Buckle proud of Cheltenham

Boss Paul Buckle was proud of his Cheltenham team after they registered a hard fought point against his old club Luton.

Shaun Whalley's first-half goal earned the Hatters a 1-1 draw at Whaddon Road, coming less than a minute after Zack Kotwica had put the home side ahead. "I am happy with a point and would we have taken a point before the game? Most probably yes," Buckle said. "It was a frantic start to the game and we managed to take the lead with a good goal. "It was a shame we couldn't hold on, but they levelled and had their tails up and we then had to stay strong because they were attacking a packed away end, so I was very proud of the players. "It's good to be disappointed not to have won against a team like Luton. We looked very solid and maybe on another day we could have held on. "Tactically I thought we got it spot on. Luton were always going to ask questions of us but we made it a tough game for them, creating a number of chances." "They have a lot of experience and we put in a professional performance against a very good team." Luton boss John Still bemoaned the condition of the pitch, which he felt spoilt both teams' chances of producing entertaining football. "The pitch was atrocious and you can't get a true run of the ball on it at all," Still said. "The ball was bouncing all over the place and we said to play in the other team's half and play off mistakes almost because it's so hard to get a decent run of the ball. That's the same for both teams I have to add. "To provide the moments of quality you want to provide was very difficult. They took the lead against the run of play and it was a poor goal, but we responded well straight away. "Both goals had a element of fortune in them and trying to find the right line of pass was very hard for both teams. "You have to play in all weathers and all conditions and we battled and it would have been nice to find a touch more quality." Cheltenham opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Kevin Stewart released debutant Jake Gray on the right. His ball in was aimed at Jack Dunn, but it found its way to Kotwica who forced it over the line from close range for his second goal of the season. But the lead lasted for less than 60 seconds, with Trevor Carson only able to parry Andy Drury's low shot straight to Whalley, who tapped into the empty net. Buoyed by their leveller, Luton nearly took the lead in the 28th minute when Whalley pounced from close range after a corner, but Gray cleared off the line to ensure it remained 1-1.