Luton Town FC vs Portsmouth (29th Aug 2015)

PUBLISHED 18:08 29th August 2015 Hatters denied point by last-gasp Pompey strike

LUTON 1-2 PORTSMOUTH

The Hatters conceded another late goal at Kenilworth Road to condemn them to a third league defeat of the season.

Portsmouth substitute Matt Tubbs pounced in the 90th minute to give the visitors all three points in an open, end-to-end affair.

It was Pompey that took the lead in the eighth minute when Gareth Evans rifled home from close range.

But the Town’s response was good, and the hosts levelled on the quarter-hour when Josh McQuoid was fouled in the box and Craig Mackail-Smith converted the resultant penalty.

Both sides went for victory in the second half with Cameron McGeehan shooting wide, but it looked as the though the Town would have to settle for a point.

However, the visitors had other ideas, and won it at the death when Tubbs tapped home after Elliot Justham had parried Conor Chaplin’s shot. It was another harsh lesson for the Town, who have now conceded last-minute goals in all three of their home League 2 fixtures this season.

Showing three changes to the side that lost on penalties to Stoke in the week – with Cameron McGeehan, Craig Mackail-Smith and Ryan Hall selected – the Town fell behind with the first chance of the game. There was a touch of misfortune about it too, as Luke Wilkinson’s clearance hit the head of Scott Cuthbert and the loose ball was hammered home by Evans from six yards.

However, the Hatters responded immediately and the lively McQuoid earned the Town a chance to level when he was upended by Nigel Atangana. Up stepped Mackail-Smith to drill home a low spot-kick for his first goal at Kenilworth Road to make it 1-1.

That goal gave the Town confidence, and McGeehan wasn’t far away from firing them in front 10 minutes before the break when he ended a patient passing move with a well-hit shot from 20 yards that whistled wide.

As the break approached, both sides traded chances. Pompey had the best of them and the Hatters needed Elliot Justham to be at his best when keeping out a low drive from ex-Town loanee Jayden Stockley.

At the start of the second half the Town made a change by introducing Olly Lee for Mark O’Brien in central midfield.

And the Hatters spurned a great opportunity to take the lead 10 minutes after the restart when McGeehan and Mackail-Smith pinched the ball off Pompey feet to race clear on goal. It was three Town men to Pompey’s two, but McGeehan opted to go alone and his low shot fizzed agonisingly wide of the target.

Back came Pompey, and the Town needed Lee to be in the right place at the right time when he cleared Gary Roberts’ header off the line following a left-wing corner as the visitors pushed for the lead.

Half-chances continued to come and go for both sides. Luke Wilkinson headed over for the Town on 68 minutes while Roberts and Kyle Bennett skied over for the visitors.

As time ticked into the final 10 minutes, the Hatters weren’t far away from a decent chance when an on-target Cuthbert header at the back stick hit a Pompey player with nine minutes left on the clock.

But, as has been the case in the two previous home league games, there was a nasty sting in the tail for the Town in injury time as Pompey won it. Two subs combined: Chaplin’s left-foot effort was well-parried away by Justham and the loose fell at the feet of Tubbs who coolly side-footed home from eight yards to sink the Town.

Town: Justham; O’Donnell, Griffiths, Cuthbert, Wilkinson; O’Brien (sub Lee 46), Smith, McGeehan; Hall (sub Ruddock 82), Mackail-Smith (sub Marriott 71), McQuoid. Subs not used: Tyler, McCourt, McNulty, Green.

Attendance: 9,083, the best of the season so far, including 1,032 backing Pompey.

http://www.lutontown.co.uk/news/article/gallery-town-1-2-portsmouth-2655875.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvYK84-Vulk

League Two: Luton Town 1 Portsmouth 2

Luton Town’s miserable start to the League Two season continued at Kenilworth Road this afternoon with a last-gasp defeat against Portsmouth.

The hosts looked like they had done enough to earn a point against one of the sides they were tipped to compete with for the title this term.

However, that is already starting to look a touch unlikely as substitute Matt Tubbs came off the bench to net from close range in the last minute, the third late goal Hatters have conceded in just five matches, as they remain without a win in the division this term.

Although the manner of defeat was harsh on Town, they paid the price for two defensive lapses, while for long periods, Craig Mackail-Smith had to plough an increasingly lonely farrow up front, with most of fellow striker Josh McQuoid’s best work coming in his own half.

On the flip side, Paul Cook’s Pompey look a class act, knocking the ball around with real ease, with the like of Gary Roberts and Kyle Bennett constant goal threats.

Boss John Still made three changes for the clash, with Cameron McGeehan, Ryan Hall and Craig Mackail-Smith coming in, as the manager kept faith with Justham and also the back four, meaning club captain Steve McNulty was left on the bench.

Hatters started as slowly as they finished strongly against Stoke in midweek, failing to take any of the momentum garnered, allowing Pompey time and space to get their pass and move style of football going, with the hosts often hitting long to the diminutive Mackail-Smith.

The visitors were ahead on seven minutes too, although there was a huge touch of fortune about the goal, as Luke Wilkinson cleared a cross straight against Scott Cuthbert, the ball dropping perfectly for Gareth Evans to hammer home.

Luton were then given a lifeline after a quarter of an hour as from their first foray forward, McQuoid, who was deployed in a wide right position, burst into the box and was sent tumbling by a needless challenge from Nigel Atangana.

Mackail-Smith then grabbed the ball and had no trouble in drilling past Brian Murphy low into the bottom corner for his second of the season.

Town’s players almost had a meeting of minds after the leveller, with both Wilkinson and Mackail-Smith urging their team-mates to refocus, but still Pompey had the better.

Justham needed to be alert to to claim the ball ahead of the unmarked ex-Hatters loanee Jayden Stockley, while Luton almost created an opening as Pompey stopper Murphy was forced into a clearing header, but only finding Hall, whose touch let him down, with the keeper recovering in time.

Luton then finally started to up their tempo, snapping into challenges higher up the pitch as for the first time Pompey looked nervy, and the home crowd belatedly came alive.

It led to Smith winning possession and McGeehan firing narrowly wide from 20 yards with Murphy at full stretch.

The game woke up for the final five minutes of the half as Kyle Bennett’s long ranger was clung on to by Justham, who then produced an even better stop to turn Stockley’s drive over with an outstretched leg.

Hatters had two chances of their own, both headers, with Mackail-Smith glancing off target and McQuoid’s towering effort just beyond the stretching McGeehan and the far post.

Luton swapped the injured Mark O’Brien for Olly Lee at the break, with the midfielder adding that bit more quality on the ball as the hosts started with far more initiative than they had the opening period.

Still’s men almost had the advantage on 54 minutes too when Mackail-Smith forced an error from the visitors defence and fed McGeehan, who was only a whisker wide from finding the bottom corner.

Pompey then weathered the storm and were back in their groove once more as Evans was inches away from his second, while Gary Roberts’ downward header saw Lee clear from the goal-line.

A neatly crafted move gave Bennett the space to rifle over the top as although Hatters broke quickly at times, the best they could come up with was a couple of corners that were well defended.

With both sides making all their changes, it was Pompey’s substitutes who were to prove the difference, Conor Chaplin taking advantage of a slip by Cuthbert to scamper away as the clock ticked towards 90.

His effort was brilliantly saved by Justham, but the predatory Tubbs, as he has done so often against Luton, was lurking to net the rebound and steal the points.

Hatters: Elliot Justham, Stephen O’Donnell, Scott Griffiths, Scott Cuthbert (C), Luke Wilkinson, Jonathan Smith, Mark O’Brien (Olly Lee 46), Cameron McGeehan, Ryan Hall (Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu 82), Josh McQuoid, Craig Mackail-Smith (Jack Marriott 71).

Subs not used: Mark Tyler, Steve McNulty, Danny Green, Paddy McCourt.

Pompey: Brian Murphy, Ben Davies, Enda Stevens, Christian Burgess, Michael Doyle (C), Gary Roberts (Adam McGurk 82), Jayden Stockley (Matt Tubbs 73), Matt Clarke, Kyle Bennett (Connor Chaplin 75) Nigel Atangana, Gareth Evans.

Subs not used: Paul Jones, Adam Webster, Danny Hollands, Brandon Haunstrup.

Referee: Peter Bankes.

Booked: Smith 12, McGeehan 73, Wilkinson 90.

Attendance: 9,083 (1,032 Pompey).

Hatters MOM: Josh McQuoid. Got through so much running and showed great determination to Town’s penalty.

Still insists Luton are back on track despite Pompey defeat

Hatters boss John Still believes his side are finally starting to show signs of turning the corner despite suffering a third successive league defeat, losing 2-1 to Portsmouth yesterday.

It had looked like Hatters would pick up a point, drawing 1-1 with just a minute of normal time remaining, only for Pompey sub Matt Tubbs to snatch a late winner.

However, Still felt he saw plenty of encouragement during the game, as he said: “I thought we played really well, both teams did, and it was a great advert for the league, so I’m not disappointed, I might be frustrated, but I’m not disappointed.

“The game got decided on two moments, Luke Wilkinson’s clearance hitting Scott Cuthbert and falling to them, it happens.

“Then Scott Cuthbert, who was brilliant in his favoured position, just lost his footing and it’s a goal, what can I say?

“The team played great. We played well the other day (against Stoke), played well again here, it’s football. But as disappointing as it was to lose, I was pleased with the way we played.

“It’s the first time we’ve put what I call two really good performances together, so it’s disappointing. There’ll still be disappointments for lots of people though, but we’re getting better.

“If I look back to last Saturday’s disappointing second half performance at Yeovil, that was nowhere near the level of the last two games we’ve produced and if we can keep producing that, I think we’re on our way.”

The result saw Luton sitting third bottom in the table though, as they are one of just three sides without a win in the division this term.

Although leaders Leyton Orient already an imposing 13 points above Hatters after their 100 per cent start to the season, Still wasn’t unduly concerned with the standings yet.

He added: “I’d be lying if I said I never see a league, but does the league concern me until Christmas time? No it doesn’t.

“Would I have expected us to more points? Yes I would. But I’ve stood in this place before and people say we haven’t started great, no we haven’t.

“But we’ve got good players, we’re a good side, I think we’re just starting to put our foot down now.

“We’ve got a lot of strong players, we’re disappointed, but I’m sure we’ll be disappointed again as it’s a long season.

“This team is capable of winning five, six, seven, eight, or being unbeaten for a long run of games, and they’ll get into that mode and sure they’ll do that.

“I’m happy with how we’ve played and two games on the trot we’re looking a lot more like Luton to be honest.”

Hatters boss remains happy with side’s gameplan

Hatters boss John Still felt his side had executed their gameplan to perfection at times despite going down 2-1 to Portsmouth at Kenilworth Road yesterday.

The Town chief went with a 4-1-4-1 formation to begin with, allowing Pompey plenty of possession in their own half at times, with Hatters then trying to hit their opponents on the break.

Although Matt Tubbs stole the points with a late winner, Still was happy with how his tactics had panned out, as he said: “We know the type of game they play which is to try and keep it short and pass, I like our game to be a bit more high tempo and think we planned it perfectly.

“We broke out terrifically well and I thought the game was evenly balanced, with not a tremendous amount of efforts at goal from either side. We might have had more efforts, but goalkeepers weren’t flying across their goal making saves.

“I think we’re a decent defensive side and think circumstances in the last few games, Mark Tyler dropping one, which he wouldn’t normally do, Scott Cuthbert slipping, a clearance hitting one of our players, it’s football, it happens, so we’ve got to get on with it.”

Striker Josh McQuoid was deployed in a much wider role than in recent games, as aside from winning the penalty, much of his best work came in his own half, while he even found himself in the right back position at times.

When asked about his choice of system, Still continued: “What we looked at is we knew their full backs like to get forward, and we just felt if we can get Craig isolating people, we can go down the sides.

“We were going to take a chance at first and push our two wide people higher and let them have the ball because I think we can defend it well, but think that might have held them back.

“That was the spaces we wanted to do, so in terms of job for the team, he (McQuoid) did a great job for the team.”

Hatters had a great chance to go 2-1 up when Cameron McGeehan dragged wide from a good position just before the hour mark, as Still admitted he could stomach a loss if his side were pushing for victory.

He said: “I thought it was that sort of game. Halfway through the half we looked at it and said do we want to draw? Or do we want to win?

“Well I want to win, so we started pushing Cameron further forwards to take a chance, as I’d sooner lose trying to win.

“You’ve got to try and win in all the games we play and I thought the game was right for someone to pop up.

“Two or three times we broke out with good pace, good energy, Ryan Hall was getting a little bit of supply, you wait for the chance and it came to Cam and didn’t quite go.”

Meanwhile, after being critical of a minor section of support during his post match press conference after Tuesday night’s Capital Cup One clash against Stoke City, Still was quick to pay tribute to Hatters’ faithful, with over 9,000 inside Kenilworth Road.

He added: “I thought it was 100 per cent this time. We all have different views, my thing was a little bit for Scott Griffiths.

“Scott had a poor start to the season by his standards, I’m the manager, I’ll dig him out when he needs digging out.

“But he’s been fantastic here and taken a while to get into his game, he was terrific the other night, he was terrific again on Saturday.

“So well done you supporters because you got behind him and brought him up to the level he should be. The back four looked terrific, so I was really, really pleased.”