Boss Alex Revell hailed goalkeeper Joseph Anang after the West Ham loanee’s penalty shootout heroics powered League Two Stevenage into the second round of the EFL Cup at the expense of Championship neighbours Luton.
Both sides scored within the first five minutes of the game, with Stevenage going ahead through last season’s top scorer Elliott List in the second minute, only for Luton debutant Cameron Jerome to draw the visitors level three minutes later.
Ben Coker regained the lead for Boro but Admiral Muskwe made it 2-2 five minutes before half-time, and with no change to the score in the second period the tie was decided on spot kicks.
While Stevenage’s Chris Lines, Luther James-Wildin and Jake Reeves all netted from the spot, two saves from 21-year-old Anang kept Luton out and secured a 3-0 shootout scalp.
Revell said: “We were always confident with Joe in goal. We did practice penalties yesterday and I’m glad the fans are going home happy.
“They’ve waited a long time for that – it was a fantastic night. We were exceptional on the ball at times, and showed how good we can be.
“The message I gave to the players was to show how good you can be and show courage. We’ve come a long way as a football club from last year, and the hard work showed today.”
Hatters boss Nathan Jones – who made 10 changes to the side that started their win against Peterborough at the weekend – had no complaints with the result.
He said: “3-0 is about as emphatic a penalty shootout defeat as you’ll ever see.
“We had a good side out, albeit one that hasn’t played much, and we had possession without creating a lot of chances.
“We’ve got some big games coming up and it was good to give some players the chance to play. At the end of the day, we didn’t do enough to win.”
