Watford vs Luton Town FC (23rd Feb 2025)

23/02/2025 WATFORD 2-0 LUTON TOWN

Town defeated in the derby

Hatters defeated at Vicarage Road

The Town could not rise to the occasion in the derby as two first-half goals earned Watford victory at Vicarage Road.

Going into the game knowing three points would lift them off the bottom of the table – and complete a first league double over the Hornets in 37 years – Matt Bloomfield was forced into two changes as Reuell Walters and Mads Andersen start in defence as injuries robbed the Hatters of Mark McGuinness and Kal Naismith.

Despite a brief bright start, the Town fell behind in the 11th minute from the penalty spot. Thomas Kaminski and Mads Andersen failed to deal with a long ball allowing Mamadou Doumbia to sneak between them. The Watford man went to ground and referee Andrew Kitchen pointed to the spot. It seemed a soft one but, despite Kaminski guessing the right way, Tom Dele-Bashiru’s effort found the target.

Behind, the Hatters were finding it hard to create chances and, as Watford pressed for a second, they found one on 23 minutes. Giorgi Chakvetadze was allowed to run forward and cross from the left for Edo Kayembe to tap home from a yard out.

As half-time approached the Town forced some half-chances. Isaiah Jones – one of the Hatters’ bright sparks all game – went to ground in the box after wriggling down the right before Andersen headed over an Alfie Doughty cross on 40 minutes.

Doughty’s cross-shot forced home stopper Egil Selvik into evasive action just before the break but the home side held out for a 2-0 lead at the interval.

Bloomfield made three changes at half-time with Chris Makosso – on for his debut – Shandon Baptiste and Jacob Brown introduced.

Their arrivals tightened things up as the Town pushed for a way back into the game. Brown poked a goalwards on 47 minutes with a shot turned away by Selvik before Jones volleyed an effort on the run moments later.

Half-chances continued to fall the Hatters’ way as they looked for one back but time was against them.

The Town had restricted the hosts to next to nothing in the second period and it wasn’t until three minutes from time that Kaminski was called into action again, saving Chakvetadze’s shot after a mazy run.

Six added minutes were added by the officials, and four minutes into those Jones tested Selvik with a close range effort after being found by a fine pass from Liam Walsh.

It would prove to be the final chance and the Town were left to reflect on a third straight league defeat at Vicarage Road.

Town: Kaminski, Walters, Doughty, Bell, Andersen (sub Makosso 46), Jones, Nakamba (sub Baptiste 46 (sub Bowler 70)), Walsh, Aasgaard, Morris (sub Adebayo 84), Nordås (sub Brown 46).

Subs not used : Krul, Clark, Alli, Johnson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1HhzXNoXyA – Matt Bloomfield interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgky2Sz_nw - Match highlights

Hatters slide closer to League One after suffering yet another derby defeat

Championship: Watford 2 Luton Town 0

Luton's seemingly inevitable slide towards League One continued with yet another tame defeat this afternoon, as their woeful record at Vicarage Road continued, defeated 2-0 by local rivals Watford.

The Hatters' afternoon started badly with the news that influential defensive duo Kal Naismith and Mark McGuinness had both been ruled out with hamstring and ankle injuries, getting progressively worse from there. Mads Andersen and Reuell Walters got the nod in what was a makeshift back three, while the fully recovered Carlton Morris replaced Elijah Adebayo upfront, Jordan Clark named on the bench along with for the first time, January signing Christ Makosso.

Having looked like they were building themselves into the game in the opening stages, as has happened on so many occasions this term, Luton then found themselves behind to a defensive mix-up on 11 minutes as Andersen tried to shepherd the ball back to Kaminski. Mamadou Doumbia got there first though as he went over the body of the sliding Kaminski, referee Andrew Kitchen instantly whistling for a penalty that looked on the dubious side, Tom Dele-Bashiru not worrying a jot about the decision, sidefooting clinically into the bottom corner.

The Belgian international did come off his line well moments later to prevent a low cross being turned in by the completely unmarked Tom Ince, but with Town having to chase a game again, they were thankful to a well-timed tackle by Amari'i Bell inside the area on 20 minutes, with Imran Louza's curler too close to Kaminski.

However, Town were picking the ball out of the net again on 24 minutes with a goal that was yet again down to dreadful defending, Giorgi Chakvetadze bursting away from Andersen to face an isolated Bell. The Jamaican international tried to hold up the attacker, but instead only let him get into the perfect crossing position so when missed his tackle, it meant he could pick out Edo Kaymebe to tap home from a couple of yards out.

Town were struggling to deal with Georgian winger, always looking vulnerable when he got on the ball, which was often. He forced another corner which then led to Luton's best attacking opportunity for a while on the half hour, Izzy Jones breaking away at pace. Having rounded a number of Hornets defenders and making his way into the area, the January addition then threw himself to the floor rather than try to pick out a cross as referee Kitchen unsurprisingly waved his appeals away.

The official did give Bloomfield's men a free kick on 39 minutes when Lasse Nordas went over, but despite the Hornets trying to gift the visitors a way back into it with some comical defending, Town were unable to take advantage, Alfie Doughty's dinked cross headed over at the back post by Andersen. Chakvetadze continued to run the show as he looked for a third before half time, breaking away from a challenge, his shot deflecting into the gloves of Kaminski.

Luton tried to pull one back just before the break, Liam Walsh’s free kick hammering into a home defender as a corner didn't lead to a goal either. Eager to try and alter proceedings, boss Matt Bloomfield made a triple substitution for the second half, Makosso on for his Luton debut and first taste of English football in place of Andersen, with Shandon Baptiste and Jacob Brown replacing Marvelous Nakamba and Nordas.

Brown showed his intent early by winning a corner for the visitors, who then created their best chance of the game five minutes in, Morris doing excellently to get round the back and send over a cross that saw Jones, who had time to bring it down, opt for the volley, as he disappointingly sent it wide. The Hornets looked to add to their lead, passing their way into the Town area as Louza eventually had a pop, Kaminski able to watch it rise over the bar.

With Watford doing their best to give Luton a helping hand back into proceedings as their intensity noticeably dropped, Town still weren't able to turn their territory and possession into goals, as frustratingly their passes were usually over-hit for a goal kick, while whey they got into a cross position, either put to much on them, or located the gloves of Egil Selvic, with the lack of threat, that has been one of the Hatters’ many, many issues this term glaringly obvious yet again.

Baptiste's injury-hit stint continued as he went down for treatment with no-one around and was replaced with 20 to go by Jacob Bowler. Jones continued to be Luton's main hope on the right hand side, with a number of mazy forays and sprints, but even he couldn’t fashion a way back in the contest, his final ball letting him down.

Kaminski prevented Chakvetadze from adding a third in the closing stages, as he palmed away his fierce 20-yarder, ex-Luton loanee Tom Ince dragging off target too. Luton were given six minutes of stoppage time to try and find a consolation, but considering they had hadn't looked like scoring in the 90 beforehand, there wasn't much hope it would lead to anything.

They did almost pull one back midway through, Selvik losing the flight of Walsh's deep cross but was still able to throw himself in front of Jones' volley and prevent the Town fans having one moment to cheer, as it now looks highly unlikely there will be the opportunity to witness their first league win in Hertfordshire since 1994 next season.

Hornets: Egil Selvik, Jeremy Ngakia, Kevin Keben (Mattie Pollock 53), Tom Ince, Giorgi Chakvetadze (James Morris 90), Imran Louza (C), Mamadou Doumbia (Vakoun Bayo 77), Tom Dele-Bashiru, James Abankwah (Franciso Sierralta 78), Yasser Larocci (Ryan Andrews 46), Edo Kayembe.

Subs not used: Jonathan Bond, Rocco Vata, Leo Ramirez-Espain, Amin Nabizada.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Reuell Walters, Mads Andersen (Christ Makosso 46), Amari'i Bell, Izzy Jones, Marvelous Nakamba (Shandon Baptiste 46, Josh Bowler 70), Liam Walsh, Alfie Doughty, Thelo Aasgaard, Carlton Morris (Elijah Adebayo 83), Lasse Nordas (Jacob Brown 46).

Subs not used: Tim Krul, Joe Johnson, Jordan Clark, Millenic Alli.

Referee: Andrew Kitchen.

Booked: Ngakia 6, Bloomfield 42, Pollock 58, Morris 72.

Attendance: 20,252.

Bloomfield critical of Luton's defending ahead of Watford penalty he didn't think would be given

Andersen and Kaminski fail to deal with the situation ahead of Hornet’s opener

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield wasn’t convinced that Watford should have been awarded an early penalty during their 2-0 derby defeat at Vicarage Road yesterday, although criticised his side’s defending in the build-up to the spot-kick.

The Hatters had made a decent enough start to the contest in Hertfordshire, as they looked to heap more misery on their opponents’ poor home form, the Hornets losing five in a row and not enjoying a victory in front of their own fans since Boxing Day, but as has been the case for the majority of the season, Town were behind to one of the home side’s first real attacks.

It should never have got as far as it did though, Yasser Larouci’s seemingly harmless ball forward seeing Mads Andersen well positioned in front of Mamadou Doumbia, trying to let the ball run through to Thomas Kaminski. However, with the Belgian international slow in coming off his line, coupled with Andersen’s inability to keep his body in front of the Hornets attacker, it led to a clumsy intervention from Luton’s keeper in the box that saw the Malian touch the ball first before going over the Town stopper’s body as he slid out to claim possession.

Referee Andre Kitchen was left in no doubt it was a foul, whistling immediately for a penalty that Tom Dele-Bashiru confidently tucked away into the bottom corner to break the deadlock. Asked for this thoughts on the decision, Bloomfield said: “At the time my view wasn’t of panic, I didn’t think it was a stonewaller. When you’re stood on the sidelines, you usually have a gut feeling, I didn’t think that it was going to be given if I’m honest.

"I’ve seen it a couple of times back and the question I was asked was there was probably an argument for it either way and after seeing it back, there probably is an argument for it either way, but it shouldn’t have got to that situation. It was a situation I felt we had under control. We had Mads between the player and the ball, Thomas coming out to collect the ball, so either the ball needs to be cleared, or the player needs to be guided away from the situation so the goalkeeper can come out and take it.

"Unfortunately for us, neither really happened and as soon as you do that, you leave it to the referee’s decision and of course, it can go either way. You’ve seen them given, you've seen them not given. I have my argument for it not to be given, but also at the same time its been given, so it’s too late now."

Bloomfield was also hugely frustrated by the ease in which the Hornets were able to double their advantage, Giorgi Chakvetadze racing away from Andersen again on the left and with only Amari’i Bell back defending the area, was able to commit the Jamaican international, who missed his challenge, picking out Edo Kayembe to tap home from virtually on the line.

The boss continued: “It was our goal kick, it shouldn’t result in an opposition’s goal so we’re disappointed, bitterly disappointed. A little bit of quality that they possess in the attacking areas, if you give them the opportunity they’re going to hurt you. Unfortunately we gave them two opportunities to hurt us, we should have sorted both situations and then we gave ourselves a mountain to climb in the second half.”

Watford boss Tom Cleverley didn’t think the earlier penalty call had any influence on the overall result though, as he added: “I've not seen it back, it looked like the goalkeeper got there late and brought him down but I don't think the decision for the penalty would have had an impact on the result today. I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did to be honest.

“I thought it would be a bit more nervy. But when I saw the players after 10 minutes, I knew they were on it today. They had the fire in their eyes and the personality to play. It’s my first victory as the coach in the derby. It’s very sweet. I want the players to enjoy these moments and work hard so we have a lot more of them.”

Hatters boss explains why he made a triple substitution at half-time during timid Watford loss

Town manager opted for three changes during the break at Vicarage Road

Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield has explained just why he made a triple substitution during Sunday afternoon’s derby day defeat at Watford.

With Luton trailing 2-0 at the break courtesy of a Tom Dele-Bashiru penalty that came after a defensive mix-up between Mads Andersen and Thomas Kaminski, plus Edo Kayembe’s close range finish, Bloomfield opted for major surgery on his starting XI ahead of the restart. Off came Andersen, who had also been cautioned for body-checking Tom Ince as well, with Marvelous Nakamba and new signing Lasse Nordas both making way too, Christ Makosso on for his first taste of English football, alongside Shandon Baptiste and Jacob Brown.

The trio helped Town enjoy a better start to the second period, going close through Izzy Jones’ volley that flew wide before Baptiste was forced to go off with yet another injury after 20 minutes, on-loan Nottingham Forest winger Josh Bowler introduced. Although the move ultimately couldn’t lead to a comeback in what was a goalless second period, asked on his reasons for making such a call, Bloomfield said: “It felt like we needed to get to half time to make changes.

"It probably wasn't the right thing to make so many changes in the first half. We wanted to get through to half time and then make the changes to come out with a little bit of impetus second half, try to get that first goal that gets you back in the game. That felt like the gameplan at the point. There’s nothing to coach once you’re 2-0 down and things look slightly fragile. It’s tough, the crowd are up, you can't get on there and coach. It’s all about the resilience to get through and give yourself an opportunity to go again.

“We made changes to give ourselves a foothold in the game. Marv’s got a bit of a tight calf so we’ll see how he is with regards to next weekend, but I felt like we needed to take action. Mads was on a booking, so he needed to come off and Lasse did really well on Wednesday evening but it wasn’t quite his day today. It felt like we needed Browny’s pace in behind, as he’s flying at the moment. He gave us an outlet at the top of the pitch in the second half, I thought he did very well Browny. We were disappointed to lose Shandon to injury, we put on another attacker in Josh Bowler to try and get that creativity again, but ultimately it wasn’t our day

"To a degree I felt like the boys who came on had an impact. Young Christ did ever so well, a tough situation from him to come on, but I thought we needed to change the momentum of the game, the flow of the game and the three substitutions did that. I felt like we started the second half quite well, had possession, had some territory. We passed the ball well, created chances in the final third, but didn’t have that final touch. I think you saw today what has been hurting us recently is both boxes of the pitch. We didn't quite have that final touch at one end and we’ve given away too many soft goals.”

Bloomfield apologises to Hatters fans following Vicarage Road loss

Luton slump to yet another away reverse

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield apologised to the Hatters fans who witnessed yet another defeat on the road as they went down to a timid 2-0 loss at sworn enemies Watford this afternoon.

The Town supporters had made the short trip to Vicarage Road more in hope than expectation after an away run that had seen them lose 13 out of their previous 14 second tier matches, also not enjoying a league success at their biggest rivals since 1994, some 30 years ago. It soon became apparent that a 14th from 15 was on its way, the visitors trailing 2-0 inside the opening 25 minutes, Tom Dele-Bashiru converting an 11th minute penalty after Mads Andersen and Thomas Kaminski failed to deal with a ball forward, Mamadou Doumbia nipping in to go over the body of the sliding Belgian international and win a cheap spot-kick.

Watford then added a second on 23 minutes when Giorgi Chakvetadze beat Amari’i Bell and picked out Edo Kayembe to tap home from a few yards out, right in front of the Town faithful. Although Luton improved in the second period, they still only tested home keeper Egil Selvik once though Izzy Jones’ volley in stoppage time as with the Hatters’ position in the table now looking increasingly bleak, five points from safety with 12 game to go, and having not won for their last dozen matches, then a drop to League One appears imminent.

Asked for his response to those who made the journey, Bloomfield said: “Thankyou for your support, sorry we didn't give you something to cheer and to go home with. I really wanted to come here and start and unsettle and impose ourselves on the game. The first little period of the game I felt like there was nothing much going on, we settled the crowd a little bit and Watford, but as soon as we give them a goal like that it’s going to be tough for us.

"I’m sorry we didn’t give them something to cheer about as they're following us in their numbers and the away record this season hasn't been good enough considering the amount of time, effort, energy and money they support their team with. We’ll keep fighting and we want to give them better days to come. It is (an uphill battle to stay up), but it’s one we believe we can achieve. We understand the situation, I’ve said it a number of times now. It’s not where we want to be, but the only way to get out of it is to stick together and keep fighting.”