Well, the last day of 2016 had arrived and it’s been a year of league games that with one exception has been managed by Nathan Jones. The one exception, of course, was that dreadful away performance at Bristol Rovers: the farcical highlight for me was the vision of the three wise men, Hakan, Harris and Awford spending 10 minutes trying to come to a consensus about a substitution. During that discussion, that resembled the contract scene from the Marx Brother Night at the Opera as the tactics sheet of paper was passed from the bewildered to the confused and back again, Rovers scored their second goal, game over! As it’s New Year let’s have a little fun: Well, the year of 2016 has closed and our Nathan has fairly rapidly developed a side that is very comfortable away with a 57% win rate in the full year of 2016; that’s a tremendous performance of very nearly two points per game. Yet the “curse of the Kenny” continues with neither NJ in 2016 or JS in his season and a half in L2 managing to really punch through an average of 1.5 points per home game.
Pre Barnet game my mood was a touch downbeat and that sinking feeling increased on checking the previous day’s scores seeing that the Archbishop of Wycombe had led his motley crew to another win to sit three points ahead of us in the league. Never mind, there was always a beer and a bit of banter to look forward to pre-match and although the spirits were lifted by a couple of pints of ale those poor spirits were brought back to L2 reality when the team news arrived. Nathan had said there would be changes and he kept to his word but could we poor ale drinkers really understand what his intentions were? Marriott, Lee, Justin and Gilliead were all dropped to the bench, Vassell banished to the main stand. In came Jonathan Smith for a rare start along with Sheehan, Potts and the surprisingly or not, Cook to play a forward role with Hylton: oh well. Nathan’s the manager, I just bumble along ever week and pay my money. To be fair the changes and probable instructions seemed to introduce much more of a tempo and an urgency into our play and in that first 10 minutes, Cook started to look the player we all hoped he would be. In that first period of the game, we did look decent as we were getting the ball forward using Sheehan/Potts and O’Donnell having abandoned the sideways crippled crab movement that accompanies a side containing our Olly. Barnet were as expected the usual L2 mixture of night club bouncers and street fighters but even bouncer in chief John Akinde, could not escape the shackles imposed on him by the excellent Scott Cuthbert. The unfortunate Potts picked up an injury and tried to continue but he was obviously struggling and was replace with Gilliead with the team then having to adjust formation. Not a bad defender Potts but certainly not a lucky guy with injuries. After coming close on a number of occasions, we eventually took the lead when we were awarded a free-kick a couple of yards outside of the area. The usual debate between Sheehan and McGeehan, both worthy kickers, took place but you could tell there would only be one outcome from that discussion and young man Cam was told to watch as Sheehan took a really excellent free kick that easily beat the Barnet keeper Stephens. Would we be able to build on that lead? Well no, of course not as seven minutes later from a bit of a mess with a ball across our goal, Barnet’s Dembele bundled the ball over the line. Was it handball, well really that’s immaterial as the officials gave the goal but what is not immaterial is the soft way the ball came across and the space given to Dembele to force the ball over the line. Walton got booked for his "that was hand ball" protests but the real debate after the game should be on why the ball was allowed to reach an unmarked Barnet player in front of goal. In the second half we continued to push forward without the crab movement and within just a few seconds of the restart, Iniesta Smith almost scored with a right-footed shot from the edge of the area that went narrowly wide. Just a few minutes later McGeehan restored our lead as he hammered a knock down ball into the net for his eleventh goal of the season; that’s some achievement for a young midfielder at the halfway stage of the season. Some clever play between Hylton and Gilliead then released Cook who sent the ball into the corner of the net but the goal was disallowed. For Cook the story and learning point of the game particularly the second half is to improve the timing of those runs as he continued to be caught offside so easily by the Barnet defenders. Our third goal came from a great strike from Gilliead as he connected with the ball on the left-hand edge of the area and sent a great shot past Stephens to make it 3-1 to the Hatters. Just a few minutes later the reliable Walton made an error in coming out for a cross only to be well beaten by Nelson who thankfully put his header over the bar; that was close. Sheehan then departed the play to be replaced by that bundle of energy Justin. I don’t recall Sheehan picking up an injury but maybe after being out for a game or two it was decided to give him a breather. To his credit, Justin was immediately in the game and produced probably two of the best pieces of true wing back play we have seen this season as he powered down the left side. In the later stages of the game, we started to give up pace in midfield and Barnet had what seemed like a mass series of corner kicks as we struggled to compete in midfield, in fact, we seemed to desert midfield at that time. I wonder if that was the reasoning for Nathan to send on ferocious Olly Lee with just a few minutes to go: no, I am being silly now. Well maybe I am not being so silly as Lee again failed to pick up a free Barnet player on the edge of the area but unlike against Colchester, the shot was not on target. So, there we are, a very welcome three points to end 2016. Overall Impression: It was a very much more forceful performance in a game that we approached with real purpose. We certainly did not overuse the aimless sideways passing routine and tried to get the ball on the flanks rapidly to create some space and movement; a sense of tempo and urgency about our play. Of the guys coming into the side, I thought that the greatest impression was made by our very own Iniesta Smith who challenged, harried and closed down right across the field. Cook to my mind without being outstanding, probably had his best game in a Luton shirt but is he a distant relative of “offside O’Conner” from our Conference days? Personally, I would have thought that more damage would have been caused by the speed of Vassell against Barnet’s lumbering defenders who were often outsprinted by that fabulous lone ranger, Hylton. I won’t get overexcited as we were playing against a pretty standard night club bouncer L2 outfit that surely any serious promotion contender should despatch and to our credit we did that. The players that really caught my eye were the totally excellent Cuthbert, a few of his tackles were exceptional, and the nonstop Hylton who despite some rough treatment managed to avoid another booking. The Sunday Rant: I could rant on about our terrible home form, in fact, it’s been pretty awful since we returned to L2 but as it’s new years day, let’s close on an optimistic note wishing for a more productive second half of the season and hopefully to remain up there challenging for an escape from L2. Happy new year to all readers and LTFC fans and I hope to have a beer with a few of you in the next few days at Portsmouth and Accrington. Some impressions of individual performances: Walton: decent steady game and with one near miss, came out well to collect the high crosses knocked into the area for the Barnet giants. O’Donnell: managed to get down the right flank particularly before Potts injury and got some decent crosses over. Cuthbert: a real outstanding game. Now he has found his form and confidence he is real quality at this level as a centre back. Mullins: solid enough without reaching the commanding level of Cuthbert. Sheehan: oh what a cracking free kick that was. Overall Sheehan had a very decent game and produced some teasing crosses with that cultured left foot. Potts: poor guy, so unfortunate to pick up another injury; did fine during the time he was on the pitch. Rea: You can’t fault Glen Rea’s commitment. Ok, he makes the odd error but yesterday he was solid enough; in addition to a head injury, he collected a yellow for that commitment. Smith: what you see is what you get, no frills, totally committed running and challenging; good to see him start a game. McGeehan: Cam was in the game so much more compared to the Boxing day effort. In my opinion, he had a pretty good all round game, challenging, making space for himself and also weighed in with a goal which could have been two but his header went over the bar. Well done with those 11 goals Cam. Cook: had a very decent first part of the game but really needs to learn to time any runs to avoid straying offside. Hylton: never gave the Barnet defenders a moments rest and chased every almost lost cause. The crowd just love the guy. The Subs: Gilliead: I am sure we would get more value from Gilliead if we played him a touch wider. As ever he could beat the player in front of him but when he drifts inside there are just too many in front of him, also scored a cracking goal. Will Portsmouth be his last game with us? Justin: played well and particularly with a couple of superb bursts down the left wing: a quality wing back on the right or the left. Lee: only on for a few minutes so therefore unable to effect the outcome of the game. The Teams: Luton: Walton, O'Donnell, Potts (Gilliead, 28), Smith, Mullins, Cuthbert, McGeehan (Lee, 87), Hylton, Cook, Rea, Sheehan (Justin, 63) Unused subs: Gray, Marriott, McQuoid, King Barnet: Stephens, Johnson, Dembele, Nelson, Weston, Akinde Gambin (Muggleton, 74), Campbell-Ryce (Akpa Akpro, 53), Nicholls (Kyei, 68), Taylor, Vilhete Unused subs: Watson, Vickers, Sesay, Taylor Referee: Mark Haywood Attendance: 8,262 (494)
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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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