On reflection, sadly I was not one of the 137 Hatters fans in the crowd of 2028 for the EFL trophy game. Now I say sadly not because of any love I have for the competition format this season but rather than a missed opportunity to see such a large contingent from last season cup winning youth team in action. In previous seasons I have attended this competition in it’s JP days and also when we were in the Conference, the FA Vase games. Sparse crowds but nevertheless a chance to see a few fringe players. Last night NJ really pushed the boat out with young players and made 11 changes from Saturday's team thus almost certainly copping a £5k fine but this should be balanced from the £10k for winning last night’s game. Looking back NJ did not fancy naming himself as a sub in the way that Tisdale did for Exeter or Ainsworth for Wycombe: a protest to the authorities in the treatment of os nobodies from leagues 1 & 2. Although I did not go, a friend did contact me to say that our young team thoroughly deserved the victory and that the 1-2 score line really flattered Gillingham. He went on to say that the back four of Cotter, Famewo, Musonda & Justin played really well in front of keeper King who seems to have had a good game himself. Luton also made history in the game by fielding their youngest ever player Connor Tomlinson at the age of 15 years & 199 days. All in all, a good night for young players to get some experience. I did have a read of the local Gillingham report in Kent on line (just click on the highlighted text to see the report) and from that report, it certainly seems that our young side played well. All in all, very pleasing Click the highlight to see Nathan's post match verdict of the Gillingham game on youtube Click to see the goals on youtube google-site-verification: googlec20043a364485b0e.htm
0 Comments
It’s always nice to go to Cambridge to see Luton play and it’s not just because of our fine record of playing at Cambridge in recent years. Another reason is that it’s a chance to visit the very excellent Cambridge Blue in Gwydir Street; a fabulous oasis of real ale. When standing at the bar whilst your ale is been poured direct from the barrel in the temperature controlled “cellar” you have a chance to tour the country reading the army of hand pumps that adorn the bar and the unusually large selection of exotic lagers. If a beer hunter were looking for paradise then this watering hole would surely come close: great beer and the great company of fellow Hatters supporters. Nathan made two changes to last Tuesday's team that lost at home to Leeds: Pelly and Cook in for Gray and the unfortunate Iniesta Smith the “can’t make a 10-yard pass” chap who made two wonderful defensive splitting passes for Marriott’s chances in that Leeds game. Pre-match sitting in the very decent away end stand although the atmosphere was building nicely there was just a little something missing and that was, of course, the man who had given these games an edge in recent seasons that charismatic cheerleader Richard Money. If the football in those previous games did not entertain you enough then the play fighting of Money and JS certainly did. To be fair, I did like Money and had his personality been a bit less volatile then maybe we would have been back in L2 a couple of years sooner. The match started at some pace with both sides pushing forward and Luton almost snatched the lead when receiving a cross-field pass volleyed the ball against the top of the post with Norris totally beaten. Cambridge then pushed forward and seemed to have decided that our vulnerable right flank was worth concentrating on. For the next thirty minutes, Cambridge took the upper hand rather overrunning us in midfield where Olly Lee was really having trouble getting his game started. I do like Lee’s vision and range of passing; he says he likes playing a holding midfield role but I am not convinced that he is anywhere near good enough in the defensive side of his game for that role. Mullins and Rea looked to be very stretched and O’Donnell, a player I have stood up for so often when he has been criticised, came under serious pressure. I can’t say he was enjoying his best game, not just in terms of closing down the right-hand wing but also losing his man in the area. Thankfully the excellent Walton was on top form positioning himself well and making some excellent saves. Walton is growing on me; when he is of a mind to, he can leave his line and dominate his area; in this game, he also showed us that for a giant of a guy he can also do the really agile reflex stuff at waist height. McGeehan also had a great long range pop at goal when picking the ball up near the half-way line and going on a tremendously powerful charge before unleashing a great shot; that was close. The hatters produced another excellent chance this time for Pelly who cut in from the left and only had Norris to beat but managed to drag the ball the wrong side of the post Marriott style. Cambridge came roaring back and we were really looking in danger. Nathan Jones to his credit decided that a change was needed on the 30-minute mark and replaced the ineffective Lee with Cuthbert; Rea moving into the holding midfield role and Cuthbert slotting in alongside Mullins. Immediately Cuthbert was in the action winning headers and looking to be in control especially as Rea was making some forceful challenges in his holding role. The whole defence now seemed more assured with Cuthbert and Mullins working well as two experienced centre backs and Rea supporting just in front of the pair. We reached half-time and I felt a touch relieved that we were not behind. Although there was plenty of action, that first 45 minutes was to my mind our weakest first half performance so far this season. For much of the half, we had been under pressure, not winning the midfield battle, exposed on the right and reliant of Walton pulling off some fine saves. The first fifteen minutes of the second half did not produce any magic from either side and you began to get the feeling that a point would be fine from a game we were having real difficulty imposing ourselves on; to be truthful at this stage Cambridge were no better. Then things changed when Rea headed Cook’s beautifully weighted free kick across the goal for one of the Cambridge defenders, Coulson, to connect with his shin and divert the ball past Norris : 1-0 to the Town, fortunate stuff but when you are in the lead, let’s take it. Anyway, why lets things rest there? Within a couple of minutes, Marriott had scored a belter cutting in from the right and hitting a great left foot shot that beat the keeper: quite a moment of class that one for a L2 side. The Cambridge manager, Shaun Derry responded by making a double substitution sending on “feed the pig & he will score” Pigott and the giant Ikpeazu, so no prizes for guessing what Derry’s approach would be for the remainder of the game. Of course, then aerial bombardment from Cambridge continued and a little annoyingly we often did not help ourselves by giving away a few too many free-kicks. The free kicks gave Cambridge opportunities to launch balls into the area but Walton and his centre backs were thankfully up to dealing with the basic tactic. I remember Berry in his first spell when he came through the Cambridge youth scheme, his free kicks used to be something special in those days but thankfully on Saturday they were not as good as I remember them. Pelly was giving the Cambridge left flank some real trouble and in one move starting close to the corner flag produced some total magic worthy of a much higher league than L2, beautifully beating the defence and squaring the ball across goal to create a decent opportunity. If you get a chance, have a look at the match highlights when they are published. We very nearly had a third when Cook, a player who is really growing on me, beautifully weaved his way through the Cambridge defence but could not get sufficient hit on the final touch to beat Norris. I reckon once Cook, Pelly and Marriott recalibrate their overall finishing, and Jack did that a little earlier, then some defences are going to be really under the hammer. With injury time ticking away we had yet another injury time goal which seems to be the pattern of the league season. Berry made a mess of an attempted pass and the ball was collected by Iniesta Smith who ran down the wing and squared the ball beautifully for our card collecting Hylton to turn the ball into the left-hand corner of Norris’s net: what a beauty 3-0; Yes! Last week as we were leaving the Stevenage ground I said that in some game to come we would play less well than we did at Stevenage and wing 3-0; little did I know that it would be 7 days later. Overall I felt we stuck at our task after being under a lot of pressure in the first half hour of the game and to my mind, Nathan has to be congratulated for sorting out that initial frailty and introducing the impressive Cuthbert. For many supporters, the words impressive and Cuthbert do not sit comfortably together but with a commanding keeper behind him, he can do just fine in my view. He may not be our best centre back but praise where it is due. Not a bad day out, not a brilliant game but a couple moments of class made all the difference. My impressions of our player’s performances: Walton: what a good game he had and it’s credit to him that we remained level at half time. We know that when he has a mind to he can dominate in the air; we now know that he is also a decent reflex keeper. O’Donnell: I have always argued O’Donnell’s case but he did not have his best game and came under a lot of pressure from Cambridge as they targeted him a fair amount. He must be looking over his shoulder at Justin by now. Mullins: played well after the initial pressure; looks what he is, an experienced centre back. Rea: was trying to cover all over the defence in that torrid first thirty minutes. Came into his assured self patrolling in front of the back four when Cuthbert came on. Cuthbert: had a super game winning lots in the air against taller players: well done Cuthbert. Potts: looks to be growing nicely into the LB role and did well enough yesterday. Lee: as I said above, I like his vision and creativity and when allowed to play his game both he and the team look good but I just don’t think he is aware enough or robust enough to play that deep holding role. Pelly: did some great stuff and very powerful. He did miss a Marriott type chance but he is getting better and better the more he plays. Cook: I was not that sure about him in his first few games but he is gradually growing on me as he quietly goes about his work. McGeehan: seemed to play deeper than usual but the power and will seen in the previous two games was there. Marriott: I am just so pleased that he got that cracking goal and let's be fair if he had put away the chances in the last few games then he would not be playing in a L2 team. Hylton: complete competitive pain to the Cambridge defence all afternoon. Unfortunately, he collected his 4th yellow of the season; not long before he has a day off fishing! Iniesta Smith: he loves our club and by heck, he is really trying to polish his passing game. On the back of his two super through balls setting Marriott away against Leeds, be produced the goods again late in the game. Vassell’s: brought on for that fit of fresh energy and pace. I would love to see what he can do once he has a couple of goals to his name The Teams: Cambridge: Norris, Taylor, Adams (Gosling 78), Dunne, Legge, Mingoia, Berry (C), Williamson (The Pig Pigott 65), Coulson, Clark (Ikpeazu 65), Elito. Subs not used: Gregory, Sean Long (remember him?), Dallison, Newton. Luton: Walton, O’Donnell, Potts, Rea, Mullins (C), Lee (Cuthbert 28), Cook, Pelly (Smith 87) , McGeehan, Hylton, Marriott (Vassell 90) Subs not used: King, Justin, Gray, Josh McQuoid. Bookings: Clark 33, O’Donnell 40, Rea 63, Hylton 83. Attendance: 5,606 (1,690 Luton). Nathan's post match interview & the goals: It seems to be a few years ago that Leeds United were living the dream and pushing their finances to the limit to realise that dream. Under Peter Ridsdale, the chairman at the time, that dream whilst financially living on the edge, eventually evolved into a nightmare. It was a massive gamble on part of the club chairman Ridsdale had taken out large loans against the prospect of gate receipts from Champions League games. In order for the gamble to deliver, Leeds needed success in the Champions league and this they failed to deliver. The massive decline then began starting with a call for cash resulting in the sale of Rio Ferdinand to rivals Manchester United for £30m: the rest is a chronicle of a near financially broken club spending the next ten plus years trying to survive and start to dream again whilst offering short-term temporary employment to many would be managers. Leeds won their first Championship game of the season at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday and manager Garry Monk responded by making 11 changes for the game against the Hatters. Our manager Nathan Jones, made a couple of changes bringing in Smith for Cook and the returning Mullins for St-Cuthbert. Leeds had just about taken up their fill allocation of seats in the Oak Road end and although teased by the Luton choir, they gave their team excellent support during the game. Long suffering fan but to my mind good supporters who turn up and get behind their club. You know, it’s really a delight to see the away end crowded with support; simply adds to a cracking good atmosphere. Luton began the game well with plenty of possession and lots of pretty passing for a side from the basement league, easily finding players wearing the same shirt; all encouraging stuff. Leeds came back at Luton and took the lead with a peach of a strike from just outside the penalty area by Denton; Walton dived to his left but was never going to stop that one. Leeds almost doubled their lead with a lovely acrobatic shot from Kemar Roofe. Oh, how nice it would have been if Luton had landed Roofe from Oxford in addition to Hylton & Mullins; lovely player who would be a great benefit to our squad. For the Hatters, the problem as with Saturday at Stevenage was taking the few chances that came along; had we done that then we could well have beaten this Leeds team. Jack Marriott had two great chances in the game. The first came from a superb pass from Smith; yes, not a typo I did mean Smith. It was an ace of a 25-yard ball from Smith from within his own half that cut open the Leeds defence for Marriott to bypass the advancing keeper on the left yet, unfortunately Marriott hit the ball over the bar of the now unprotected goal and the chance had gone. Marriott in the second half then missed a great opportunity when running clear on the left side of the penalty area, putting the ball wide of the post. Great lad our Jack when on form but his goal-scoring touch has temporarily deserted him; this season he had missed quite a few from that left side of the penalty area. I guess he became overdrawn at the goal bank when he rattled in that eleven-minute hat-trick at Bedford in the PSF game. As the saying goes, form is temporary, class is permanent and once he bags a couple, he will be up and running I am sure. We also had a number of long range efforts from Marriott, Lee & McGeehan. McGeeham has now taken on the responsibility for free kicks within shooting range of the goal and from what I saw last night, he will prove very good at it. We did have other chances as well including one that fell to Vassell just before the end of the game; again once he gets a couple of goals, some confidence and self-belief, we may get a better impression of what he can offer in addition to pace. Overall, I felt we played very well, maybe a bit “England-like” with plenty of possession and probing and patience in abundance for a L2 club. For me, NJ has definitely got us moving in the right direction. One thing I noticed at both Stevenage and last night is this chip type ball over the defence for the striker to run onto. It nearly worked when used but all too often with through balls last night found our guys marginally offside; never mind, it will all fall into place. The positives: Nathan is developing an attractive side that really tries to play the type of football most of our supporters want to see even if the degree of patience shown by our style frustrates the minority who want us to “get at them”. McGeehan is really starting to look like the powerful advanced midfielder we all hoped he would be. The team genuinely do work for each other and yes, it is a team. A couple of bits to work on: Occasionally the crossing of the ball from corners or just on overlap is either under-hit or in the case of O’Donnell over-hit. More practice guys or somebody will take your place. Nathan really needs a strong word with Hylton about mouthing off to the referee; Hylton needs to remove that from his game right away. A few thoughts on individual performances: Walton: I don’t think he could do much about the opening goal; maybe he could have been positioned a little better but it was a cracking shot. O’Donnell: had his moments but again his crossing tended to let him down Rea: some good tackling sometimes a bit robust with it and possibly fairly lucky to avoid a yellow. Mullins: played well at the back in my view; not the fasted guy on the pitch understands what’s going on. Potts: I thought he did well and although overlapping wing play is not his strongest point as yet (still working on that part of his game I suspect) he did fine. Lee: made some decent passes but for me, he is just too poor in the tackle to be in that holding position. Smith: made a couple of really good passes including the one that sent Marriott away in the first half but does he fit into our system of play? Gray: full of energy and has the ability to really get a telling tackle in. McGeehan: to my mind, he was outstanding last night; are we finally about to see the player we all hoped we had? Marriott: tried to find space all game and unfortunately missed a couple of chances you would normally expect him to take. Never hid, always kept looking for the ball. Hylton: fairly decent first third of the game but faded away. That might have something to do with the referee having some stern words with him: guess he wants to avoid a 4th booking. Cook(Sub): buzzed away and got involved. A couple of his corners fell a touch short. Pelly (Sub): we looked even better when his energy was introduced as a sub. Leeds had difficult holding him by fair means. Vassell (Sub): always wanted the ball but really needs that self-belief boost that a goal or two would bring him. Luton: Walton, O’Donnell, Potts, Rea, Mullins (C), Lee (Vassell 75), Smith, Gray (Cook 56), McGeehan, Hylton (Pelly 66), Marriott. Subs not used: King, Justin, McQuoid, Cuthbert. Leeds: Silvestri, Bamba (C), Roofe, Murphy (Phillips 58), Doukara, Dallas, Grimes, Jansson (Cooper 74), Hernandez (Mowatt 68), Coyle, Denton. Subs not used: Green, Ayling, Antonsson, Sacko. Bookings: Luton: Lee 53: Leeds: Grimes 1, Coyle 61 Attendance: 7,498 including a splendid 1,510 from Leeds. NJ post match interview & goals video:- Oh, what joy it is to go to a football match in Stevenage surely one of only a handful of towns within the UK that can make our beloved Luton appear truly attractive. In truth the carbuncle nature of the town is not the fault of the residents of this “quick build” post-war town that grew as part of the new towns post-war plan, rather it’s a fault of lack of planning to replace the pre-fab concrete structures that form the shopping centre and immediate estates; I feel for them. The day started out very nicely sharing a couple of pints and some good banter with fellow hatters in the Our Mutual Friend Pub on the Broadwater Estate in Stevenage. I have to say full marks to the landlord of this establishment which from the outside looks about as attractive as the now closed Parrot on Farley Hill. Once inside you soon get the taste of things with an excellent range of real ale all kept in first class condition; shame about the plastic pint glasses but I tell you a top up half “one for the road” is probably the most generous half pint in the UK. Oh, the Tring brewery bitter was just outstanding; well done Tring, see, something really good can come out of Hertfordshire. On to the ground and the game itself, the main event of the day. Nathan elected to make two changes, one enforced as Mullins was taking a day’s red card rest, gone fishing, to be replaced by Glen Rea and Gray giving Pelly a moments rest on the bench. In away games these days our general plan is to contain the opposition for the early part of the game and then impose ourselves on the game. Whatever happened to that fearful matching up stuff? Well, we did absolutely fine fairly early on when Cameron McGeehan’s shot took a deflection, I think it was off that knob head Dean Wells and went into the net; nice start. Our play thereafter for the first half was to push a fair conference side back and indeed it’s hard to reconcile why we only went in at half-time with a one-goal lead. Surely Hylton should have converted an opportunity to add at least another goal to that slim lead. It was not just Hylton who may have added to the tally, Cook and Potts could have with a little more luck scored. In the second half, Stevenage started to wake up and the game took on the dynamics of an FA Cup clash with both sides attacking, it was end to end stuff. Chances continued to be created by the Town, we hit the bar a couple of times and maybe we should have had a penalty when the awful Wells decided it was not just the keeper who could handle the ball on the deck; just how did the lino miss that one? Stevenages equaliser was really down to poor defending by us. Should the cross have been cut out, should the wide player who made the header have been picked up by more attentive defenders; I think so. I have to give full credit to Nathan who continued to press for the three points rather than sit back and close the match off. Deep into injury time Olly Lee cracked a ball from range against the bar. The ball was immediately cleared up-field and rather unluckily two of our players “decked each other” in the centre circle thus not helping the defence of the immediate breakaway that saw Godden crack in a 96th-minute winner. The chance was so similar to the one Hylton missed in the first half: it happens and I have to say I do rate Hylton. At the end of the game Fraser Franks celebrated in a way that made me think somebody had just told him he was a good footballer. We move on. My impressions of our player's performances: Walton: I would not really blame him for either goal but I am getting a tad concerned in that he stuck to his line too much. He is a giant and he should use that height to dominate just as he did at Plymouth. O’Donnell: he worked hard and was another crossbar hitter Cuthbert: no real complaints from me other then when fit I would rather see Sheehan as defender and captain. Rea: looked class all game and as ever, read the game well. Potts: found time to get forward a lot and I was happy enough with his game. Lee: well we know he is not the most robust tackler in the team, so nothing new there; a cracking good shot against the bar that could have taken all three points for us. Cook: in and out of the game; some good bits and some quiet bits. Gray: looked really good in the first half and made some telling interceptions; possibly faded later in the second half. McGeehan: start man for me. Just got all over the place, tackled well, scored; strangely his best game of the season ends in defeat. Marriott: could have scored when running in from the left but his boots need to be recalibrated I feel. Hylton: added a silly yellow to his collection and should have scored in the game: not a bad game but nowhere near his best. Pelly (sub): pretty poor ball control half of the time that did let him down somewhat. Vassalls (sub): early days; looks like a keen and speedy young man still learning. McQuoid (sub): only on a few minutes. In summary: we should have won the game and played well enough to do so. On another day we will play less well and win a game comfortably. No major worries in my view; onwards and upwards. |
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
Categories |