Oh, the joys of winter for a long distance Hatter: will the game on a snow threatened February day be on, what would travel be like? Well I remember the abandoned York game and the travel issues that day so the comfy Lexus stayed garaged and the workhorse 4x4 called on; better safe than sorry.
Well having got my selection issues sorted for the day it was Nathan’s turn and he decided apart from the suspended Mullins who was replaced by Captain Cuthbert, to field the same starting eleven as used against Yeovil. A reasonable team selection after the good performance against a weakened Yeovil team but for my money when you have a full back as exceptionally talented as James Justin you play him. Looking around the ground, the stadium seemed to be reasonably populated but maybe it looked more than it actually was with many supporters dressed in multi-layered winter bulk Russian Doll style to keep warm on such a cold winter’s day. What would this game turn out like? In the last five league games against Crawley, we have managed a solitary one point and that included that horrible home defeat when ”is Steve Evans wearing makeup”, the awful Brodie & McAllister tactically outthought Richard Money at the Kenny. Well with the game underway and only a few minutes in, O’Donnell from within his own penalty area, tried an odd clearing technique by belting the ball against Glen Rea; fortunately, the rebound from Rea was collected by Macey; doubt that one came from the training ground, could have been nasty! Then just a few minutes later Pelly connected with a cross from O’Donnell to draw a really splendid save from Morris in the Crawley goal; almost unbelievable you know quality keepers at L2 level such as Morris, McKeown & Norris; still, not to worry we have a good goalkeeping coach to develop youngsters for other clubs free of charge. There were a few other half chances in the first half notably one with Vassell running in on the right-hand side to have his shot well saved by Morris but in truth, Crawley were looking marginally the more likely side and had a couple of efforts close on goal themselves. We then had a lengthy stoppage for what appeared to be a worrying neck injury to Cook who was eventually carried off to be maybe a touch illogically replaced by Palmer; I just could not quite work out that game changing substitution in a midfield with Smith, Rea and Pelly. That resulted in Hylton, who did not look at his best in the first half, dropping deeper. The half, which was really quite forgettable, thankfully ground to a halt; surely we would improve in the second half and gain the upper hand against this bogey team. Well, you can live in hope but with the second half underway, there was really no obvious improvement in the shape of our game. We had a couple of early second-half attacks with a decent flighted free kick from Sheehan that was cleared plus efforts from Vassell and Hylton yet it was not terribly surprising when Crawley took the lead. The goal came from a combination of a decent pass forward for Crawley to a single attacker accompanied by three Luton defenders in near attendance. The Crawley striker did well whilst our defenders did not and the Crawley man got himself into a good position for a shot on goal. That shot was well saved by the advancing Macey who parried the ball away only for Collins, remember him from Shrewsbury, following up to hammer in the goal. All credit to Macey who made the good initial save and almost got to the shot from Collins. Well, it’s business as usual, after all, we are Luton Town and we have a knack of going a goal behind at home. Nathan then decided the formation which was a touch light on the skill side in midfield, was not really working and did what a few of us thought he would have done with his first substitution, sent on Gambin in place of Vassell. We now began to look as if we had a little more shape plus a touch of plan B shape. Also, there was a bit more skill about us with Gambin getting involved and trying to get things moving out wide. Then we came really close to an equaliser with an absolutely cracking shot from the edge of the area by Palmer that keeper Morris did splendidly well to save. An equaliser and what an ugly one it was, was initiated from another Sheehan free-kick near the right corner flag. The ball was nicely flighted into the area for a whole mess of close range heading & contacting before the ball was belted into the net from a few inches out by Hylton; yes ugly but ugly will sometimes be welcome. Could our very average L2 Hatters actually win against this equally average L2 opposition? Well yes, maybe we could as some superb Pelly magic in the 76th minute saw him create wonderful space with his trickery in the penalty area and send over the sweetest of delicate crosses for Hylton to gratefully hammer the ball into the net. Good finishing from Hylton for goal number 17 of the season but masses of credit to creator Pelly. The task was then to see the game out and maybe that would not have been possibly had it not been for Walton’s, whoops sorry Macey’s superb save from a well struck shot at about the 80th minute mark. A few more anxious minutes followed before the referee decided enough was enough on this bitterly cold day and called an end to this mostly forgettable game but one should not moan as the three points are simply so welcome. Overall impression: We have played much, much better and lost to the likes of Stevenage but yesterday we unattractively battled our way to three points without ever looking top three material; such is life in a long 46 game season. Also how nice it is to actually win a league game against Crawley after six attempts. To my view, I felt slightly more confident with Macey in goal than with Moore and Macey did make a couple of really decent saves and that must have boosted his confidence a lot. Shape-wise we looked a touch dull after Cook was injured and I fancy Nathan will have to have a little rethink but having said that It’s good that we have plan B Palmer on the books until the end of the season. Sticking with shape, I felt Rea had a stinker of a game just far too many mistakes from a fairly talented young man. Looking at the other results in L2, it still looks like the only automatic slot for promotion remaining open will be third place and to that extent, it was nice to hear that Carlisle had been thrashed 1-4 at home by Blackpool. Maybe if we can recapture our Crewe, Cambridge, Wycombe form then we may still be in with a chance but we really need to improve on yesterday's showing. Some thought on individual performances: Macey: I thought that overall he did quite well; maybe a little uncertain in a couple of actions but Walton would have been happy to own that late superb save that Macey made. O’Donnell: usual performance, some good parts and some not so good. He made one really good cross and some others that are best forgotten. I am by far from his greatest critic but compared to Justin he is really fairly average. Cuthbert: decent game and always trying to get our side moving. Sheehan: produced some really nice free kicks including the one from which we scored the equaliser but got a touch lost in the move that resulted in Crawley’s goal. The likes of Frankie Musonda must be breathing down his neck I would have thought. Senior: good performance and well to Mick Harford/NJ for bringing such a class left back to our club. Rea: I though this very promising young player had a rather poor game with his distribution all over the place and often needlessly conceding possession. Smith: usual pitch covering performance but did make some poor passes; he has played much better in recent games. Cook: what a shame with his injury. Just as he was doing a “Lawless” and emerging after a dodgy start with Luton, he picks up what hopefully will not prove to be a bad injury. Pelly: our best player on the pitch by some distance. Wanted the ball, created the winning goal and gave full value over the 90 minutes. Vassell: maybe the exertions of Tuesday’s cup win took it out of him a little: he will play better in games to come. Hylton: looked very lethargic in the first half but if lethargy scores you two goals to yield 17 to date for the season despite various red/yellow absences, he will do for me. The Subs: Palmer: for such a tall man he does not seem to get off the ground that well Zdenek Kroca? Overall though, he looks a decent addition to the squad and had a very good shot from range well saved by the Crawley keeper. Gambin: busy, skilful; should have started in my opinion. Marriott: injury time sub to run the clock down. The Teams Luton: Macey, O’Donnell, Cuthbert ©, Sheehan, Senior, Rea, Smith, Pelly, Cook (Palmer 42), Hylton (Marriott 90+6), Vassell (Gambin 67). Subs: Gray, D’Ath, Justin, Moore. Yellows: Palmer, Rea Crawley: Morris, Connolly, Boldewijn (Bawling 84), Jimmy Smith, Roberts, Collins, Young, Djalo (Murphy 79), Lelan, Cox, Henderson (Payne 84). Subs: Mersin (GK), Blackman, Clifford. Yellows: Lelan
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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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