Dismal defensive mistakes at the start of each half cost Luton Town, while Elijah Adebayo squandered golden chances as Town tripped up at Derby County in predictable fashion after an early Lee Gregory goal.
That’s because their only route to victory on their travels this term has been a tight 1-0 result – as it was at Preston before the international break – but any hope of that at Derby was ruined in the seventh minute.
Gregory was the beneficiary of Luton’s gift-wrapping service, where Matty Pearson got caught out of position and Martyn Waghorn got in behind for an assist, while Glen Rea seemed unaware of the goalscorer sniffing around on the goal-line.
The stand-in skipper would be the culprit again when he tripped Tom Lawrence soon after the restart to concede a penalty and his slack afternoon was cut short before the hour mark when hooked off for the ineffectual Tom Ince.
What has become glaring of late is that Rea is not suited to a defensive back three, yet that’s where he started and it was the wrong choice from the off, with boss Nathan Jones reshuffling his formation midway through the opening period, after the damage had been done.
The manager said afterwards: “We’re not a team that can chase a game to 2-0. The trouble is, we don’t usually have to do that. We started both halves really poorly, I felt. Credit to Derby, they started fast, but we allowed them to come on to us a little bit and we conceded.
“If we just saw that period out, then from the half and hour of the first half we were excellent. Really good and created enough chances to have got on the scoresheet.
“We wanted to start well, go after the first goal but it was the polar opposite. From absolutely nothing at our corner, they break, we had numbers back there, don’t defend it well enough and suddenly it’s 2-0 and pretty much game over.”
Town’s blushes might have been eased significantly before Graeme Shinnie stroked in that second goal from the spot, had Adebayo not fluffed his lines.
The striker and Jones both admitted as much. “He has to score the counter-attacking goal, in front of the keeper,” the manager told the BBC.
“You have to score that, but the others, he’s a real threat. He can attack the ball well and he gives us a different dimension, so we’re not going to berate him too much. It’s a massive learning curve and he should have more goals than he’s got already, but he’s started well.”
Adebayo tweeted afterwards: ‘Have to score today! No excuses, But We’ll pick ourselves up to things right. We go again Monday!’ [sic].
After he headed Jordan Clark’s cross harmlessly wide and then fired straight into the legs of the already committed keeper David Marshall, the contest was already starting to reek of ‘one of those days’. Unfortunately there have been far too many of them on their travels, as they’ve failed to score 11 times after conceding the first goal. And those seem to be the margins at the moment – score first and win, or concede first and lose.
It was just that, as soon as County doubled their lead it was a long and extremely barren 40 minutes for the Hatters to endure. And, against a Rams side without a win in seven games before today, you file this away under poor, considering they had the international break to recharge.
“We should’ve been fresh ourselves,” said Jones, adding: “We’ve both had two weeks’ rest. They brought in Waghorn and (Tom) Lawrence, who are real quality and I thought Lawrence was probably the difference today, with just a little bit of quality in the final third.
“If we’d have demonstrated that, we had more chances, more crosses, more possession and, being an away side, it shows we’re in a better place.
“It’s just really disappointing because, defensively, we normally do the basics well, and we have over long periods of time in games, but today we didn’t and that cost us.”
PLAYER RATINGS:
Simons Sluga – 3
The keeper saved low from Louie Sibley, but didn’t really commit himself for Graeme Shinnie’s penalty. He really had little to do, but still picked the ball out of his net twice.
Jordan Clark – 4
Made a great overlap and cross for Elijah Adebayo, which should have resulted in an equaliser and an assist, but such bursts were few and far between. He did well to keep out a Tom Lawrence cross.
Kal Naismith – 5
While others around him floundered, his was another reasonably solid defensively display.
Matty Pearson – 3
Given the slip far too easily by Martyn Waghorn who set up Lee Gregory for the early opener. He couldn’t direct a second half header on target, but made a good block to prevent a third for Derby, but was booked in the 81st minute.
Glen Rea – 2
Back as part of a defensive three for the first 20 minutes, the stand-in captain saw Lee Gregory nick in ahead of him to stab in the opener. His flicked header was palmed away by David Marshall, but was bamboozled by Tom Lawrence’s trickery, conceding a penalty early in the second period. When he’s good, he goes criminally under appreciated. This was not one of those occasions. Replaced in the 57th minute by Tom Ince.
James Bree – 3
Almost caught out for a Derby second as Tom Lawrence bullied him to get to a header but couldn’t direct on target. He offered very little in attack.
Ryan Tunnicliffe – 3
Got involved in some handbags with Colin Kazim-Richards after the final whistle, which offered more drama that the entire second half.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 4.5
He should’ve had an assist with a stunning through-ball to Elijah Adebayo, but the striker wasted the gift. he was booked in the 66th minute after Nathan Byrne virtually rugby tackled him off the ball and then held him on the ground as the Hatter tried to get away. Still probably lucky only to be shown a yellow card for his reaction. Replaced by Luke Berry in the 82nd minute.
Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu – 5
Looked to break up Derby’s possession and intercept passes in the first half where such an intervention started Town’s best move of the match. But he was far quieter in the second period, as was the entire team.
Harry Cornick – 3
Wasted a through-ball from Ryan Tunnicliffe which would’ve been difficult chance to convert but it deserved a shot rather than an ill-judged cutback that was cut out. Replaced by Sam Nombe in the 70th minute.
Elijah Adebayo – 4
Could’ve bagged a brace, maybe even a hat-trick in the first half, but he headed Jordan Clark’s cross disappointingly wide and then fired a huge chance into the legs of keeper David Marshall, before heading over when unmarked from a corner. It’s good that he’s getting in those positions, but he needs to hone his killer instinct. Replaced by James Collins in the 70th minute.
SUBSTITUTES:
Tom Ince – 3
Replacing the more defensively minded Glen Rea, he was required to give Town more attacking impetus against his old side. It didn’t work and he ended up limping off after the final whistle.
James Collins – 4
Town’s top scorer needs service, but there was none here, so his was a fruitless cameo.
Sam Nombe – 4
Busy performance, but it was asking a bit much for that to turn the tide.
Luke Berry – N/A
His first appearance for a month, so unlikely to change Town’s fortunes. Not on long enough for a rating.
UNUSED SUBS: James Shea, Martin Cranie, George Moncur, Kazenga LuaLua, Joe Morrell
