For the second time in 21 days, the later part of a Saturday morning was spent travelling through the fog on the Blackpool North train. Three weeks ago the fog nicely cleared before we reached our destination but this time the fog was a touch more persistent but had lifted a little by the time we reached Accrington. Then a stroll through the pleasant streets of Accrington to the wonderful Peel Park Hotel, a dream of a place for the dedicated beer hunter with six hand pumps serving some beautifully kept ales. The trouble with such places is that they can hold you captive for a little longer than you had intended leaving you with a bit of a dash to reach the Wham stadium in time for kick-off but we arrived with a couple of minutes to spare.
A nice friendly little ground Accrington that is always a pleasure to visit but not the most productive place for Luton with us only managing scrappy draws there in the last two seasons. Nathan made a total of five changes to the side that started a few days earlier at Portsmouth with Alan Sheehan, Olly Lee, Jake Gray, Isaac Vassell and Josh McQuoid returning to the side for a rare appearance. The players missing out were the unfortunate Cameron McGeehan, the Portsmouth battered and clattered Danny Hylton, “I have had one good game you know” Cook, the calamitous O’Donnell and the returned to Newcastle Gilliead. The fog at kick-off time had started to drift back in but visibility was easily good enough at that time for our three centre-back formation to see end to end. To start with, it was encouraging to see the Hatters have their first shot on goal within a minute of the start with Jake Gray having an effort from range that was not that far out; an encouraging start. However, that optimistic start did not really continue and as the first half progressed we just looked more and more blunt in terms of a striking force, Vassell, of course, will chase everything and use his pace to try to get past defenders but neither he of McQuoid could make anything much of an impact on the Accrington defence. In fact looking at the two strikers, I can understand and appreciate Vassell's style of play but in all the time McQuoid has been at the club, I just can’t work out what he has to offer us and yesterday's effort did not leave me any wiser. Later in the half a very decent move with Gray crossing the ball for the stretching Vassell to make contact but not with enough power to put the ball away; not bad at all and a nice move. Then unfortunately after about 40 minutes our so reliable Scott Cuthbert went down in the area and had to eventually be substituted with accident prone O’Donnell taking his place. That was not really the sort of thing we wanted to happen as although we were playing with three centre-backs, it’s only really Cuthbert who is tall enough and accomplished enough to command in the air. All in all, I just could not see a goal coming in that first half and that was not purely down to the visibility through the fog, the first half simply had stalemate written all over it. However, as we know, a couple of our players can be relied on to regularly cause us problems in midfield and our Olly did not disappoint as the man seen by Paul Hart as the most talented player at the club, bottled a tackle to give Accy possession. The move forward led to a really terrific goal scored by McConville somehow curling the ball into the top left-hand corner of Waltons net, a really super goal. In the second half, Olly only lasted a few minutes before being hooked off by an impatient Nathan to be replaced by Jack Marriott; I honestly don’t know what more Nathan needs to know about Olly, he is just simply not up to what we need. It was our substitute Marriott who then caused a touch of panic in the Accrington defence creating an opening for Jake Gray to equalise for the Hatters; joyous stuff. Unfortunately, that joy did not last for more than a few minutes. Accrington were given a free kick midway in our half and the ball floated into the area and the ball headed out to the edge of the area where surprise, surprise, it’s collected by the opposition knocked back for an opportunity of another cross into the crowded penalty area and headed home for Accrington to regain the lead. I really have the feeling that had Cuthbert been on the pitch that ball into the box would have had a far more robust challenge but there we are; without Cuthbert, we are not that impressive at centre-back when the ball is in the air and facing the tall boys of L2. Straight after that goal, NJ made his final substitution taking of the already booked Smith and replacing him with Pelly. I thought that was a sensible move not only in terms of upping the skill but also to protect Smith from a possible second yellow as he continued to fly into tackles all game. We then really did try to force an equaliser yet despite some fairly decent play in the last half hour of the game, that equaliser was just not going to happen. Marriott, who really was looking speedy and dangerous, had a couple of chances but at the moment things are just not running for him and the chances came to nothing as the fog drifted in thicker and thicker. In the last ten minute of the game I just could not see what was happening in play simply due to the murkiness and such was the poor visibility that it was not until after the game that my group realised that Glen Rea had actually been sent off; we knew something was happening but just could not see what! So that was it, an unglamorous 3rd round tie and an unglamorous Luton performance to match. Overall Impression I would not say we played badly but maybe I am saying that because we are not really that capable with the team fielded to produce top draw performances. So based on our capabilities it was on the lower side of the norm rather than outright bad. Sadly having Cuthbert go off at the 40-minute mark did absolutely nothing to help our chances as due to his relative height compared to other players, he is really the only one capable of standing up to the L2 tall guys in the air. In the move that brought about that super opening goal, I was really annoyed with ferocious Olly Lee for bottling a tackle which would have been competitive anyway but surely one your holding midfield player would be capable of competing for; not good and sadly not a new phenomenon. After going behind once again during the second half and with substitutes Marriott and Pelly on the field we actually looked capable of maybe creating and scoring an equaliser. Marriot was looking absolutely miles more dangerous than the ineffective McQuoid and Pelly really bringing some power and creativity to the show. I do understand NJ’s reservations about Pelly but he is not going to be much use for us sitting on the bench or in the stand. The Sunday Rant So we are out of the FA Cup, we can’t change that and best wishes to Accrington a nice friendly club on terribly limited resources; I really do like the Accrington club and the friendliness of both the club and the tidy little town. I hope they get a really good money-spinning draw in the 4th round. We can’t change the fact that we have lost that opportunity of a big money earning cup tie but there are some things that NJ & Hart can change. I am not saying mass panic, play the youngster etc but more of a calm reflection where mistakes in terms of recruiting or using existing playing staff are acknowledged and improvements made. Yesterday's FA Cup defeat and also slipping out of the play-off places is not the end of the world, so let’s do something to really go for every point we can in the remaining 22 league games. From here on in based on what we have learnt about our players over a lot of games, I would only include Lee, O’Donnell or McQuoid in the side again if we were truly desperate. In the case of Lee and O’Donnell, we know that despite some qualities both players have, each has within them a real, accident/calamity just waiting to surface and they regularly do surface. McQuoid, well maybe there is a decent player in there but if so, that decent player is yet to emerge in a Luton shirt: mutual consent departure ASAP please Nathan. Cook did not feature from the bench yesterday and maybe he had a lot to offer in the less physical world of L1 but in L2 it’s a tougher world than he was made for in my opinion. At least after the announcement about Gilliead’s loan ending, I can now understand the logic of bringing in D’Ath i.e. not a midfield enforcer but maybe a wide come tricky L2 experienced player rather than a midfield boss, maybe the midfield boss is yet to be recruited but probably not an easy task in the January transfer window. What is really apparent after yesterday’s game is just how much we rely on Danny Hylton, until the introduction of Marriott, the attack looked so incredibly blunt with the only threat being the pace of Vassell. I am really not looking forward to that two-match ban for Hylton after his next yellow card. I am totally supportive of Nathan Jones and hope he is with our club for some years to come. Hopefully, he will by now have learnt that he is not always right both in terms of team selection and player recruitment. To be fair, his recruitment has probably been streets ahead of any other manager in recent years but player recruitment is difficult and even the top managers in the world regularly get things wrong. Even more of a challenge is the legacy high salary misfit signings he has inherited from JS’s days at the club Some Impression of players performances Walton: I doubt you could really fault him for either goal. Justin: decent game and did very well to stay on the pitch to continue playing after he received an injury with all substitutions having already been made. Mullins: steady enough but a touch challenged by the tall Accrington players; needs Cuthbert alongside him. Cuthbert: decent 40 minutes before he went off. To my mind we really missed him. Rea: you can’t accuse him of not being committed but maybe there is a fine line between reckless and committed. Sheehan: decent defending in the main and of course good use of that cultured left boot to try to get moves started. Smith: got a talking to by the referee after only a couple of minutes and later collected a yellow and was later withdrawn to prevent a likely second yellow. Apart from that, he gave his usual total effort for the club. Lee: I am ever critical of Lee and maybe it’s a touch unfair as he just does not have the mentality to be able to play effectively in the position that NJ selects him for. Gray: I had nearly forgotten that he was still with us. To be fair he tried really hard, got through a lot of work and also bagged a goal. Vassell: most of the afternoon was a bit of a struggle but when he can use that pace it’s great a great asset to have. McQuoid: sadly quite ineffective. The Substitutes: O’Donnell: got a bit of a post-match slating from NJ along with Olly. Marriott: should have really started up front with Vassell. I thought he did generally well and shame he did not score. Pelly: rather looked like the Pelly we all want to see: interested, powerful and creative. The Teams: Accrington: Chapman, Pearson, Beckles, Hughes, Donacien, O’Sullivan Brown, Conneely, McConville, Kee, Edwards Luton: Walton, Justin, Rea, Cuthbert (O'Donnell 40), Mullins, Sheehan, Lee (Marriott 51), Smith (Mpanzu 58), Gray, McQuoid, Vassell. Yellows: Smith, Rea Second yellow and Red: Rea although I could not see anything of the incident through the fog. I did not realise he had been sent off until after the game when somebody else told me.
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Hi there, welcome to my site where I chronicle various things about the Hatters, a team I have followed since the mid 60’sArchives
December 2017
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