Rochdale vs Luton Town FC (3rd Nov 2018)

MATCH REPORT & GALLERY | ROCHDALE 0-0 LUTON TOWN

Luton rode their luck, survived relentless Rochdale pressure and a 75th minute red card for striker Danny Hylton to somehow leave the Crown Oil Arena with a very hard-earned point.

The Hatters were second best for much of the contest and only a series of stunning saves from James Shea kept the score goalless at half time.

Town tightened up in the second half and boss Nathan Jones made some positive substitutions before the hour, bringing on Harrry Cornick and Kazenga LuaLua for Elliot Lee and Andrew Shinnie.

But any hopes of nicking something evaporated when Hylton was dismissed for a fourth time in Town colours, after a challenge on Ian Henderson, deemed dangerous by referee Ollie Yates.

Luton, however, maintained their stubborn resistance even if that did need a little help from the crossbar when substitute Zach Clough clattered it late on.

Jones named an unchanged side from the 2-0 win at AFC Wimbledon last week and his men started quickly with an early Jack Stacey burst down the right. The right back's cross was poked wide by Hylton and, for a period, it was an open, box-to-box battle.

But quite what Dale are doing in the bottom half of the table is anyone's guess as they asserted their dominance once former Hatters Henderson got through on goal only for Shea to make his first telling contribution, standing tall to block.

He was again called into action with an instinctive outstretched leg that kept out Bradden Inman after Rochdale cut Town open with speed and purpose on the counter. Jordan Williams headed the rebound harmlessly wide.

With the Hatters fully under the cosh by the 23rd minute, there was a desperate scramble after Shea had twice saved superbly, again with his feet, to keep out close range efforts.

The stopper almost undid his outstanding efforts, overdoing the footwork, letting the ball run away from him and having to make a last-ditch tackle to stop Inman.

And then, to finish his none-shall-pass performance, Shea saw his side into the half time break by palming away Inman's straight drive, while Sonny Bradley blocked the follow up.

Dale carried on regardless from the restart with the centre back required to block Henderson after he'd nipped past three Hatters, while Stephen Dooley blasted over and Matthew Done hit the side-netting.

Substitute LuaLua saw shot from distance easily dealt with by Brendan Moore, while James Collins - who had to feed off scraps and was later withdrawn after a touchline tussle with Henderson - blasted wide from 20 yards. It was Town's last sight of goal.

Before that, Henderson shot through Luton legs but Shea was well-placed, while another former Hatter, Calvin Andrew, shanked well wide after coming off the bench.

Things got worse for Town when Hylton saw red for a foul on Henderson, leaving them 15 minutes to hang on.

They did, but only by virtue of the woodwork, ensuring a third clean sheet in four games and seventh of the season in all competitions.

Rochdale: Moore, Rafferty, Delaney, McGahey, Dooley, Camps, Williams (Andrew, 59), Done, Inman (Clough, 70), Hart, Henderson Subs not users: Lillie, Williams, Perkins, Adshead, Yonsian

Luton: Shea, Justin, Bradley, Pearson, Stacey, Hylton, Lee (LuaLua, 55), Shinnie (Cornick, 55), Rea, Mpanzu, Collins (Sheehan, 78) Subs not used: McCormack, Jarvis, Jones, Isted

Referee: Olllie Yates

Attendance: 3,689 (858)

NATHAN JONES ON THE 0-0 DRAW WITH ROCHDALE

Town boss Nathan Jones conceded his side were lucky to take a point in their 0-0 draw at Rochdale this afternoon in Sky Bet League One.

James Shea frustrated the hosts as he made save-after-save in a fantastic performance from the stopper, as he kept his second consecutive clean sheet.

Jones said: "Probably for the first time for a long, long, long, long time, we've got something we probably didn't really deserve if I'm honest. But we stuck at it, we had to change shape, we showed great resilience, a clean sheet away from home and we had to ride our luck a little bit.

"If you get what you deserve in football then we'd have beaten Blackpool and we'd have beaten Doncaster and we'd have five more points, and then I'd have accepted defeat here quite comfortably.

"So we got what we didn't deserve to be honest with you, but that's a good point as these are a good football side. They cause you problems, if you allow them to do it and we allowed them to do it today and that's the biggest thing for me.

"We allowed Rochdale too much respect and that was the sad thing, but we got a point and these points are important as they keep you in fifth place, so it's a decent point all-in-all. We've had a few good chances and if it was a tight game, on another day we'd have been saying we could have nicked it, but they've had better chances than us today.

"They were a little bit braver, especially first 30 minutes until we changed it, then the game seemed to settle down and late on they've just bombarded the box, but we can deal with that all day long, so it wasn't really a problem."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V05tn2c2bW8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E9xXrHWeLw

Shea stars as Hatters escape from Dale with a point

League One: Rochdale 0 Luton Town 0

Luton escaped from Spotland with a valuable point to their name after just about holding Rochdale to a goalless draw this afternoon.

That they finished with a clean sheet was largely due to a superb first half display from keeper James Shea, who made a string of fine saves to keep the honours even.

After the break, Hatters definitely rode their luck at times, with home substitute Zach Clough denied by the crossbar, the visitors also playing the final 16 minutes with 10 men, Danny Hylton shown a straight red.

Town boss Nathan Jones named an unchanged side for the League One clash as the visitors looked to have made an excellent start, Jack Stacey breaking into the area, his low cross stabbed wide by Hylton.

An open game saw Andrew Shinnie booked for a challenge by the corner flag, the free kick wasted by Dale, Callum Camps teed up on the edge of the area to drag wide, with Matthew Done also off target after Luton were undone on their right.

The hosts had another good chance on 13 minutes when top scorer Ian Henderson was played through, but Shea formed a human barrier at his near post to prevent the striker scoring.

The keeper then made an excellent stop on 18 minutes when Town were sliced open after a corner of their own, Bradden Inman finding himself one-on-one, but Shea used his legs to repel the effort away, Jordan Williams' follow up header off target.

Luton were then indebted to their stopper for an absolutely stunning double save on 23 minutes as he not once, but twice, displayed tremendous reactions to keep the hosts out when an opener appeared a nailed on certainty.

Shea almost then gifted the hosts an opener as a dicey one-two with Bradley saw the keeper take a heavy touch, haring off his line to make a last-ditch sliding challenge on Inman.

Luton weren't without their opportunities though, Lee escaping on the left in the 35th minute, his low ball in diverted wide by Hylton, with Bradley then off target from a deep corner.

Just before half time, Shea was there once more, diving to his left to parry Inman's drive, Done's rebound blocked by the covering Bradley.

After the break, Bradley had to clear Henderson's mazy run behind, while Stephen Dooley's effort from range didn't come down in time.

Town threatened briefly, Glen Rea's shot charged down and Lee's effort not curling back into the far post.

With just 10 minutes gone, Jones responded to Dale's continued dominance by making a double change, Kazenga LuaLua and Harry Cornick on for the ineffective Lee and Shinnie.

LuaLua quickly demonstrated his intent, scudding in a low effort from 25 yards that was easy for Moore.

Dale brought on ex-Hatter Calvin Andrew who immediately began throwing his weight around upfront, but displayed just why his goalscoring record is so sparse, missing a great chance when left unmarked.

As the game became even more open, Town had a brilliant opportunity after Mpanzu looked up and fed Collins, who from 20 yards went for the bottom corner, not missing by much.

Town were down then reduced to 10 men, Hylton sliding in with a studs high challenge on Henderson, referee Ollie Yates immediately reaching for his top pocket.

That led to some angry scenes among the Hatters followers and also Collins, who took umbrage to being flattened by Henderson, getting involved in a heated exchange with the striker and was swiftly replaced by Alan Sheehan.

The hosts were centimetres away from breaking the deadlock on 84 minutes as sub Zach Clough arrowed an effort towards the top corner from 20 yards, the underside of the crossbar coming to Luton's rescue.

Late on, the hosts grew even more desperate, Andrew causing a real nuisance of himself to the home defence, Bradley doing superbly to prevent him getting a clean connection, while his header in the final minute of stoppage time was grabbed by Shea.

Dale: Brendan Moore, Joe Rafferty, Ryan Delaney, Harrison McGahey, Stephen Dooley, Callum Camps, Jordan Williams (Calvin Andrew 59), Matty Done, Bradden Inman (Zac Clough 69), Sam Hart, Ian Henderson.

Subs not used: Josh Lillis, MJ Williams, David Perkins, Daniel Adshead, Florian Yonsian.

Hatters: James Shea, Jack Stacey, James Justin, Matty Pearson, Sonny Bradley, Glen Rea (C), Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Andrew Shinnie (Kazenga LuaLua 55), Elliot Lee (Harry Cornick 55), James Collins (Alan Sheehan 77), Danny Hylton.

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

Booked: Shinnie 8. Sent off: Hylton 74.

Referee: Ollie Yates. Attendance: 3,689 (858 Luton).

Jones admits Luton got lucky at Rochdale

Luton boss Nathan Jones admitted his side got lucky for the first time this season as they held Rochdale to a goalless draw at Spotland this afternoon.

Town were under the cosh for long periods, thankful to a brilliant display from goalkeeper James Shea in the first half as they kept out their opponents, who also struck the bar late on through Zach Clough.

Speaking afterwards, Jones, who saw Danny Hylton dismissed with 16 minutes to go, said: "Probably for the first time for long, long, long, long time, we’ve got something we probably didn’t really deserve if I’m honest.

"But we stuck at it, we had to change shape, we showed great resilience, a clean sheet away from home and we had to ride our luck a little bit.

“If you get what you deserve in football then we’d have beaten Blackpool and we’d have beaten Doncaster and we’d have five more points, and then I’d have accepted defeat here quite comfortable.

"So we got what we didn’t deserve to be honest with you, but that’s a good point as these are a good football side.

"They cause you problems, if you allow them to do it and we allowed them to do it today and that’s the biggest thing for me.

"We allowed Rochdale too much respect and that was the sad, thing but we got a point and these points are important as they keep you in fifth place, so it’s a decent point all in all.

“We've had a few good chances and if it was a tight game, on another day we’d have been saying we could have nicked it, but they’ve had better chances than us today.

"They were a little bit braver, especially first 30 minutes, until we changed it, then the game seem to settle down and late on they’ve just bombarded the box, but we can deal with that all day long, so it wasn’t really a problem.

"Sheasy’s had a good game, the first time for a long time our goalkeeper's kept us in it, so we'll accept the point today and put that one to bed and think we’ve got to be better, but we're reasonably happy with a point.

“Their fans said to me, 'you were lucky today.' I know and we’ll accept it, but trust me, we've gone to grounds all over the place and annihilated teams and ripped sides apart and not got what we deserved.

"So if we have had a stroke of luck today then I'll praise the lord and I thank him we had it."