Luton somehow managed to claim a precious point in their battle for League One survival, despite going down to EIGHT men against Bristol Rovers.

The Hatters worked their socks off and with a little slice of luck and some wonderful defending, managed to record only their fourth away point of the season.

How Luton achieved their point was something incredible. They withstood a barrage of late pressure after the Hatters had Chris Coyne, Steve Robinson and Anthony Grant all sent-off.

Luton went down to ten men before half-time and were already a goal down through Andy Williams' penalty.

But Dave Edwards grabbed a goal early in the second half and then battled for an amazing 41 minutes of the second half, plus four minutes of stoppage time, to claim their point with a major numerical disadvantage.

The Hatters went into the game giving Grant his first start for the Club as Darren Currie dropped to the bench.

Grant was one of two changes from the side which defeated Tranmere 1-0 at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, as striker Calvin Andrew also returned to the starting line-up.

The Luton youngster replaced Paul Furlong, who despite hobbling off against Tranmere, was named amongst the substitutes.

It meant Blackwell continued to keep faith with the 4-5-1 formation that proved so unpopular amongst supporters at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.

Bristol Rovers, who lost 1-0 at Leeds on Saturday, made just one change from that side, with Williams replacing the injured Sean Rigg in attack.

The home-side were the first to threaten in an evenly matched opening when Rickie Lambert's ball sent Lewis Haldane racing through the centre, but Matthew Spring intervened with a timely tackle.

Rovers looked the more threatening side going forward and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 15 minutes. But it was a double hammer blow for Luton, who not only went behind to Williams' penalty, but had Coyne sent-off with a straight red card.

The Hatters skipper was deemed to have brought down Williams after the striker was allowed plenty of time on the ball to race inside the Luton penalty area. Despite strong protests from the Luton players, referee Andy Hall had no hesitations with the sending off and dished out the red card.

Williams picked himself up and made no mistake from the spot and drilled a low shot to Dean Brill's right.

Luton were seeing plenty of the ball, but failed to turn their chances into any real scoring opportunity, with a tame Edwards header on 25 minutes the only opening created by the visitors.

It did improve for the Hatters as Robinson tried his luck from distance with a left footed drive two minutes later that whistled past a post.

On 31 minutes, Luton could have been level when a ball whipped into the Rovers penalty area from Goodall should have been turned home by Edwards, who couldn't hit a clean connection, the loose ball rolling on to Andrew at the back post who was slow to react.

Three minutes later and Rovers should have doubled their advantage. However, Luton were thankful to some brave goalkeeping from Brill as he prevented Williams a certain goal, by keeping out his effort from just two yards.

Williams was proving to be a menace and he was to be denied again by Brill on 38 minutes with a splendid one-handed save to his left, as the Rovers striker managed to guide a header towards goal. The Luton goalkeeper then displayed quick reactions to prevent Danny Coles from stealing in at the back post and hitting home the rebound.

Things went from bad to worse for Luton as they were reduced to nine men on 41 minutes. Having just been booked for a late challenge, Robinson was then given his marching orders with a second yellow card after being adjudged to have pulled down a Rovers player.

It meant Luton were left with an uphill struggle in the second half.

AT HALF TIME: BRISTOL ROVERS 1 V 0 LUTON

But Luton made the perfect start to when against the odds they were back on level terms on 49 minutes.

A wonderfully delivered free-kick from Bell out on the right got the faintest of touches from the head of Edwards to bring Luton level.

The Hatters almost went close to a shock lead on 51 minutes when Bell was given freedom down the right to waltz towards the Rovers goal as his 20-yard shot stung the gloves of Pirates goalkeeper Steve Phillips.

Luton refused to sit back and defend and continued to venture forward with Spring and Andrew both going close.

But the numeric advantage was always going to put Luton firmly on the back foot as the home side looked dangerous on the break.

Keith Keane, who had replaced Alan Goodall as a second-half substitute, twice denied almost certain goals as he firstly blocked a Lewis Haldane shot, before sweeping in with a brave tackle to stop Aaron Lescott a shot at goal.

Luton then breathed a huge sigh of relief as they were handed a slice of good fortune on 73 minutes. A hopeful ball lobbed forward by Steve Elliott on the edge of the area struck the underside of the crossbar and seemingly bounced down and over the line.

However, the referee refused to award a goal and adjudged that Edwards had cleared the ball off the line.

The good fortunes then vanished quickly as Luton were dealt their third sending off of the game. On this occasions however there could be little complaint as a rash challenge from Grant sent Williams crashing to the ground..

Luton were hanging on by the skin of their teeth in a pulsating game that Rovers were completely dominating.

Brill somehow kept Luton on level terms when he managed to get a foot onto a Williams shot that struck the outside of a post.

Rovers then should have won it late in stoppage time when Disley sent a free header from six yards wide of the target.

Fojut then came to the rescue when he headed off the line from a Campbell effort as the full time whistle was greeted by 413 Luton fans like they had won FA Cup. It was a splendid team performance from all involved.

FULL TIME: BRISTOL ROVERS 1 V 1 LUTON

Bristol Rovers: Phillips, Lescott (Lines 75), Coles, Elliott, Jacobson, Ppe, Campbell, Disley, Haldane (Walker 11), Williams, Lambert

Subs not used: Hinton, Carruthers, Green

Bookings: Campbell (60)

Luton: Brill, Goodall (Keane 46), Perry, Coyne, Fojut, Bell, Grant, Robinson, Spring, Andrew (Furlong 81), Edwards

Subs not used: Currie, Talbot, McVeigh

Bookings: Edwards (26), Robinson (38, 41)

Sent-Off: Coyne (13), Robinson (41), Grant (77)

Referee: Mr Andy Hall

Attendance: 7,556 (413 from Luton)