What a day. It began at Luton bus station shortly before 9am, and ended in a similar location just before Match of the Day kicked off. What a shame the BBC didn't recall Garth Crooks to the pundit sofa for one night only to reflect on his ridiculous comments made a few weeks ago. 3,000 Luton fans who were up on Merseyside know that this Hatters side are going to hold their own in the Premier League. A dash from the bus just after 3pm meant we missed the first few minutes but by the time we were standing in the Bullens Upper Luton were well on top. A succession of corners delivered expertly by Alfie Doughty gave the Toffees warning. At the third time of asking Carlton rose like a colossus to thunder a header on to the bar via a Pickford flick. As the ball came rocketing down, Ashley Young must have imagined he was back at the Watford training ground and thought it was time for a shimmy. He had reckoned without Tommy Tommy Lockyer who charged forward and the ball crashed into the ne...
A Friday night like no other under the bright, bright lights at the Kenny packed with just under 10,000 passionate Luton fans. The game may have been lost, we may have no points after three Premier League games, but sometimes you just have to look at the bigger picture
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| Into the action |
Those thoughts below. But first the action. Luton were straight into it and, rather like the first few minutes at both Brighton and Chelsea, showed great determination and fight. One moment just before half time and a bit of quality - Paqueta given time outside the box to curl a ball into the far post, and Bowen stole in between Bell and Giles to head past Kaminski from two yards. Perhaps the keeper could have done better but the header was from such close range there was very little time to react.
The Hammers second goal late in the second half came from a Ward Prowse corner that went high just beyond the near post and was met by a firm header from the cat kicker.
Into injury time and as Luton pressed, Bell had the ball just over half way. His chipped pass was flicked on superbly by Morris just inside the area, and stealing in ahead of the defence was Mads Andersen who deftly directed a header into the corner.
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| Handball clear as day |
Cue bedlam in the Kenilworth and all around the ground and we had three minutes to grab an equaliser. A corner was swung in, the ball struck Ward Prowse's outstretched hand, the ref waved play on, and VAR investigated. Unbelievably those stuck in a van in Stockley Park decided no error had been made. You do wonder whether Luton should now get a refund on the multi-millions they've had to spend to put this sort of technology mandated by the Premier League into the ground, when it isn't even used correctly.
Super Robbie Edwards was realistic after the game. Two moments cost us, he didn't complain or moan about the penalty (unlike countless other managers and this correspondent), and said he saw enough to see we are in a continual journey of improvement.
Town: Kaminski, Andersen, Burke, Bell, Giles (Kabore 71’), Doughty (Ogbene 78’), Barkley (Ruddock Mpanzu 71’), Chong (Woodrow 84’), Nakamba, Morris, Adebayo (Brown 71’).
Subs not used: Krul, Berry, Johnson, Francis-Clarke.
Back to the bigger picture...
In an insane transfer window where over £2 billion has been spent, Luton Town have once again shown they are the exemplar for clubs everywhere to follow. Spending within your means. Make no mistake, for some of these clubs spending wild sums whilst leveraging themselves unsustainably, chickens will come home to roost.
Our strike force of Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo scored 30 goals last season. Yes, it must have been tempting to wang some of the Premier League cash on more fire power. Everton have just spent £26 million on a forward despite having serious financial issues to address. Under Gold and Sullivan our opponents on Friday had signed at least 55 forwards in 13 years (take a look at them) and shows what happens when you get it wrong. Carlton and Elijah deserve the chance to show the Premier League what they can do.
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| Great coverage |
Compliments for some great coverage last night to the Sky Sports team. Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville took the time to talk to the fans, and in an excellent pitch interview with our CEO, showed genuine respect for the magnificent work Gary Sweet and his team have overseen. Henry Winter is another first class journalist who has also taken the time and trouble in recent months to really understand the Luton revolution. His match report in the Times is a masterclass.
14 days now until the Hatters take on Fulham in West London.