After last week's good performance at top of the table Doncaster where we came close to getting all three points but in the end had to settle for just the one, it was the return to the Kenny to take on second placed away specialists Plymouth. In fact, Plymouth arrived at the Kenny with a truly superb away form winning ten from fifteen away games and having been beaten only twice in their travels this season.
The general mood over a couple of pints before the game was a mixture of respect for the opposition and realisation that the points were needed and that’s in the plural, not the singular if a top three place were to be the prize at the end of the season. Unsurprisingly Nathan named the same starting eleven from last week but the plans were marginally upset when Stephen O’Donnell aggravated a strain in the pre-match warm up to be replaced by the just turned 19 James Justin. There warm up sessions especially against West Country clubs, are dangerous things. At Plymouth back in August, Sheehan pulled up in the warm-up and at Exeter, in November it was Justin’s turn to collect a warm-up injury. With the game underway Vassell was giving the Plymouth defence something to think about with his pace and power and in the fourth minute felt he had won the Hatters a penalty when after breaking down the left he was brought down inside the area. It looked a possible penalty to me and would almost certainly have been called a foul outside of the area but the referee who to be fair was fairly close to the incident gave a corner. Then a few minutes later following a Plymouth attack, we made just about the perfect start with a swift counter attack initiated via a clearance from Hylton just outside his own area that found Pelly on the right. Pelly powered away down the right wing as Hylton broke away strongly down the middle to receive a super lobbed cross from Pelly before controlling and placing the ball in the roof of the net past Plymouth’s McCormick. Just what a class goal that took birthday boy Hylton to 19 goals for the season. Would this side with Smith and Rea in midfield have enough creativity to add to that lead against these highly organised away specialists? Well, that cause was not helped in the 17th minute when hunter-gatherer Smith made a foolish challenge in the Plymouth half that earned him a yellow card and from then on a yellow carded Smith becomes a far less effective player; shame that because he is not in the team for his passing! Plymouth were always willing to come forward in the first period and gained an equaliser after 25 minutes following some very sloppy ill-disciplined defensive play on our right that allowed the talented Carey to run down the wing and send over a low cross that Tanner despite enjoying close attention from Sheehan and Senior, managed to slot into the net for the equaliser. Jubilation for the 1000 travelling green army but absolute silence from the Kenny faithful: so we reached half time on level terms with our visitors and on the balance of play to mind, that was about right. I did half expect that NJ would replace Smith with Gambin at half time with Smith on a yellow that was somewhat subduing his game but no changes were made. Unsurprisingly in the second period, Plymouth played a fair bit deeper to hold on to that point but at the same time were always willing to seek any opportunity to get forward and those opportunities were often crafted by Graham Carey a player who has always impressed me and one I would like to see in a Luton shirt but because of the close bond with manager Derek Adams, that’s unlikely to happen. Moving forward we did send over a fair few crosses mainly from the right but frustratingly most of these were fairly easily collected by the excellent McCormick in the Plymouth goal and certainly before the double substitution was made although we looked willing we just lacked sufficient creativity. Nathan made that double substitution at his favoured 60-minute mark; withdrawing Smith and the unfortunate Vassell who at least had troubled the Plymouth defence with his pace. Their replacements were the much-needed guile of Gambin and the plan B Palmer. Straight away following these two substitutions we started to look more lively with some of that was down to the more direct balls pumped to Palmer and the other part to the craft of Gambin trying to unlock the strong Plymouth defence. Plymouth occasionally came forward in the second half and in one of those attacks Taylor almost netted but his shot was deflected away for a corner by the alert Glen Rea. In the second half full credit has to be given to Nathan Jones for really going for the win and replacing our left back Senior with striker Marriott. The pressure from Luton increased during that last part of the game with Hylton cleverly finding Palmer in space but just as he raced to put the ball away Threlkeld came in with a stunning full-length diving header to a ball a few inches of the ground to clear the ball for a corner: unlucky for us but what a truly stunning bit of defending that was from the Plymouth man. We kept the pressure up in that last ten minutes and both Hylton and Palmer came close to connecting to a lovely cross from Cook; oh, just so close. Plymouth then powered away and gained a couple of corners into injury time but just as the last one was to be taken the referee blew for time. So for the second consecutive Saturday, we settled for a share of the points with one of the top two sides in the division. Overall impression Maybe we could have edged the result especially with that late “nearly one” from the Hylton/Palmer duo but a draw was probably a fair result against a well organised Plymouth side that will surely be playing L1 football next season. It was an entertaining game but as with last week's encounter at Doncaster, very few chances were created by either side and when you look at the defensive quality of both sides and the cautious formation, that’s probably not surprising. I felt that when NJ made his attacking changes late in the game we looked a far more likely side. However, overall a point against the away specialists of L2 is not a bad result but three points were really needed as we now have just thirteen games before the season ends. Carlisle in third position have looked the target to catch in recent weeks but since playing them 14 matches ago, we have only managed to close the gap by three points and it now stands at 4 points but with games rapidly running out. However, possibly a bigger threat than us to Carlisle’s third place, Portsmouth did a wonderful demolition job on Carlisle yesterday winning by 3-0 at the home of the Cumbrian side. In fact looking at the run in for each of the third place contenders, I would say that Portsmouth would be slight favourites for taking third place provided they can put a reasonable run together. A run of victories is, unfortunately, something that has just not happened for us this season; indeed only on three occasions this season have we managed back to back victories. Yes, there is still time to put that run of victories together but it may well be the playoffs that will decide which league we play in next season. Oh the thought of a two legged play off against the likes of Mansfield does just not set the pulse racing but if that is what it takes then let’s get on with it. Something I do not buy into is this “we are no good at the playoff lark”, to my mind if we had won every previous playoff tournament then I would be concerned; if we get there and we have to get there first, then this could well be our year. After all who really wants to go up boringly in third place? A few thoughts on individual performances: Macey: did not really have a lot to do but collected the ball well when called on to do so and kicked the ball well; growing in confidence. Justin: reasonable game but as with a couple of other defenders he could have been a touch more aware with that move that resulted in the Plymouth equaliser. Cuthbert: outstanding as ever; what a season this man is having. Sheehan: the cultured left clog took just about every deal ball kick and overall a decent game but he may have done a touch better with the Plymouth equaliser. Senior: decent game and made way late in the second half for Nathan's last throw of the dice when substituted for Marriott. Rea: he seems to be regaining his form after the post-November drop and played well in front of the back four. Smith: fairly good up to his 17th minute booking and that booking, unfortunately, reduced his effectiveness for the remainder of his game. It may have been better to replace him with Gambin far earlier than NJ eventually did. Pelly: a lot of good powerful play which sometimes ground to a halt with a slightly over-hit pass but the talent and power is there and needed in the side as seen by his super surging run that lead to our goal. Cook: quite an improved player over recent games and he had a reasonable game yesterday: if only some of his crosses could have been a little further away from the excellent McCormick but having said that we don’t come up against a keeper of that quality every week in L2. Vassell: really troubled the Plymouth defence especially in the first half with his pace and power. Hylton: superbly took his goal to give us the lead and was a pain to the Plymouth defence all game. He also sent Palmer away with a beautifully weighted pass before that wonder clearance by Threlkeld. The Subs: Gambin: brought more creativity to our approach; shame he was not on earlier. Palmer: did well in my opinion; gives us a plan B and possibly a touch more than seems obvious at first glance. Marriott: late substitute and as expected full of energy. The Teams: Luton: Macey, Justin, Smith (Gambin, 62), Cuthbert, Hylton, Cook, Rea, Mpanzu, Vassell (Palmer, 62), Senior (Marriott, 79), Sheehan Unused subs: Moore, Mullins, D'Ath, Gray Plymouth: McCormick, Sawyer, Songo'o, Sarcevic, Carey, Bradley, Kennedy (Donaldson, 69), Threlkeld, Taylor, Fox (Sokolik, 45), Tanner (Spencer, 65) Unused subs: Bulvitis, Slew, Jervis, Dorel Referee: Darren Drysdale Attendance: 9,124 (1,027)
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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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