Luton Town FC vs Peterborough United (19th Jan 2019)

LUTON TOWN 4 PETERBOROUGH UTD 0

Collins bags a hat-trick and Berry the other for four-midable Hatters

The Hatters hit promotion rivals Peterborough with a four-midable performance at a sold-out Kenilworth Road this afternoon to keep up the pressure on Portsmouth at the top of the Sky Bet One League table.

James Collins netted his second hat-trick of the season, with Luke Berry netting his first goal since his return from injury to help see off a Posh side that played with ten men for three-quarters of the game following Ryan Tafazolli's 25th- minute sending off.

But that point the Town were already a goal to the good, with Collins netting his 12th of the season. Number 13 followed two minutes after the straight red, for a foul on Andrew Shinnie, before 14 arrived on 53 minutes.

Berry rounded off a superb first full game for himself with the fourth as interim manager Mick Harford - who signalled to the crowd at the end that it was the players who should take their applause for a stunning performance - oversaw a 15th successive league game without defeat.

Harford made one change to his side following the midweek FA Cup exit, when the Town had followed up the 1-1 draw at Sunderland in his first game back at the helm with another impressive showing, without reward, in the 1-0 defeat to Championship club Sheffield Wednesday.

Returning to the starting line-up after being rested on Tuesday was Alan McCormack, with Elliot Lee missing out with a hamstring injury.

New signing from Barnsley, George Moncur, started on the bench, along with fellow January signing on loan from Derby, George Thorne.

So the Hatters lined up with James Shea in goal, behind a back four of Jack Stacey, Matty Pearson, captain Sonny Bradley and James Justin. McCormack, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Berry and Andrew Shinnie, with Collins and Kazenga LuaLua up front.

The Town madepositive a start and had their noses in front by the eighth minute when Shinnie was given the freedom of the midfield to play Stacey to the right byline, and Collins was there inside the six-yard box to turn it over the line.

Cardiff City loanee Lee Tomlin fired wide on 17 minutes after Stacey gave the ball away to Kyle Dempsey, then Shea had to get down low to keep out a Marcus Maddison shot from outside the box, before the ex-Gateshead man hit a free-kick over the bar.

The visitors were reduced to ten men in the 25th minute when centre-half Ryan Tafazolli was shown a straight red by referee David Coote for a dangerous looking challenge on Shinnie.

Within two minutes the Hatter had doubled their advantage and it was the same trio of players involved, Shinnie playing Stacey inside Dembele on the Town right, with the full-back cutting back a lovely cross for Collins to turn in with a brilliant finish at the near post.

Berry was next to have a go, forcing Posh keepeer Aaron Chapman into a full-length save from 25 yards, before the high press from Shinnie and LuaLua won the ball for Mpanzu to fire at goal, but he dragged his shot well wide.

Collins was presented with a glorious chance for his hat-trick in the 36th minute when Shinnie played Justin in on the left, and the full-back's first-time cross was cleared only as far as the Town's top scorer, who couldn't direct his left-foot volley on target.

LuaLua extended Chapman on 39 minutes, but the Posh keeper was equal to his low shot, then McCormack shot wide at the end of a move he'd started by winning the ball and creating space with a brilliant Maradona turn, before playing Shinnie on the left to cross low for Collins, who didn't connect properly with his shot.

Posh had already made one substitution in the first half, bringing Joe Ward on for Dembele in the immediate aftermath of the Town's second goal, and they completed their three changes at the break.

Tomlin and Dempsey were withdrawn, replaced by George Cooper and Alex Woodyard, but it made little difference to Peterborough's hopes.

Collins completed his treble with the best of the lot eight minutes after the interval, LuaLua nicking the ball ahead of Danny Lafferty on halfway and sprinting down the right before cutting inside and slipping a lovely ball into Collins' path.

The ex-Crawley man didn't need to break stride as he buried his left-foot shot into the bottom corner, beyond Chapman's outstretched right arm.

Town were rampant and it was four in the 66th minute when LuaLua was the architect again, this time wriggling his way around a defender to play Berry into the area. The midfielder made no mistake from 16 yards, swivelling and passing his effort around Chapman and into the beck of the net.

Harford introduced the two new Georges - Moncur and Thorne - immediately after the goal and Moncur almost had a brilliant debut goal in the 77th minute. The midfielder had already produced one backheel in a patient passing move dictated by Thorne, when he collected the ball 30 yards from goal.

He traded passes with LuaLua, who returned it with a backheel, then waltzed past two defenders before shooting past Chapman, only to be denied by Ben White, who had raced back to slide in and clear off the line.

Maddison put the ball in the back of the net at the other end, but the flag was long since up for offside, then he fired high over the bar inside the last five minutes.

LuaLua, desperate for a goal his performance deserved, did likewise in front of the Oak Road, then Moncur bent one just over before Sheehan saw a 30-yarder deflected behind for a corner.

It didn't matter, the Hatters already had enough in the bag to move within a point of Pompey, who lost at Sunderland, and three points clear of Sunderland, who drew at Scunthorpe.

Onto Southend next Saturday!

TOWN: Shea, Stacey, Pearson (Sheehan 77), Bradley (c), Justin, McCormack (Thorne 69), Mpanzu, Berry, Shinnie (Moncur 69), Collins, LuaLua. Subs: Potts, Jarvis, Jones, Isted.

Goals: Collins 8, 27, 53, Berry 66

Yellows: Pearson

POSH: Chapman, Naismith, Tafazolli, White, Dembele (Ward 28), Cooke, Toney, Lafferty, Maddison, Tomlin (Cooper 46), Dempsey (Woodyard 46). Subs: Godden, Reed, O'Malley (GK), Stevens.

Yellows: Maddison

Red: Tafazolli

REFEREE: David Coote

MICK HARFORD ON THE 4-0 WIN OVER PETERBOROUGH UNITED

Town interim manager Mick Harford said he 'couldn't be prouder' of his side after they defeated Peterborough 4-0 at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

The Hatters opened the scoring after just eight minutes when James Collins converted from Jack Stacey's cross, after the defender had been picked out on the right by Andrew Shinnie.

Ryan Tafazolli was shown a red card with just over 20 minutes on the clock after a high challenge on Shinnie, and the Hatters punished Steve Evans' side minutes later with a carbon copy of the first goal.

Collins had his hat-trick goal after wonderful work from Kazenga LuaLua and Luke Berry got his first of the campaign with a neat turn on the edge of the box and a calm finish into the bottom corner.

Harford said: "All credit to the players. They have been absolutely different class in terms of how they've trained, how they've gone about things, the way they've acted since we lost our manager. They've been totally and utterly professional and I take my hat off to them. The three games I have been in charge I couldn't be prouder of them, each and every one of them, the ones who haven't been involved have been supportive.

"I would just like to give my thanks to the players for the way they've worked, the way they have gone about their business in the last seven to ten days, it's been a bit of a whirlwind! We're delighted with the performance – obviously the win, the clean sheet, people will say the sending off will have a bearing on it, but I thought we were in total control of it football wise, we were a bit sloppy at times in the first half. But overall a thoroughly good performance."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGLln4lptYc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUNSsrnT8SQ

Hat-trick for Collins as Hatters hammer 10-man Posh

League One: Luton Town 4 Peterborough 0

Striker James Collins bagged his second hat-trick of the season as Luton handed Mick Harford a first win as interim boss, hammering promotion rivals Peterborough United this afternoon.

The Posh, reduced to 10 men midway through the first half, were simply no match for the Hatters after that, Town playing some scintillating football to cut through their opponents at will, earning a first win over a top six side this season.

Harford made one change to the side from Tuesday night's FA Cup exit to Sheffield Wednesday, Alan McCormack in for Elliot Lee, who had a hamstring injury, meaning Luke Berry pushed up to the tip of the diamond.

Town took the lead on just eight minutes with a lovely move that saw Andrew Shinnie start from deep, easing away from his markers and then play the perfect ball wide for Jack Stacey, who picked out Collins to bundle over the line from two yards.

Matty Pearson picked up his first booking of the campaign, as Posh responded well to going behind, Jack Stacey giving possession away and Lee Tomlin flashing narrowly wide from 20 yards.

Marcus Maddison tested James Shea from distance, while he also put a free kick over the top, but the crucial part of the half came on 25 minutes.

Posh defender Ryan Tafazolli slid in to catch Shinnie, and after a long chat with his linesman, referee David Coote reached for his top pocket to produce red.

Luton took full advantage as well, with the same triumvirate integral in making it 2-0 just two minutes later.

Once again, Shinnie picked out the run of Stacey on the right, once again, he crossed low into the area, and once again, Collins was there, with an even better finish this time to rifle home.

Berry almost had a cracking third on the half hour, arrowing an effort from 25 yards on his left foot that the giant Aaron Chapman just managed to extend his arms to and fingertip behind.

Collins should have completed his treble in the 35th minute, with this time, the danger coming from the left, as when James Justin's cross was half cleared, he missed the target, volleying wide.

With Town well on top and dominating every aspect of the game against a visiting side whose heads had clearly already gone, they again quickly came close to a third.

McCormack produced some outrageous skill to get away from his marker and with Luton lining up to shoot, but not pulling the trigger, the midfielder took matters into his own hands, off target.

There was no let-up by the Hatters in the second period either, as they had extra breathing space just eight minutes in, LuaLua intercepting a pass on the right and drove at the away defence.

Looking up, he spotted the run of Collins, who let it run across the body and on the run, fired first time on his left foot beyond Chapman for his second hat-trick of the season, and third in Luton colours.

Collins should really have had a fourth as Posh coughed up possession cheaply yet again and he was sent clear, but trying to pick out the top corner, slamming over.

It mattered not though as Town struck four on 66 minutes when LuaLua threaded a pass through to Berry who spun his man superbly before faced with Chapman, easily beat him for a first goal since February.

With the points in the bag, Town gave debuts to new signings George Moncur and George Thorne, as they proceeded to toy with their opponents at times.

LuaLua went for his first league goal, easy for Chapman, before a glorious move involving the attacker and Moncur saw Town's new boy beat one, then a second, before his low shot was too good for Chapman, but not defender Ben White who got back just in time.

The shell-shocked visitors were reduced to efforts borne out of pure desperation in the end, Maddison's 45 yard bouncing into Shea's gloves, with his next attempt, thundering over.

Luton still sensed blood, LuaLua slicing wide after overlapping on the left, while Moncur's effort didn't come down in time, as they ran out handsome winners.

The result was made to look even better with leaders Portsmouth losing at Oxford United, as Town cut the gap to a single point, while third-placed Sunderland were held at Scunthorpe United, meaning Luton moved three points clear of the Black Cats.

Hatters: James Shea, Jack Stacey, James Justin, Matty Pearson (Alan Sheehan 77), Sonny Bradley (C), Alan McCormack (George Thorne 69), Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Andrew Shinnie (George Moncur 69), Luke Berry, James Collins, Kazenga LuaLua.

Subs not used: Harry Isted, Lloyd Jones, Alan Sheehan, Aaron Jarvis.

Posh: Aaron Chapman, Jason Naismith ©, Ryan Tafazolli, Ben White, Siriki Dembele (Joe Ward 29), Callum Cooke, Ivan Toney, Danny Lafferty, Marcus Maddison, Lee Tomlin (George Cooper 46), Kyle Dempsey (Alex Woodyard 46).

Subs not used: Matt Godden, Louis Reed, Conor O'Malley, Mathew Stevens.

Booked: Pearson 12, Maddison 63, Toney 73. Sent off: Tafazolli 25.

Referee: David Coote.

Attendance: 10,055 (1,031 Posh).

Harford** takes his hat off to Luton's players**

Luton interim boss Mick Harford was quick to pay tribute to the Town players after they swept aside Peterborough United 4-0 at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

James Collins bagged a second hat-trick of the season, while Luke Berry was on target too, as Town won for the first time since the Hatters legend took charge after Nathan Jones’ left to join Stoke City.

Although the visitors were reduced to 10 men on 25 minutes, Ryan Tafazolli dismissed for a foul on Andrew Shinnie, Harford said: “All credit to the players, they were absolutely different class in terms of the way they’ve trained, the way they’ve gone about things, the way they’ve acted since we lost our manager.

“They’ve been totally and thoroughly professional and I take my hat off to them.

“The three games I’ve been in charge, I couldn’t be prouder of them, each and every one of them.

“The lads who haven’t been involved, they’ve been supportive, so overall I’d just like to give my thanks to the players.

"The way they’ve worked, the way they’ve gone about their business, in the last seven to 10 days.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but we’re delighted with the performance today, the win, the clean sheet.

“People say did the sending off have a bearing on it, I thought we were in total control in terms of football-wise.

“We were a little bit sloppy at times in the first half with the passing, but overall a really thoroughly good performance.”