Blackburn 1-1 Luton: Hayden Carter rescues Rovers’ play-off hopes with last-gasp equaliser

Poking at the last embers of their promotion hopes, Blackburn found a faint glow.

Rovers remain unlikely to extend their season into the play-offs, but Hayden Carter’s late equalizer at least kept hope alive at Ewood Park.

They go to sixth-placed Millwall next Monday two points behind their opponents and will need to win at The Den, while also hoping to fail Sunderland and West Brom, also on 66 points but with superior goal difference.

In a final of unexpected excitement after a largely riotous and lifeless performance, Rovers grabbed a point as Carter headed into a Sorba Thomas corner on 86 minutes.

And perhaps deep into stoppage time they could have positioned themselves even more strongly when Sammie Szmodics hit a bet against the crossbar.

Jon Dahl Tomasson – whose side has collapsed from pinned promotion contenders to outsiders on an eight-match winless run – will be glad his players have earned a lifeline.

But given their squandered chances in the first half, it could have been a crucial victory against a Luton side who had already booked their play-off spot and headed through Tom Lockyer’s header.

The feeling was bittersweet as the players began their final round of appreciation, but it’s not over until it’s over.

While their direction has been down, Luton’s trajectory is much higher despite dropping their 26th and 27th points from winning positions this season.

Rob Edwards has built brilliantly on the work of Nathan Jones and the prospect of top-flight football at Kenilworth Road for the first time since 1991-92 is very real.

This was Bank Holiday bliss for the Hatters, who knew after Middlesbrough’s defeat at Rotherham they would finish the season in third regardless of what happened in their last two games.

So it was largely up to Rovers to deliver the kind of inspired performance that has eluded them during the seven-match winless run that crippled their promotion hopes.

That torrid run certainly contained some hard-to-take moments. Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson scored an injury-time equalizer here on April 19, a last-minute own goal from Dominic Hyam that cost them two points in the derby at Preston, and the sight of bitter rivals Burnley clinching the title on their ground .

Not everyone was turned on in the first few minutes. A blind pass across midfield by Ben Brereton Diaz was intercepted by Jordan Clark, who forced his way into the Rovers box before being slowed down by Adam Wharton’s slide challenge. Clark held on, but his final shot was weak.

Gradually Rovers built up some steam and Harry Pickering should have scored as a blocked shot from Lewis Travis bounced perfectly at him from about 15 yards out. Pickering saw his shot wastefully miss.

There was a good running game between Szmodics and Amari’i Bell after Brereton Diaz played an inviting through ball, with the Luton man mopping cleanly.

Luton’s touring band in Darwen End sang about visiting Wembley and scoffed at Watford’s mid-table mediocrity.

Their team has the second-best away record in the division, so resilience is ingrained, but they were also willing to attack.

Carlton Morris saw two chances within a minute – the first from range was a goal but was deflected from Hyam and wide, while the second was a wild blow from a difficult angle after a nod from Luke Perry.

But the better chances in the first half fell in favor of the hosts. Joe Rankin-Costello was found in space in the Luton box and when Alfie Doughty slipped his shot was blocked by keeper Ethan Horvath’s right boot.

Ten minutes from the break, Tyrhys Dolan came within sight of goal in an almost identical position after Sonny Bradley’s attempted hooked clearance hit him in the face. The attempt went over the target, but away from the target.

When a succession of Rovers moves towards half-time failed in the final third, frustrations that you felt had been building up in the stands for some time broke out.

But when Luton broke the deadlock five minutes into the second half, the reaction was one of resignation.

Rovers failed to clear a corner and the ball was eventually re-thrown into the penalty area by Morris from the right, with Lockyer winning the fight with his marker to duck and go home.

The marker, Rankin-Costello, yelled at referee Darren England that Lockyer fouled him. England disagreed.

It was no surprise – moments earlier Berry saw an attempt blocked just in front of goal after a good build up on the left by Clark and Morris.

Tomasson immediately turned to his bench and introduced Bradley Dack to Dolan and Thomas to Ryan Hedges in a quest for momentum.

But it was Luton who pressed on, as Aynsley Pears put up his gloves to block out Elijah Adebayo’s attack.

With 18 to play, Bradley headed the crossbar after Rovers lost a game of penalty box head tennis to Cody Drameh’s free kick which Morris managed to keep well. But Carter’s first goal of the campaign was certainly well timed.