By Chris Larkin
County may have lost but there was much to celebrate from their friendly match against the Scottish cup holders.
The Hatters kicked off the first of three home friendlies against St. Mirren, with former Hatter Jim Goodwin captaining the visitors from North of the border, and lined up with Ian Ormson, Kyle Jacobs, Kieran Charnock, James Tunnicliffe, Stephen O'Halloran, Paris Bateman, Chris Sutherland, Tom Field, Michael Riley, Ian Craney and Phil Jevons.
There was some really free-flowing football played by both sides in the first 10 minutes but the first real chance of the game fell to St. Mirren with a looping cross-cum-shot being confidently plucked off the line in the air by Ian Ormson.
The game continued in much the same vein for the next 10 minutes with the best chances continuing to fall to the Saints, keeping Ormson on his toes.
But though County won the first corner of the game, no-one could take full advantage of the set pieces, and St Mirren continued to press forward.
The County defence was being tested but, at no stage, did it feel like a St. Mirren goal was imminent as the Hatters back four continued to hold their position and started to look like they're finally starting to gel as a unit, with both full backs - Jacobs and O'Halloran - looking particularly confident.
The teams may have gone in 0-0 at the break but we'd seen an enthralling 45 minutes of football.
There were three changes at the break from Ian Bogie, Lewis King replaced the impressive Ian Ormson, Fagbola came on for James Tunnicliffe and Jamie Hand came on for Ian Craney.
Within a couple of minutes Lewis King had his palms warmed by a well struck free-kick from Jim Goodwin. And Chris Sutherland continued to be impressive on his County debut - his crossing was a bit hit and miss but, his running and ground passes were all full of purpose and promise. And when Jamie Hand came on at half time, constantly biting and snapping at opponents ankles, the team started to look a real threat.
There was a rumble of excitement from the fans as hot prospect Rhys Turner replaced Chris Sutherland and, his impact was almost immediate as a clever run and quick turn of pace left the defenders for dead, leaving the young attacker to shoot from just a few yards out. The strike was somehow blocked on the line as he looked to continue his impressive pre-season.
And Turner's introduction kick-started a good spell of pressure from County with his speed and agility on the ball providing a constant threat going forward.
But, despite County's relentless pressure, Lewis King was still forced into a couple of smart saves to keep out the opposition strikers.
County came close a couple of times, and sensing they may have a chance to push for the win Ian Bogie brought on versatile youngster, Brandon Windsor, replacing Kieran Charnock to freshen up the ranks for the final push.
But with only a couple of minutes left, the deadlock was finally broken and, sadly, not by County.
St. Mirren notched the only goal of the game through Harkins who pounced on a loose ball in the box after some nice forward play by the visitors.
It was to County's credit that the team didn't accept the tie was over and, less than a minute later, Jordan Fagbola powerfully headed just inches over from a corner that should really have won the Hatters a share of the spoils.
The only sour note of the encounter involved impressive full back Kyle Jacobs, who limped off the pitch after picking up a knock in stoppage time.
Fortunately, early indications are that the defender's injury isn't serious.
There were really nothing but positives to take from the game and, while it would have been nice if County had been a bit more daring with their shooting in front of goal overall, to lose from an unlucky goal at the death against the Scottish cup holders is no disgrace and provided many more reasons to be cheerful.
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