Wow, what a train ride to the North East on a train packed with travelling Hatters. This was as expected a massive turn out to see Luton play on Tyneside some 250 miles from Kenilworth Road. Arriving at Newcastle station you felt proud to see the sea of orange sweeping of each arriving train; what a wonderful site. Then onto the Bridge Hotel to meet up with an absolutely charming Luton exile together with a Gateshead season ticket holder over a couple of fine ales; as I say so often, what could possibly go wrong. Here we are top of our league and playing away to a premier league club in an absolutely wonderful stadium within touching distance of the clouds. If Carlsberg made football stadiums then surely God would have given me the telescopic vision of an eagle. Its been quite a week for our Nathan and I think that most of us are happy with his just-announced contract extension having really proved his worth with our style of play this season. In the days leading up to the game there was much speculation over who would partner Mullins at centre back; would it be Rea, Potts or the young talent Famewo. Well certainly against possibly the hopes of many Luton fans, Nathan went for Rea with Pelly selected to play in front of the back four. There was a time not that long ago, that I would have welcomed Pell's inclusion but sadly these days I just say to myself please don’t mess it up Pelly. Would this selection affect the shape we have played with over recent months where Ray, Port Vale apart, had been so influential protecting the space in front of the back four? As for our hosts Newcastle, the home manager Raffa sadly not the most engaging man in football, decided to name just about a full strength side; doubt many Hatters fans were expecting that.
The game started with Newcastle pressing forward but after an initial onslaught, we were comfortable holding our own whilst at the same time not creating anything as much as we would have liked. We were getting wide into some really good positions to deliver the ball into the area but we just seemed to be lacking sufficient presence in the box to get on the end of the crosses. For the first half hour things looked pretty comfortable for the Hatters then in a Geordie attack our accident-prone goalkeeper, Stech, somehow spills the ball despite having his whole body positioned nicely to collect it. Bing bang Perez accepts the gift and we are a goal down with Stech looking a touch embarrassed and his team-mates looking a touch less than happy; you simply just don’t get away with such goalkeeping errors against sides of the quality of Newcastle. Before we can think of turning things around our relative weakness at centre back is exposed when a gentle lobbed header flicks over towards our goal and Mr Perez somehow manages to bag his second goal despite being surrounded by a number of Luton players. Maybe if captain Cuthbert had been there he would have taken charge and cleared the ball and in that instance, I think we missed the big man. Overall that second goal was poor defending. Within four minutes, it’s 3-0 as Shelby with a v, on loan from the Peaky Blinders, caps the game for the Geordies culminating a sweet passing defence-splitting move with a shot bending one way and Stech who to be fair could not do a lot about it, slightly travelling the other way. A class Newcastle passing move and a fine goal, yes maybe we could have been a touch smarter defensively but the move was quality: oh dear, where will it all end? At half-time Pelly is sold to Hitchin Town and replaced by the tricky Cornick. Wow, what a transformation: we are now taking the game to Newcastle, winning lots of second balls in midfield and getting the ball down the wings. Then a neat move sees Danny Hylton escape his marker and beautifully put the ball away; the travelling orange army erupt and celebrate the goal. We then continued to press forward and Danny boy appears to have bagged a second only for the lino to rule out the goal for offside. For the rest of the second half, we really pushed forward and whilst our adventurous play did let Newcastle in for a few attempts on goal, we really did terrifically well hitting the bar with a shot from Lee then Gambin only just squeezing the ball to the wrong side of the post in injury time. The final whistle brings the game to an end and whilst we are out of a competition we had no realistic hope of winning, we have really done ourselves proud with that second half performance. Overall impression Well despite a dodgy ten-minute spell, we did reasonably enough in the first half and I have to say played very well in that second half. Absolutely no shame at all in this defeat in fact quite the reverse on a day when we showed our passing football credentials and looked something a cut above that expected from a league two side. In that second half, we played some very sweet expansive football worth of a team from a higher league than league 2: well done Nathan and team. Sadly, I think the bell may well have tolled for Pelly and he may never wake up from his winter hibernation. Accident-prone Stech also stumbles along; he can and does, pull off some fine saves but a Christian Walton he is certainly not. A few difficult decisions for Nathan to make and rather him than me. The stadium of St James Park is indeed a fine one and having visited many times during my time in the North East it has been massively changed yet it’s such a nice touch to have oxygen masks provided under each seat to combat altitude sickness in the away end; that charismatic chap Mike Ashley is indeed very caring.Truthfully, the height and distance from the pitch whilst offering a fine pitch view does make individual player ID a challenge. Yet that did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the travelling faithful who were simply magnificent in their support. A great day out, a day to be proud to be a Hatter having watched your team really play some fine passing football especially in that second half; yes, a memorable day out in the fine footballing city of Newcastle. So, as that old cliche goes yet so true in our case we can now concentrate on the league. Onwards and upwards to Chesterfield. A few thoughts on individual performances: Stech: difficult one as he was clearly at fault for the first goal yet also made some smart saves. Is it time for a rest I wonder? One for Nathan to ponder but let’s not forget that for the first 20 or so games of the season he was very sound. Justin: a really fine game and a combination of beautifully timed tackles and great surges forward. Mullins: played well enough at the centre of defence despite looking a touch stretched at times. Rea: no repeat of his Port Vale mare and made some telling interceptions; I felt he had a really decent game. Potts: probably had his greatest challenge of the season and despite being put under some real pressure he did well. Pelly: sorry Pelly, I fear I have all but given up on you; such a massive latent talent that stretches back to JS’s days but has the maturity and development evaporated? Pelly these days is akin to having a fine bottle of Chateau Margaux yet finding out you don’t have a simple corkscrew! The bottle then simply becomes an ornament for discussion! Berry: as expected, always in the game and had a fine second half. Shinnie: some good moments when he really looked at home and overall decent against his premiership markers. Olly Lee: I thought Olly had a very decent game and also made some good interceptions. Hylton: a mix of football genius as the Harry Kane of the lower leagues and the petulance of a twelve-year-old. What a handful he was to his markers all afternoon; he scored a goal, had one disallowed and his younger side got the better of him adding another yellow to his collection. That’s the package you get with our Danny but what Luton fan would want to be without him. Collins: lots a physical running but no massive impression on the game. The Subs: Cornick: he had some good runs that the Magpies struggled with but at other times tried to beat a player too many; no shame on him, he gave it his all. Elliot Lee: gave it everything when he came onto the pitch replacing James Collins. I honestly think that Elliot Lee could be a big success with our club after his stuttering starts elsewhere. Gambin: only on for 10 minutes and could have made a name for himself had he steered his shot inside of the post in injury time. The travelling 7500 Luton supporters: magnificent support all game, great effort.
1 Comment
FairsCup69
1/7/2018 03:50:17 am
Really enjoyed reading this. I'm a toon fan (not to be confused with Town although that's what toon means in my local dialect) who has a Hatters mate who put me onto the article. You must surely gain promotion and continue your rise up the league (I am old enough to remember Brian Stein, David Moss and Ricky Hill to name but a few). Well played both on and off the pitch - a tremendous following considering your normal attendances and the distance. My normal seat in level 7 was empty yesterday so I understand perfectly well your quip concerning oxygen masks which I found hilarious. Good luck for the rest of the season.....
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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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