Well it was nice to be back at the Kenny for a league game; I know it’s only two weeks since the last L2 game at home against Doncaster but it seems and age and many miles ago. After two drawn away games and an absolutely splendid EFL performance from our youngsters on Tuesday the senior 11 returned to Kenilworth Road on Saturday to take on Crewe. It’s been a while since we played Crewe. The last league game between the two was on 29th Match 2008 at Kenilworth Road when we ran out 2-1 winners. Well, a lot has changed since that time for both clubs as they headed in opposite directions within English football.
Following Tuesday's excellent performance by “another 11”, I at least expected to see Zane Banton on the bench but sadly not, maybe he picked up an injury on Tuesday but if he was fit then surely he had earned a spot in that 18. In fact going back to last Tuesday, some of us were speculating before the game how that group of players would fare in L2. Now we were not for a moment saying NJ should have fielded that group of players against Crewe, it’s just that there was so much creativity that evening. We certainly have the players to be a really effective L2 side and without a doubt, due to the young age of some of these talented lads, we should have a great future. It’s just a question of being able to set ourselves up with a really effective formation/tactics that get the best out of the players that take to the field. My personal view of L2 is that there are some smart managers there and some of them, such as ex-loanee Joe Davis dad, Steve Davis, really study the way we play and set up to nullify our creativity and passing to our pair of strikers. Staying on that theme, just as Grimsby did, Crewe set out to negate our midfield set up with very little room given to the likes of McGeehan who just did not really get into the game. McGeehan’s first touch, not the strongest part of his game at the best of times, was poor yesterday and with the close attention he was getting from the Crewe, players he just could not rise above it and get his game going. For me his form has been sliding away since that 2-1 defeat at Stevenage: he was really powerful and influential in that game. Maybe a spell on the bench might sharpen him. The midfield as a creative unit failed to really get to grips with the game; ok that middle unit was better than they were at Cheltenham when they went missing for most of the game but still some way off where they need to be. Very early in the game a super through ball from Justin to Marriott carved open the Crewe defence and Marriott running through guided the ball into the net but the assistant referee decided that Marriott had been offside. I was sitting high up in the main stand on the Oak Road side of the half way line and thought Jack was onside but there you go! Shame as it was a lovely move and I did think at the time that it’s a good job that Mike Newell is no longer at Luton! We then went through a period of real possession football with lots of one-touch passing patiently waiting for a moment to make a telling pass but yesterday that telling pass or anything truly creative was as rare as Fosters been mistaken for beer at a beer festival. Then we had a moment of real magic when Pelly receiving the ball from Potts moved past his defender and sent in a beautiful chip ball to the right side of the area to Gray who coolly squared the ball across the area for Danny Hylton to tap the ball home for the opening goal. I think was a real quality move and gave Danny his 7th goal of the season; yes, a great move and a great goal for the player the numpty brigade call a liability. Crewe, are a very decent side and they themselves pushed forwards on a good number of occasions in the first half and indeed brought a couple of good saves from Walton. So we reached the break a goal to the good: I was feeling reasonably comfortable with that position yet the ever present questions remained, could we prevent the opposition from scoring or even increase our lead and put the game to bed? It’s all about opinions of course but I would say that we just about deserved our first half lead against this very decent football playing Crewe side. In the second half Crewe started well and carved out some good moves including one that brought one of those moments to remember as Cuthbert made a truly exceptionally well-timed tackle in the penalty area to deny a close-range shot on goal; just one fraction of a second out with that tackle and it would have been a penalty and maybe the dreaded early bath for Cuthbert. Crewe continued to press and sadly for us they were finding too much space in midfield where just about the entire Luton midfield department struggled to either win or retain the ball: McGeehan had still not got into the game, Gray’s passing had become a touch sloppy, Pelly after some early decent work looked as if he needed a couple more Duracell inserting and Lee’s decent form shown in the first half headed south. Crewe’s good work was then rewarded on 64 minutes as a beautiful cross by Cooper with the outside of his left foot found the unmarked Ryan Lowe to head the ball home, It was a good goal by Crewe but one that our new star Justine needs to learn from as he had needlessly drifted centrally and given Lowe far too much space. After that Crewe equaliser, the Crewe threat seemed to diminish and we began to push forward but all too much huff and puff without a real creative cutting edge. Nathan did make substitutions bringing on Gilliead for Pelly (a couple of minutes before the Crewe equaliser), I would personally have taken McGeehan off as he was AWOL. We then in the 80th minute had a double substitution, Rea and McQuoid for Lee and Marriott: poor Banton was watching this about 8 yards away from me in the main stand. We might have snatched it late on with a cross that Hylton made contact with a Cuthbert’s excellent knock-down from a corner but the ball went over the bar. In the end, a fair result in my view from a couple of the better sides in L2 yet to show consistency in form and points gathering. My overall impressions: Crewe are undoubtedly a good L2 side Sadly for the 2nd consecutive game, our midfield were tactically negated by another decent manager. You could say that our midfield collectively had an off day and whilst there is some truth in that, I feel a fair bit of credit has to go to the Crewe manager Steve Davis and indeed in Grimsby’s case a few weeks back, Paul Hurst. Maybe a bit more variability is needed from our team in the way we set up; have we become too predictable? Not really a time for the doom merchants I would suggest: only the out & out attacking Doncaster have scored more goals than us, we have only lost three from twelve games and only four sides have conceded less goals than Luton. With young players and a young manager we need to be patient as we have another 74% of the season to come or in games, 34 games to play and we are in 5th place in a very competitive league. Some impression on individual performances: Walton: had to make a few smart saves and had a decent game. Justin: again a decent game but he will no doubt hold his hand up for drifting into the centre and leaving goal scorer Lowe unmarked. Cuthbert: exceptional; won just about everything in the air and that saving tackle in the second half was just superb. Sheehan: kept trying to drive the team forward; overall a decent game. Potts: decent enough game especially on defence but as said so many time before he has yet to learn to effectively play that terribly demanding wing back role. Lee: a fairly decent first half but drifted in the second half. Pelly: most of the decent glimpses of excitement and creativity came from Pelly but they were only glimpses and often he just looked to be out of energy. Gray: I have seen him play much better than this; odd bits of decent play but overall not a good day. McGeehan: really given no time at all by the very effective Crewe marking; his first touch was poor and we really need him to get back to the decent form he showed earlier in the season. However, full marks to Crewe for totally and fairly removing McGeehan from the game. Marriott: unlucky with that disallowed goal; works like hell but desperately needs the creative service of the midfield that just did not happen anywhere near enough yesterday. Hylton: well-taken goal and like Marriott really needs better service than provided yesterday. The Subs: Gilliead: so nice to see somebody trying to take on the opposition and get down the flanks. Maybe he should have started the game. Rea: solid enough in his 10+ minutes. McQuoid: tried a couple of runs and in one of them should have really passed instead of going for glory. The line ups: Luton: Walton, Justin, Cuthbert (c), Sheehan, Potts, Lee (Rea), Gray, Pelly (Gilliead), McGeehan, Hylton, Marriott (McQuoid). Subs not used: O'Donnell, Smith, Vassell, King (GK) Yellows: Lee, Pelly CREWE: Garratt, Turton, Guthrie, Davis, Lowe (c), Dagnall, Cooper, Bakayogo, Bingham, Hollands, Kirk Yellows: Bakayogo An average sort of gate with a total of 7716 which included 254 travelling Crewe supporters who respectfully joined in the minutes applause for two recently deceased hatters players.
1 Comment
lizard
10/9/2016 02:52:17 am
Can't argue with any of that
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