Out-of-favour midfielder Owen Garvan lashed in a stunning third goal to help Town’s reserves to a 3-1 victory at Luton this afternoon. Liam Trotter and Pablo Couñago (pen) had already hit the target before Garvan slammed home an Ed Upson corner from the edge of the area off the underside of the crossbar.

Town might have gone ahead early on but Tommy Smith’s header was too close to the keeper. Smith wore a bandage on the hand injury which has kept him out of the Blues’ most recent first team games.

Liam Trotter put Town in front in the 18th minute, picking up the ball in his own half of the field and exchanging a couple of passes before being flicked in on goal by Pablo Couñago.

Blues keeper Ian McLoughlin making a smart save on 31 but had no chance with Mark Nwokeji’s 40th minute shot which saw the home side back on terms at the break.

Garvan forced an early second half save from the Luton keeper, then from the subsequent corner Trotter had a header cleared off the line. Couñago headed over moments later when he should have done better.

Northern Irish U17 international midfielder Josh Carson, playing as a full-back, fantastically charged down Nwokeji’s shot in the 53rd minute, the striker having got beyond McLoughlin after beating the offside trap.

Couñago shot wide, then on 72 the Blues were awarded a penalty after an Ed Upson cross had been handled. The Spaniard sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot.

On 80 Owen Garvan scored the goal of the game, striking Ed Upson’s corner from the left first time from the edge of the area and into the net off the underside of the bar. The midfielder will rarely score a better goal in his entire career.

Late on, Couñago hit the post with the Blues worthy winners against the Blue Square Premier side’s second string.

Midfielder Ed Upson was probably Town’s man of the match, sending in cross after excellent cross from the left, Reggie Lambe - the subject of a lengthy interview in a Bermudian newspaper today - in particular wasting a good chance for the Blues to add to their lead.

Owen Garvan stood out in the second half even before his goal, while Liam Trotter also did well, particularly first half. At the back Tommy Smith, Troy Brown and Tom Eastman were again impressive.

Town chief scout Steve McCall was spotted amongst a host of representatives from various clubs including Charlton and Liverpool.

Reserves: McLoughlin, Brown, Carson, Garvan, Smith, Lambe, Trotter, Couñago, Healy, Upson. Subs: Lavery, McKeown, Cawley, Clark, Brandon.

Thanks to Terry Roberts.

Photo: Action Images

haynes_is_a_ledgend added 16:21 - Nov 17 helll yh suck my balll lol thats what garvens about lol mind you cant belive trotter scored but welll done matey and you pabs it comes natrul for you tho come on town
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FormerlyCGS added 16:21 - Nov 17 Keane sit up and take note
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UEFA81 added 16:34 - Nov 17 Garvan playing well now so he can go back to Jim - somebody he wants to play for. Good for him!
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tractorboy1995 added 16:37 - Nov 17 Will Roy Keane please notice Garvan. He can move the ball up the pitch so that we can score goals ! in our last 6 games we've scored 6 goals, we need more, and we need the supply coming from the centre aswell as the wings ! Put him in over Trotter !!!!!
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bedsitfc added 16:37 - Nov 17 oh great he has had this years half decent game whilst playing in the reserves. oh well 2010 is not far away
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jamie22 added 16:41 - Nov 17 Trotter hasn't been playing recently! And anyway it says Trotter had a good game in the first half.... Garvan had a good half.. wasn't good all game... he needs more than that to impress and he knows that! IMO he isn't good enough I hope and want to be wrong, because he scored a cracker does not mean he will score them every week!
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readtheleaguetable added 16:49 - Nov 17 Great Lambe interview. Good luck to the lad.
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tractorboy1995 added 16:51 - Nov 17 No-one talks about scoring, we want a midfielder who can move the ball. Trotter, Colback and Leadbitter are all the same type of midfielder (with varying quality), they all are defensive 'break up' the play midfielders, we need someone who can help us going forward.
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ldnj added 17:15 - Nov 17 Perhaps he was feeling a bit more "wanted" so played better before he leaves ...
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bostonusablue added 17:24 - Nov 17 Get ready for the Garvan bandwagon to start rolling. Boring!
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Dale added 17:28 - Nov 17 Good to see that Lambe calls football what it should be called.
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Berts_chin added 17:36 - Nov 17 I read an article last week about why Stephen Ireland (Man City) refuses to play for the Irish national team. Apparently it's because of friction between the Cork and Dublin factions within the squad. Could it be why Keane walked out on the Irish squad in his playing days? Worth noting that Keane is from Cork and Garvan is from Dublin.
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chislehurstblue added 17:38 - Nov 17 Garvan is not good enough. Too slow, goes missing from games, can't tackle. If he was that good we would have PL and champioship sides banging down the door to sign him. Who has made a firm offer??? The mightly Colchester Utd. Says it all really. Jim didn't rate him either. But people forget that as to slate Keane. Why is it that every player who is not currently in the starting 11 or has been recently sold is the best player we ever had. (also see D Wright, R Wright, Haynes, Civelli, Rhodes, Clarke)

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jamie22 added 18:00 - Nov 17 chislehurtblue has got it all right! Garvan is mediocre! He hasn't got a chance once Norris is back! Bad attitude aswell If we hadn't have had Begovic in goal against Derby I doubt we would've got that win... no disrepect to Wrighty but his current form says it all.
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tort63 added 18:03 - Nov 17 When it comes to a creative midfielder it seems to me that Ed Upson's name appears more frequently than either Garvan or Trotter and the only reason that Garvan appears in the title of this article is because he happens to be the hot topic and major bone of contention between supporters at the moment. I sincerely hope that this is the start of a return to the sort of promise he showed earlier in his career but one swallow does not a summer make!

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ITFC4EVER added 18:07 - Nov 17 just cause he scored dosent make him great quinn and leadbitter
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gtd added 18:21 - Nov 17 Makes me laugh - all these people saying Keane's been wrong all this time to leave Garvan out. One goal in a reserves match doesn't cancel out the season and a half of mediocrity. Mind you, I hope his good performance today is a sign that he's determined to fight for his place back, in which case Keane will give him a deserved chance like he did with David Wright and Pablo.

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Bluecynic added 18:22 - Nov 17 tort63, the reason Garvan's name appears in the title of this article is that he scored a sublime goal today. Really good. I don't think Upson is nearly ready for the first team- Garvan and Trotter are well ahead of him. As for who is the most useful to the team of Owen and Liam, I am not sure. Garvan reads the game well and Trotter is prone to rash tackles which isn't good. I would choose Garvan even though he doesn't have either Trotter's strength or athleticsm.

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Ipswich_Feen added 18:45 - Nov 17 Berts_chin, ordinarily I stay out of the nonsense uttered about keane, but a few things you should take note of. Stephen Ireland (brilliant, but seriously unbalanced, wish he was still with us though) was talking about the discrimination in the FAI, an organisation that makes a mockery of that very word. Also this is the latest in a line of excuses to explain his continued absence, the best of which was grandma gate. Keane, if you read his biography and Knew us Corkonians a bit had his reasons for walking, most of which centred around a lack of vision with that same crowd. So maybe, the focus should be on his record as a manager and his passion as a player . The same passion he is trying to instill in the entire playing staff at portman road. Accept that there will be many who have had it cushy far too long and will not want to adopt the attitude he demands. They will fall by the wayside, and hopefully the up and coming players will start with the right focus. As for Garvan, as an Irish man I want to see the lad be a success, I want to brag to my brothers back in Cork about how I watched him achieve great things with Town, but that is up to the lad. Shane (who I still think could've gone on to great things) was honest enough to admit he didnt' want to do this anymore. Maybe Garvan should take a look at the real world and realise that his talent has an oppurtunity to develop now. Only time will tell. Still I hope the team continues to improve and next season we have a squad that will kick ass in the championship and hold their own the following season in the premier... onward and upward my blue brothers/sisters.(delete as appropriate).... Come on Keanooooooo, they're all just a shower of langers....

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MarcFowler added 19:16 - Nov 17 I hope that Garvan will then push on to get back into the team then :)
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macauleyisuseless added 20:11 - Nov 17 KEANE OUT!
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Dubzy_69 added 20:15 - Nov 17 Did I just read that right?trotter not only had a good game but he scored aswell!was that report wrote by his mum!haha.just hope that don't mean he will be back in the first team Saturday!
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jakeitfcster added 20:38 - Nov 17 what have the other players done that gives them a place?? Garvan isn't perfect but what player is. This isn't because he scored one reserve goal he has quality in him which wasn't brought out in Jim and confidence destroyed by roy. Hes attracted interest from much better sides. Just try him again!!
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PutYaBootsOnKeano added 20:57 - Nov 17 Duffers: here-here old chap.
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Ash_TJ added 21:24 - Nov 17 We finished just outside the play-offs with Garvan as a regular in the team, we're in the relegation zone with him out of the team. Now by no means is he the ultimate reason we're struggling but I think the lack of creativity is definitly a main factor and Garvan is a creative player. He's better than Trotter and better than Healy. It's just plain ignorance by Keane that's keeping him out of the squad, eat some humble pie and give the lad the chance he deserves.

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