Pre-season preparations continued for Alex Lawless’ side as Bim Pepple was on target following his loan spell with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the end of last season.
It was a poor start from the young Hatters, who were caught on the counter-attack inside two minutes as Hitchin captain Liam Brooks fired the hosts off the mark.
Lawless’ youngsters recovered well though, and had multiple first half chances through Jake Burger, Oli Lynch and Pepple.
Finally, the Hatters’ breakthrough came five minutes into the second half as Pepple was fouled by goalkeeper Kyle Forster inside the box.
The Canadian took the opportunity to slot the penalty into the bottom right corner past Forster to draw the game level.
Wholesale changes on the hour mark lost the flow of the game as the good run out for the Development squad concluded with one goal apiece.
The next fixture for the young Hatters is against MK Irish at Manor Fields on Saturday 20th July, kick-off is at 1pm.
Luton first hour XI: Blackledge, Pinnington, Chigozie, Kayibanda, Emery, Benagr, Martins, Burger, Lorentzen-Jones, Lynch, Pepple.
Luton last 30 XI: Trialist B, Harvey, Giwa, Trialist A, Paternoster, Odell-Bature, Fox, Trustram, Iwhiwhu, Anderson, Ioannides.
Though left-wing back Alfie Doughty was one of Luton’s better players in the Premier League, it was noticeable that Edwards played Johnson as a centre-back in a pre-season friendly against Danish side AGF Aarhus. It was also indicative of how much the Hatters want to utilise Johnson’s talent and give him valuable game time.
At Brentford, Shandon Baptiste was appreciated for his footballing ability. To such an extent that he was one of the first picks for the Bees’ five-a-side sessions! The signing of Baptiste will also make up somewhat for Hatters fans seeing two favourites leave, with Ross Barkley joining Aston Villa and Sambi Lokonga returning to Arsenal.
Baptiste is an X-factor player, who can make the difference in a tight game with his skilful runs. In such a competitive division, a game-changer like Baptiste should prove to be a valuable asset for the Town.
