Luton play out draw away at Port Vale as away win wait continues

Luton Town’s wait for an away win continued as they played out a 1-1 draw away at League One’s bottom side Port Vale.

Nahki Wells had given Luton an early lead, but a second half strike by Ben Waine saw the home side pick up a share of the points.

A draw does little to help Luton’s play-off ambitions, with the Hatters now on a run of four without a win and without an away since November, although they at least ended a run of six straight away defeats.

With 12 games of the season to go, Jack Wilshere’s side sit 10th in League One, with the Hatters 5 points off the playoffs.

Luton had made a bright start in Staffordshire, with Wells putting them in front inside five minutes as he converted from Emilio Lawrence’s cross.

The visitors spurned opportunities to move 2-0 up, with Lawrence missing the target, Jordan Clark having an effort blocked in a goalmouth scramble and Nigel Lonwijk getting denied by a fine save from Port Vale keeper Joe Gauci.

Less than a minute after Gauci’s save at one end, Port Vale duly equalised. The leveller came through Waine, who received George Hall’s pass before beating Luton keeper Josh Keeley.

The second half was a more hard-fought affair with few chances, but one nearly opened the door for the Valiants, with Keeley making a fine save to keep out Jayden Stockley.

Keeley would make another good save to keep out home sub Martin Sherif, which came moments after Gauci made a great stop to deny Luton sub Ali Al-Hamadi.

As it was, neither side was able to find a likely game-winning breakthrough, meaning the points were shared in a result that does little to further either side’s respective ambitions.

The Hatters’ next assignment sees them host Northampton in the EFL Trophy on Wednesday, before they host Reading next Saturday.