Sam Clarkson was the London Branch Junior Blue member lucky enough to be selected as the United Mascot for the away game at Luton last Tuesday evening.

The London Branch regularly supply Macot opportunities for our exiled young fans - to find out how you can get yourself on the list - click HERE.

Thanks to Sam for writing in and giving us his account of the evening.

To celebrate my 13th birthday I got my wish to be mascot at the Luton game.

My Mum was not happy as it would be a late night when I had school the next day. My Dad sorted it.

We went by train from Sutton in Surrey where trains go to Bedford. Outside the ground I met Derek Lacey who wished me good luck. When I got in the ground the Carlisle team were on the pitch. I got changed and went into the dressing room to speak to the players. It was all very serious until Paul Arnison threw a jelly baby at Danny Graham, then the jokes started.

I warmed up on the pitch with the Luton mascot called Steve, when eventually they switched the floodlights on ! They must have been saving the electricity. The ground was smaller than I thought it would be and looking pretty run down apart from some posh boxes with no-one in.

Why did we play in Blue? I thought our away strip was red. Luton play in black & white. Harry the Hatter, the Luton mascot had an argument with Andy Horn over a ball. That made me laugh. The sight of the mascot with a ball up his jersey and Andy thinking it was one of Carlisle's balls. Classic.

The big kick off arrived and I ran out with the team. The Carlisle fans were noisy, packed into the middle section behind the goal. When I got around to the seats I thought the view was rubbish. Big metal girders everywhere. I did get a good view of the couple of scares in the first half - a great piece of juggling by Westwood to stop Aranalde scoring an own goal (he was pushed in the back by the striker) and a brilliant last ditch block by Raven. For us Garner had a header well saved and Gall miscontrolled and missed out on a good shooting chance.

My half times are spent selling the London Branch fanzine ' Hit the Bar'. Helped by other Junior Blues, Jake & Harrison Cass, we sold about 25 copies. I sat with them and their Dad, Dess in the second half and so had a better view. Luton had the better chances as a lot of the time our passes did not go where we wanted. I thought the players looked tired and it's not surprising after the fantastic performance against Leeds. Carlisle certainly won the singing competition as the Luton fans barely made a sound. Perhaps the highlight of this disappointing game was the fireworks that exploded on and around the ground during the second half. The game was stopped for at least a minute but I think it was actually a relief when the added time board went up for only 2 minutes. Both sides seemed happy with a draw.

We had a moan on the way back to the train and popped in Sainsburys just before it closed to get some drinks. As news came through that Swindon had equalised so stopping Orient going top, we realised we were still top of the league. That lifted the spirits for the slowest train on earth, taking us back home. 23 stops later and just after midnight we were back. It's Brighton next for me with a waterproof and a pair of binoculars. At least there will be no girders blocking the view.

Sam Clarkson