Substitute Luke Berry scored a dramatic equaliser in the eighth minute of added time as Luton fought back to draw 2-2 at Blackburn in the Sky Bet Championship.
With five minutes of stoppage time allocated, a lengthy delay for an injury to referee Oliver Langford meant the game was extended and the midfielder scored his and the Hatters’ second goal to delight the visiting fans at Ewood Park.
Tony Mowbray’s men were two up and in a commanding position at half-time after a four-minute burst during which Tyrhys Dolan confidently finished a superb team move and Harry Pickering netted his first Rovers goal.
Berry slid in from close range with 17 minutes to go but if anything, Rovers looked like extending their lead and missed two gilt-edged chances in stoppage time before Berry’s late intervention.
Ben Brereton Diaz was cleared to play at the 11th hour and Ryan Nyambe returned in one of three changes for the hosts. The Hatters made three alterations of their own ,including a first start of the season for Dan Potts.
The early exchanges were drab and the only moment of note was a Darragh Lenihan foul that Luton wanted more than a yellow card for after Allan Campbell had to be substituted.
Rovers hit the front in the 27th minute when John Buckley combined with Nyambe, whose cross was brilliantly controlled by Dolan who fired into the roof of the net.
The hosts sliced through Luton again four minutes later when Brereton Diaz’s intricate ball found Pickering, who charged into the box before slotting the ball into the far right corner.
Brereton Diaz could have wrapped the game up midway through the second half but his neat turn and shot struck a post, and it did not seem to matter too much to the hosts when Luton’s Cameron Jerome spurned a glorious chance in the 70th minute, shooting straight at Thomas Kaminski from close range.
However, the visitors did get back into the game 17 minutes from time when Berry slid in Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s superb low cross.
In a breathless finish, Nyambe’s deflected shot was brilliantly saved by Simon Sluga before the lengthy injury time stoppage for an injury to referee Langford, who had to be replaced.
Brereton Diaz was put clean through afterwards but Sluga again produced a crucial save, before Sam Gallagher’s rebound was heroically blocked.
It proved vital as Luton grabbed the latest of equalisers when a long ball was nodded into the path of Berry, who displayed superb composure before lashing beyond Kaminski to end a frenetic encounter.
