It all goes flat for Reds as 'Vimto' loses his sparkle Barnsley 1 Luton 2 INSIDE the camp they call him 'Vimto'. They're about to find out what bottle he's got. Kid keeper Vito Mannone looked crushed in the 93rd minute on Saturday. Now, can he bounce back? The 18-year-old's last touch in his first league game was a glove-to-ball flap at Sol Davis's hopeful punt to penalty box. Sooty could have made a better fist of it. The ball fell for Luton's other sub, the lad with the a typographical error of a surname, Ahmet Brkovic. Not scoring from where he was would have been tougher. And all this in the 93rd minute. There wasn't even time for Barnsley to repeat their lightning-quick equaliser of the 47th minute. So 2-1 it was. No-one wants to lose or even win a game like that. It was a bung of a result and Luton boss Mike Newell knew it. "It was a gift, obviously you feel for the keeper," he said. "But that is what young players have to do, they have to make mistakes and learn from them to make themselves better players." Barnsley boss Andy Ritchie was the first to hug Mannone in a dad to lad 'tough luck, never mind' sort of way. "I thought 'great' when I saw him coming for the ball. He's just let it slip through his hands," Ritchie recalled. "I went straight up to him on the pitch and said 'don't worry about it. It happens, it won't be the last time you make a mistake and just to get your head up and don't dwell on it'. "I think the lads had put him under pressure a couple of times with a couple of dodgy back passes and he'd done okay. "Just before the goal he'd come and collected a corner which was great and took the pressure off us and I felt he do it again, but it just wasn't to be. "The goalkeeper is the last line if defence and if he makes a ricket it usually ends up in a goal." Ritchie's real gripe had nothing to do with Mannone. "We should have really finished the game before half-time," he complained. "If you don't take your chances, you don't win games. "We were so far on top in the first half, you've got to take advantage of that. "I think they had one or two good chances as well and probably could have scored another couple if they took them but obviously we could have as well. "It was the first half that really lost us the game. We probably should have been three or four up in the first half." Brian Howard alone admitted he had enough goes at goal for a hat-trick. "I think we deserved to win, we had the better of the game, the better chances," Howard reckoned. "We've hit the bar, had one off the line. "I thought it was one of those days and I wasn't going to score but finally I got in at the end and put one in the net and I thought we'd go on and win the game. "We're just devastated that we haven't picked up all three points." Martin Devaney was a man on a mission. He made Lewis Emanuel's life hell last season at Bradford. New club, new division, same outcome. It's 12 months since Luton failed to score in a game and with talent like Rowan Vine on board that's no big shock. They too made and muffed first-half chances while Mannone, playing only because Nick Colgan was suspended, looked as comfortable as anyone who was supposed to be defending. He was brave diving at Sam Parkin's size 11s and lucky that Leon Barnett failed to find any sort of finish when he found himself alone in the six-yard box with a simple header. In keeper Marlon Beresford's Luton area Emanuel cleared a Howard header off the line and Howard slammed a shot on to the bar a split second after an offside flag. The game's first goal came just after the break and was a corker from Trinidad and Tobago international Carlos Edwards. Richard Langley gave him the ball, then a twist, a half-turn and a screaming shot which Mannone had every right to watch fizz in. Barnsley's comeback was Top Gear test drive fast. Howard scooted down the middle, Paul Hayes found him and Howard turned it in from close. Said Howard: "I try and make that run every week, the boys look for me. The lack of concentration from their midfielder let me get in behind him. That's three goals for me now from the centre of midfield in 10 games. "That's a good ratio and I'll be looking to get a few more and get us some points hopefully." Credit Luton for finishing stronger than Barnsley as the game went on. Vine and Parkin looked a handful while Michael McIndoe seemed the man most likely to achieve for Barnsley. On came Tommy Wright as Barnsley went for it. On came Davis and Brkovic as Luton went for it and got it with Mannone's helping hand.
