outrageous performances in club history. Billy Cobb, signed on the eve of the game, smashed a debut hat-trick, Joe Bonson grabbed two, Roy Chapman matched him with a brace and Roger Holmes started the rout. Luton pulled one back briefly, the Bank simply roared, and the scoreboard finally settled at Lincoln City 8-1 Luton Town.

The Sixties were not all sunshine. Luton took revenge with a 2-1 win at Kenilworth Road in April 1967, and in 1968 the Hatters ran out 4-2 winners on their own patch after edging a five-goal contest at the Bank earlier that campaign. Go back another decade and the pendulum swings sharply their way, notably a 6-0 at Kenilworth Road in April 1949, the kind of late-season hiding supporters remember for years.

Dig even deeper and the rivalry becomes wonderfully eccentric. In 1897, in only our second season of meetings, Luton thumped us 9-3 in Bedfordshire, a scarcely believable scoreline even by the wild standards of Victorian football.

In 1900 we beat them home and away, 2-0 at the Bank and 2-0 at their place, a neat double that framed the fixture in a different light. That back and forth has never really left the rivalry, one side asserting, the other replying (or in our case, trying to), the story of a century told through scorelines.