Luton Town FC vs Portsmouth (29th Jan 2019)

TOWN 3 PORTSMOUTH 2

Hatters go five points clear at the top with a stunning win in the snow

Kenilworth Road witnessed another memorable night of football under the lights as the Hatters came out on top in a sensational game in the snow to beat Pompey 3-2.

The victory means the Town now sit five points clear at the top of Sky Bet League One having stretched their unbeaten run in the division to 17 matches - while extending their record without defeat at home to 19 games dating back to last March.

Even the wintery showers throughout the match could not deter the Hatters' home form, the team now snowballing their way to what could be a stunning season in the third tier.

James Collins bagged a brace to take his tally up to 16 for the season and George Moncur stole the hearts of Luton fans, scoring his first goal in orange since his move from Barnsley - a ferocious late free-kick to send every Hatter home smiling.

Mick Harford named an unchanged starting XI from the side that beat Southend United on Saturday and Pompey’s newest addition, Omar Bogle, began the match on the bench.

The second half provided a real top of the table clash after the first 45 belonged to Luton, who could have been out of sight at the midway point after a dominant display.

Kazenga LuaLua had the first of many chances, making the most of the conditions with some neat footwork to twist and slip away from his marker. His low cross was cleared, but Jack Stacey collected on the edge of the area and powered his strike well over into the Kenilworth Road end.

LuaLua looked lively moments later with another decent cross where Collins went for the spectacular. Unfortunatley though, his flailing leg could not send the ball goalward in an awkward attempt at a bicycle kick.

A minute later it was the Hatters again who pounced on a Pompey mistake, this time James Justin fizzing a shot at goal that Craig MacGillivray had to be ready to deal with, parrying away to Berry, who couldn’t control the rebound.

It was on 20 minutes when Justin picked the ball up on the left and found LuaLua outside the area. His smart flick and turn pulled another fine stop from MacGillivray down to his right, as the visitors struggled to soak up the Luton pressure.

Berry got involved in the avalanche of Luton chances too, curling his shot wide of the left post. Stacey also teed up the midfielder a little later on, creating space on the wing and finding Berry in the area who put a glancing header just wide, but close enough to have MacGillivray sprawling to his right to avert the danger.

The work rate of this Hatters side in the first 45 minutes was remarkable, Collins heading a Pompey cross clear in his own area and chasing it down, blocking the last defender's attempted ball forward to create another chance for the hosts, but Shinnie couldn't get a shot away.

McCormack’s low drive couldn’t find its way into the back of the net, as all that was missing from the Hatters at this point was a goal. LuaLua took a heavy touch from a superb through pass from Stacey and couldn’t get his shot past the keeper.

The goal arrived eventually though, a terrific team effort involving five players beginning with McCormack. The midfielder won a challenge midway inside his own half, which allowed Mpanzu time to thread the ball wide to Stacey.

The move then made its way to LuaLua after a driving run from Stacey gave the forward the chance to find Collins, who received a well weighted pass, and ended the passage of play with a tremendous finish which nestled sweetly in the bottom right corner.

But the Hatters weren’t done. The onslaught continued and Portsmouth just couldn’t deal with the home side’s dominance. Gareth Evans, with the only shot of the half for the Blues, summed up their miserable start at Kenilworth Road, slipping whilst hitting his shot onto the roof of the Oak Road.

On the stroke of half time, Collins nearly notched a second when a poor back pass had him chasing the ball down once more. His strike rebounded off the keeper to the feet of LuaLua, who was swarmed by blue shirts and could not force the ball towards the goal. The referee then called time and gave Portsmouth a chance to regroup.

And they did just that, taking advantage of a slow Luton start, dominating the next 25 minutes. It was the polar opposite of what the first half had seen, with Bogle - signed on loan from Birmingham on Monday - and midfielder Dion Donohue on for Brett Pitman and Evans. Donohue with the first chance, a low effort which stung the palms of Shea, who held onto it well considering the pace it had gained on the icy pitch.

The introduction of Bogle certainly bolstered the attacking line, creating the chance for Curtis, who levelled in what can only be described as Pompey’s first real chance of the match, side footing home in the exact some corner as Collins’ strike in the first half.

Shea was called into action just after, keeping the Hatters in the match that had turned so quickly in the favour of Portsmouth. A swift counter attack found its way to Morris on the right, who forced a delightful save from the Luton keeper - reaching highest to tip the ball over the bar.

Curtis was on the prowl once more and reacted quickest in the Luton penalty again, this time Shea saving well at his near post for another vital stop.

It wasn’t until the 71st minute that Justin had the Hatters' first chance of the second half. LuaLua picked the defender out with a firm square ball, and he cut inside upon receiving it and bent it in search of the top corner, only for MacGillivray to spoil what would have been a belter.

The Hatters began to play some better stuff as the minutes ticked into the final quarter of the match but were still suffering from a shock 25-minute spell which showcased why Pompey have the best away record in the division. But the Town were given a lifeline in the form of a penalty.

LuaLua was clearly tripped in the area to allow Collins the chance of grabbing his 16th goal of the season. He duly obliged and scored the spot kick, but back came the visitors.

Literally within a minute, and it was the half-time substitute and new-boy Bogle who took advantage of a Luton mix-up, tapping the ball home from close range.

But the Hatters had a new boy of their own in Moncur. His introduction in the 80th minute proved to be pivotal when the Town won a free-kick on the edge of the area four minutes from time.

Up stepped Moncur - the hopes of a sold-out Kenilworth Road on his shoulders - and he delivered, coolly curling his free-kick around the wall and into the far right of the goal to cue pandemonium in the home end and affirm himself a new Hatters hero.

A nervy four minutes of stoppage time were endured by the home defence, but they held on to earn a crucial three points that keeps the Hatters at the top of Sky Bet League One in front of the biggest crowd of the season at the Kenny.

The hard work continues though as the side now turn their attention to Shrewsbury away on Saturday...once the final 48 hours of the transfer window have been negotiated!

TOWN: Shea, Stacey, Pearson, Bradley (c), Justin, McCormack, Mpanzu, Shinnie (Sheehan 88), Berry (Potts 73), Collins, LuaLua (Moncur 80). Subs: Jones, Read, Tomlinson, Isted.

Goals: Collins 39, 77 (pen), Moncur 86

POMPEY: MacGillivray, Brown, Whatmough, Clarke, Walkes, Naylor, Evans (Donohue 46), Lowe, Curtis, Pitman (Bogle 46), Morris. Subs: Bass (GK), Burgess, Haunstrup, May, Donohue, Dennis.

Yellows: Donohue, Naylor

Goals: Curtis 52, Bogle 79

REFEREE: Simon Hooper

ATT: 10,078 (1,033 away)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1epizQYSoY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B21zLEHV3hc

Moncur's late stunner sees Hatters enjoy thrilling Pompey win

League One: Luton Town 3 Portsmouth 2

Luton took a huge forward step in the race for automatic promotion this evening, as George Moncur's glorious late free kick saw them beat nearest rivals Portsmouth in an absolutely thrilling clash at Kenilworth Road.

Twice the Hatters led, and twice they were hauled back, before with just four minutes to go, Moncur stepped up curl his set-piece around the wall and into the bottom corner to send the home fans into raptures on a quite unforgettable evening.

The result saw Town move five points clear of their south coast rivals, and six ahead of Barnsley in third, who were held by Oxford United, ahead of a trip to Shrewsbury this weekend and extend their unbeaten league run to staggering 17 matches.

It was also their first league victory against Pompey for over 20 years, their last success back in 1995, some seven games ago.

Interim boss Mick Harford named an unchanged side for the third game running, although youngsters Connor Tomlinson and Arthur Read were on the bench, as George Thorne and Aaron Jarvis were unavailable.

With the snow forecast arriving just before kick-off, Luton adapted far quicker to the slippy conditions, Jack Stacey firing an early effort over from 20 yards, James Justin's low effort smuggled away by Craig MacGillivray.

Despite the tricky surface, Luton played some magnificent stuff in the opening 20 minutes, always to feet and working the angles, just unable to create that clear-cut chance for their strikers.

Kazenga LuaLua took aim, MacGillivray blocking with his legs, while Luke Berry didn't missing the far post by much from distance.

Berry also went close with his head after Stacey skated round his marker and put in a cross that the midfielder glanced wide.

McCormack almost lit the touchpaper with an instinctive 30-yarder that only just bent away from goal with MacGillivray rooted to the spot.

For all Luton's excellent interplay, their best chance came via a long ball over the top which LuaLua raced on to, although bearing down on goal, he took a heavy touch and then a weak finish made it easy for the keeper.

However, Town were not to be denied, as on 40 minutes, McCormack won the ball back, fed Stacey, who set off and found LuaLua.

He spun away to play in Collins, Luton's top scorer not breaking stride, caressing an effort into the bottom corner for quite possibly the most deserved goal of the season.

Luton almost had a second on the stroke of half time, Collins charging down MacGillivray's clearance and LuaLua just about crowded out by the covering defence.

Visiting boss Kenny Jackett responded to his side's woeful first half display, bringing on new signing Omar Bogle and Dion Donohue, with the latter immediately testing Shea from the edge of the box.

Clearly having had a rocket from their manager, the visitors came out full of spirit and were level just five minutes in, Ronan Curtis finding the bottom corner.

Shea kept his side level moments later, showing superb reflexes to touch Bryn Morris' blast over the bar, also repelling Curtis's near post blast.

Luton recovered the composure, with Justin's dipping effort from 25 yards flipped over by the keeper.

The Hatters then looked odds on for victory with 13 minutes to go as LuaLua went over Jack Whatmough's challenge in the box, Collins blasting home the spotkick.

But, in very unlike Luton moment, they then conceded just seconds later, a really scrappy goal too, Bogle tapping home from two yards out.

Bogle almost had a second straight away, clean through, Shea crucially saving with his legs.

In a raucous finale Town then went up the other end and won it, Moncur winning a free kick which Justin stepped over, and the recent signing doing the rest, bringing the house down with a special, special first goal for the club.

Hatters: James Shea, Jack Stacey, James Justin, Matty Pearson, Sonny Bradley (C), Alan McCormack, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Andrew Shinnie (Alan Sheehan 87), Luke Berry (Dan Potts 72), James Collins, Kazenga LuaLua (George Moncur 80).

Subs not used: Harry Isted, Lloyd Jones, Arthur Read, Connor Tomlinson.

Pompey: Craig MacGillivray, Anton Walkes, Lee Brown, Matt Clarke, Tom Naylor, Brett Pitman (C, Omar Bogle 46), Jamal Lowe, Ronan Curtis, Jack Whatmough, Bryn Morris, Gareth Evans (Dion Donohue 46).

Subs not used: Christian Burgess, Louis Dennis, Adam May, Alex Bass, Brandon Haunstrup.

Booked: Donohue 68, Naylor 87.

Referee: Simon Hooper.

Attendance: 10,078 (1,033 Portsmouth).

Harford**: First half was the best I've seen in my career**

Luton interim boss Mick Harford hailed his side’s first half display during the 3-2 win over Portsmouth last night as the best performance he'd seen in League One during his whole career.

The Hatters were quite simply magnificent in extremely tricky conditions at Kenilworth Road, with snow falling throughout the 90 minutes, as they passed their opponents off the pitch at times.

Despite their dominance though, they could only manage one goal, James Collins’ 15th of the season, which led to a thrilling second half, Town pegged back to 2-2, eventually coming out on top thanks to George Moncur’s late free kick.

Harford said: “I’m very happy indeed, as you can see at the end with the celebrations we had with the players and the fans.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to the players, they’ve been absolutely brilliant since I took over the interim role and you saw in the first half, what a performance, a performance at that level which I’ve never seen in my entire career.

“They were absolutely superb in the first half and the game should have been out of sight in all fairness.

"But fair credit to Portsmouth, they hung in well, defended well, defended their box well, they got everything behind the ball and we couldn’t break them down for the second or the third goal.

"They’ve come out second half and given us a real good game, and for me it just really, really showed the character amongst the boys here.

"We know of the talent of the bunch, but the character absolutely shone out this evening.”

On a difficult playing surface, with the snow settling from before kick-off, Luton didn't let it affect them, completely dominating the opening period.

It was a different story for the second 45 with Pompey introducing recent signing Omar Bogle, the Cardiff loanee a real threat, as Dion Donohue restored parity just five minutes in.

Collins' second from the penalty spot looked to have given Town breathing space with 13 minutes to go, only for Bogle to then level moments later.

However Moncur won it with a wonderful set-piece, as Harford felt it was justified result.

He added: “On a tricky pitch, on a strange evening when it was snowing, it wasn’t easy to play that style of football, but they just got on with it.

“They adapted, found themselves spaces, got into great positions and it could have been any scoreline and the opposition wouldn’t have been against that in terms of how we played and what we did.

“But 1-0 at half time, we didn’t really start the second half very well, sat a bit deep, a few gaps and they exploited it, fair play to them.

“They got back in the game and I think Sheasy (James Shea) made a great save, at one each, unbelievable save and we went on.

"It was a pulsating second half in terms of they were on top early on in the half, then we got back into the game, we changed shape, went 4-3-3, and got Kaz (LuaLua) on to that side of the pitch and he got us a penalty.

"I’m absolutely thrilled for George, he’s come in and scored the winning goal, his first goal for Luton.

"Overall I think it was a fair result in terms of the way the game panned out.”