After our 3-0 win at Cambridge and the 11 changes for the EFL Trophy win at Gillingham, Nathan Jones decided to revert to the more expected team selection. With Rea away on international duty, Cuthbert came into the starting 11. No issues with that team selection for me and to be honest, the line-up that I was expecting to see. In comparison Wycombe who have not had the best of starts to the season, were suffering some well-documented injury problems that Ainsworth so shyly tells the football world about. In addition, their most valuable player, Pierre, was sitting on the bench; good player presumably carrying an injury. Luton started off at pace pushing Wycombe back with a lovely passing game and using a fair bit of width to stretch the Wycombe defence. The general muttering with the supporters including me was that this game could be a tough one playing against a bus parking side that collected 6 yellow cards last week at home to Colchester; oh, what an early goal would do! Well, thankfully we got that early goal following a touch of magical “nutmegging” play by Pelly on the right wing. Honestly, players at this level can only dream about that type of skill that an on form Pelly has. This move was similar to one magical moment last week at Cambridge but this time, he was standing when the magic was produced. After beating his man all ends up he raced into the area and fired the ball across for Danny Hylton to touch in at the near post. What a lovely goal that was and an absolute credit to L2. The dominance in the first half continued and Cook should maybe have done better when sent clear but confronted by the 6’6” giant frame of the Wycombe keeper Blackman, failed to get the ball around him. All credit to the keeper who came out well to make things difficult for Cook. In fact the on loan from Chelsea keeper (allegedly on £13k a week at Chelsea), Jamal Blackman was having a thoroughly good game as shown when he saved a penalty from the usually cool McGeehan following a foul on Cook as he ploughed into the left-hand side of the Wycombe area; bit of a close call that foul both in terms of the Wycombe player and where the tackle took place! In this first half, we saw attack after attack as we simply “passed ‘em to bits”; it was great first half performance and yet at half time difficult to accept that we were only one goal in front despite some superbly entertaining and enterprising play; super stuff for those supporters watching. We started the second half again in style, oh how, I was enjoying this! On 56 minutes we deservedly got our second goal; not so much class but more one of quality, persistence when Hylton followed up on the loose ball from a saved shot and collected his second goal. However, as much as we supporters would want, no side can really keep that tempo and dominance for a full 90 minutes. After about the 60-minute mark Wycombe did come back into the game pushing forward and in truth looking reasonably interested. That push by Wycombe brought a goal in the 63rd minute when a dodgy bit of defending by the hatters let an alert Bloomfield in to race on and score. Oh dear after all that really good play surely we were not going to be pulled back Oxford style as in last season. To Wycombe’s credit they continued to push and push and just at add a little more push, well a lot more push actually, they introduced that likeable rogue mountain Akinfenwa with 20 minutes to go. Good old Akinfenwa introduced himself to a couple of our players by gently bouncing them onto the ground and then playfully lifting them up from the deck. Thankfully we stood firm with Cuthbert being absolutely immense in our defence; he had a great game. We, of course, kept pushing forward and were rewarded with a second penalty for a foul on Hylton. Hylton having scored two already was in no mood to give the ball to McGeehan despite a polite request from our Cameron. The spot kick was put away nicely for our Danny to record a hat trick and the first hat trick since Mark Cullen’s perfect hat trick quite some time ago. Wycombe tried to push forward to drag another goal back but into injury time a lovely break saw Hylton beautifully send Cook away to this time coolly slot the ball home past the excellent Jamal Blackman. It almost did not end there as we nearly got a fifth when McGeehan’s effort was well saved by the Wycombe keeper. All in all an excellent game for the Hatters and truly one of the best home performances seem at the Kenny for a long time. So that’s now three games with three goal margins of victory and goal difference of nine after only six games; happy days! Just a touch of amusement and not quite in the cricketing mould of Lilly caught Willey, bowled Dilley but I wonder what the conversation was between our own Akin Famewo and Akinfenwa; would have made a lovely bit of commentary! A few thoughts on individual performances: Really before making any comment on individuals, it has to be said that this was truly a complete team performance with every Luton player turning in a quality performance and resulting in a passing show that we love to see at Luton. It was so much of a great team show, that I was tempted not to draft this section as I thought “how can you criticise such a quality collective showing”, however, for better or worse here we go: Walton: his usual solid self-assured showing which is great to see in a 21-year-old keeper. He was catching the ball well, collecting the ball well, looking to roll the ball out from the back and when necessary able to hoist the ball well downfield. O’Donnell: he certainly has his critics but as mentioned in other match notes, he is really working well to improve and to my mind he is certainly doing just that. I thought that he had a really decent high energy game and was always available and willing to attack down that right hand side. Cuthbert: another player who seriously divides opinions but for me when he has a confident “line leaving” goal-keeper behind him, he is a solid and commanding centre back. His performance, winning headers, was up there with the quality he showed at Plymouth and Cambridge away games this season. Mullins: again showed us what he is; a very capable and experienced centre back: I like the guy. Potts: has proved that he is a decent defender and is now working to improve the wing play side of his game and to my mind you can see the improvement but still hopefully more to come as his comfort and confidence with the attacking side of the game. Lee: he had a really great first half on the strong side of his game, creating space and wonderful vision for a pass. When things are going our way he is at his best and a touch Glen Hoddleish with his vision. Pelly: the usual mixture of brilliance and strength with a sprinkling of the miss-placed pass but the ratio favouring the good stuff increases all the time. Pelly is possibly the player who has benefited most from NJ’s influence. McGeehan: not the power game we have seen in recent games but nevertheless a decent game and playing a touch deeper. His penalty miss was a touch tame and he had a good shout for another penalty turned down by the referee but then gained a yellow for gently explaining to the referee what really happened! Cook: I have mentioned before that this guy is gradually growing on me; he is a really skilful player who adds something that extra that complements our play. Maybe he should have put that chance away in the first half but the giant 6’6” frame of Jamal Blackman came out well to save. He took his injury time goal very well. Marriott: he must be wondering why his name is not on the score sheet when the Town have hit four goals but possibly on another day his luck will be in. A good team game from Marriott yesterday. Hylton: well what can you say? Another great game leading the line, constantly looking for the ball, constantly drifting to find space, lots of power, persistence, assertive and oh yes, he scored three goals. For this level and probably the next, we have a top notch centre forward with a good few playing years in front of him. Smith (Sub): usual loads of graft you know you are going to get from Smith. A very speedy yellow card after about a minute on the pitch “hello fella, I am on the pitch”. Vassell (Sub): a fair turn of pace and power in his brief spell on the pitch; maybe he will get a chance when Hylton card collecting activities forces him to take a break and go fishing. Famewo (Sub): nice to see the youngster on the field for a couple of minutes mainly to let Hylton take a well deserved ovation. It was also good for Famewo to continue to get a feel for the atmosphere. The Nathan Jones post match interview and the goals from the game are on youtube and linked below:
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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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