What a wet and dull day for a trip to the lovely town of Cheltenham; we got pretty soaked on heading to the ground; never mind, all under the banner of enjoyment. Still, rather wet, we trudged on for a game of what on certain days may be called football in these parts but in truth, to watch Cheltenham play must be a difficult choice if you like the finer game even in L2; very basic football but such football that we have difficulty in overcoming. Last time we played here the game was poor and the only item that sticks in my mind from that game was the famous McNulty rugby tackle. On Saturday again the game was poor, at least from a Hatter's perspective, and the only point to lodge in my mind was a really well worked individual goal by Hylton but more of that later. Pre-match, a large group of travelling hatters met up in the Kemble Brewery Inn; a really delightful pub tucked away in a back street of the town. They had a good range of some absolutely lovely ales on the hand pumps and what a nice touch from a hospitable landlord in providing free sandwiches for us thirsty hatters. Altogether a great lunchtime and unfortunately probably much more of a highlight of the day than the bits and pieces performance we turned in on the pitch. Nathan decided to make three changes from the team that started at Hartlepool with predictably “card collecting” Danny Hilton returning to the side along with Cook and Cuthbert having had his body bolted back together again after being stretchered off last Saturday, returning in the place of that star of the future Akin Famewo. In the Cheltenham line up they had our ex-player Asa Hall, remember him, and on the bench the fragile and sometimes exciting Amari Morgan-Smith who showed such promise at Luton before being well and truly Buckled.
The match began with Luton looking comfortable enough on the ball and stroking the ball around in a fairly untroubled way: all neat stuff but in terms of threat on goal not really going anywhere. The defence were coming well enough with the high balls pumped in by Cheltenham but sadly our team were just not really creating anything in the way of chances. Poor Marriott must have despaired at the lack of service that came his way in the first half; it’s hard to remember any reasonably creative stuff from the midfield in that first 45 minutes. Come on Hatters, we can do better than this surely. With no changes being made at half time would we get more of the same tidy yet ineffective play? Would Cook, who did very little in terms of creativity or protecting his defence, be able to impose himself on the game after a word from Nathan? Would Olly Lee win a few tackles and pass to a team-mate when he is pressured? OK, I know that's an unlikely one so let's move on. To be fair we did look a touch better in the second half and again passed the ball around well enough but never really looked as if we were going to rip our lowly hosts apart. After all that tip tap passing we just could not create a move to present our striker with anything of an opening to have a go at. Our midfield remained gloriously ineffective. Why should they be? Well, it's hard to say really as some of the players who played on Saturday created just so many chances in the last two games against what I see as far better opposition but maybe it’s getting toward time to look at the midfield and look at the narrow way we tend to set ourselves up. Cameron McGeehan charging about wide looks about half of the player compared to when he is playing in a central more forward role. Turning to Cook, he just did not get into the game to any extent over the whole 90 minutes. Lee suffered great confusion about which side to pass the ball to but to his credit always made that pass be it right or wrong. I will keep saying it to the extent that I bore myself but Olly Lee is NOT a creative holding midfield player; Nathan says Lee needs to improve and grow in that role but let’s be honest, Olly is not going to get any faster or develop a mental toughness that Brian Horton or Kevin Nicholls had; it’s just not going to happen. Then we have Pelly who produced a mix of good powerful play and some quite poor passing. So that’s the midfield unit just not functioning anywhere near where we need it to. Our Danny Hilton, what a great lad he is, decided to create his own opportunity by cutting in from the right, making his way into the penalty area and thoughtfully crashing the ball into the net to give the town a goal lead. Great stuff Danny; just how can some armchair idiots call him a liability especially the vocal keyboard warriors that don’t even get to a game? It’s also worth noting that a couple of the Cheltenham players rather cruelty targeted Hylton's phantom mask and did cause him some pain. Maybe it was accidental, maybe it was tactical, who knows but I thought it happened too frequently to be "just by chance"! The real question now was could we keep a clean sheet or would again against an allegedly inferior side, be dragged back to level pegging? Well as the second half progressed we got our answer when we failed to defend a corner and bang, we are dragged back to 1-1; maybe Mr Kettle should have booked a couple of Cheltenham players for being tall, simply unsporting, they have some very tall guys in their team. We really need to be a bit tougher at these set pieces a fact that NJ is well aware of; let’s hope continued work on the training ground improves things. Cheltenham in their quest for a winner threw on our old “made of glass” Amari Morgan Smith, I did like him at Luton when fit, along with a couple of other subs. Jonesy countered with Smith and Gilliead. I reckon Nathan wanted to avoid doing a Stevenage and come away empty-handed but at the same time to use the fresh legs of Gilliead to maybe create a winner. Well each side did have the odd chance but honestly, it was Cheltenham who probably came the closest to getting a second and we have Walton to thank for a very good save or two that kept us level. At the end of the game I was happy with a point from a game in which our young team had not been at their best; it happens, and we move on. So there we have it, two points from consecutive away games that keep us handily placed with 18 points in fourth place; no disaster by any means. However, I hope Nathan does learn from this performance/set up. We have some very good players and I reckon he will be able to take on board a few fairly obvious weaknesses and move forwards. A few random thoughts: Plus points: from the game: overall the defence and particularly Walton, the return of Hylton and young Justin’s excellent form. Negative points: Olly Lee is just not a holding midfield player; the disappearing Cook and the almost complete lack of service for Marriott from our midfield. I have read a couple of comments on boards criticising Walton 'should be more commanding in the air", well everybody is entitled to a comment but I do find it helps a touch if you take the bother to occasionally go along to a game before making a fool of yourself. For those supporters disappointed with 18 points from 11 games well it's worth remembering a couple of things: Firstly: NJ has been fairly brave and we have a young and still learning side that I am sure he will tune this over the next few games. Secondly, if we keep collecting points at the current rate of 18/11, we will certainly be in the play off places come the end of the season: so all in all, not a disaster to be in 4th place; not a bad place to be. Yes, we can do better and we will in my opinion, so onwards to next Saturday’s home game against Crewe; hope to see you there. A few thoughts on individual performances: Walton: played well and came out to collect the high lumped balls very cleanly. Also Walton made a couple of really very good saves. In my opinion, he gets better game by game BUT DONT TELL BRIGHTON! Justin: what a class defender this young man is. Not only did he defend well but he also supported the play down the wing so well; here to stay I would have thought. Nathan please get him on a three year contract and for that matter same deal for Famewo. Potts: gave his usual determined defensive performance but just like last week, the week before that etc he is just not a wing back suited to this demanding formation. Cuthbert: I thought he played well and probably not his fault that the ball was knocked back to him far too frequently which is a bit of a waste as Cuthbert is a solid basic L2 centre back and not a creative passer. Sheehan: gave the good all round game we expect to see from him; quality player. Lee: well what can you say? I don't think that Olly is a bad player in a more forward role but he clearly is just not a holding midfield player; sorry Nathan it's time for a rethink on this particular experiment: not fair to Lee and not fair to the team. Pelly: a mix of powerful skill and overnight passes: not his best day and not his worst but with other midfielders being below their best we could have done with a more consistent Pelly today; please wear footy boots Pelly and sling away those flip-flops. McGeehan: we suspect that he could be a class player after all he was terrific at Stevenage but just did not get to that level of performance today. Cook: not his best game in fact quite poor as he simply drifted in and out of the game with the drifting out part, unfortunately, predominant. Marriott: worked away without the type of service he really needs in order that he may thrive. Without service just how the heck can he have a good game? It would be really harsh to criticise him based on the lack of decent passes made for his undoubted talent to exploit. Hylton: what a clever player who in my opinion had a very decent game and apart from his goal, never gave the Cheltenham defence a moment's rest. Subs: Smith: gave everything as per usual in his brief appearance and probably showed that NJ reckoned a point was worth holding onto.. Gilliead: no real time to make much of an impact I have to mention the man with the whistle Mr Kettle; he did just fine in my opinion: OK he might have been a bit tougher on the treatment dished to Danny Hylton but I would not really criticise him for that. Apart from when he called what should have been a corner to us wrong, he was fine. The Teams: Luton: Walton, Justin, Potts, Cuthbert, Sheehan, Lee, Cook, Pelly (Gilliead 82), McGeehan, Hylton, Marriott (Smith 76). Cheltenham: Griffiths, Barthram, Downes (C), Pell, Waters (Amari Morgan-Smith 74), Wright, Munns (Dayton 81), Hall, Cranston, O’Shaughnessy, Dickie. Bookings: Cuthbert, Waters, Downes, Pell (not Pelly). Referee: Trevor Kettle. Attendance: 3,660 and that included a very credible 923 following Luton: well done to all who travelled.
5 Comments
Gale Waller
10/2/2016 05:49:40 am
An accurate report as always, thank you. I thought you might mention Cheltenham's Harry Pell as Luton couldn't contain him at all, especially in the first half. We seem to lack any flexibility in our approach.
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Yes, agree Pell was a right thorn in our side and when you look at this background he has had a whole number of clubs but never really made the grade at any of them. He was spotted last year I believe by the Cheltenham manager when Pell played for Eastleigh. Do you think it's our inflexible formation? I reckon there could be some truth in that.
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Stevo
10/3/2016 05:19:22 am
Excellent report as always and good to see you briefly pre-match in the Kemble.
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Stevo
10/4/2016 03:58:59 am
I think the pre-match McDonald's and a Fanta at halftime were Junior's highlights, tbh. Not far off mine too!
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