George Moncur scored his first goal of the season but Ajax loanee Carel Eiting hadn’t read the script which had seen Luton win 1-0 away in Yorkshire six times in their nine previous trips to the county, since returning to the Championship.
It was a classic game of two halves with the Hatters on top in the first half, taking the lead in the 21st minute, but they found little joy in the second period and had to defend.
Unfortunately, they didn’t do that well enough on the hour, when the Terriers doubled up on the excellent Matty Pearson to create an overlap for Harry Toffolo to pick out the unmarked Eiting. The Dutchman still had some work to do but he despatched an inch-perfect looping header that Simon Sluga had no chance with.
And despite the hosts gobbling up the 67 per cent of the possession, they could do little else with it to trouble Luton, who held a resolute defensive line. That was despite three of the back five picking up bookings from card happy referee Oliver Langford, who cautioned five Hatters in total.
But four points from two games this week in Yorkshire, going into the international break, is a decent return for a Hatters side that now sit very comfortably in tenth place, on 17 points.
And there was another positive, as right back James Bree returned for the first time in almost two months, with a strong 30-minute cameo off the bench, though boss Nathan Jones was left to rue his introduction, which came moments too late to prevent the equaliser.
“I’m kicking myself because I tried to get the sub done really early and it just took me a minute longer than I would’ve liked and they’ve scored through that, through exactly how we wanted to combat that,” the manager said, adding: “It’s one of those things. I’m kicking myself for not doing it earlier but it’s great to see Breesy back.”
Jones also praised goalscorer Moncur, who netted in only his second Championship start this term and sixth league appearance in total.
It was fantastic technique to fire in after Sonny Bradley had headed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s free-kick and Jones said: “He’s been really patient, the boy. He’s brilliant in training and we gave him his opportunity last week against Rotherham. He took it. He was excellent, apart from finishing, because he should’ve scored, and I just felt he was on the brink of scoring.
“I didn’t envisage him scoring like he did today, but I just felt he would. I’m delighted for him because he comes in every day, he’s exactly like Pelly-Ruddock, he lifts people. He’s been given his opportunity and I’m so happy for him.”
But Town couldnt repeat their promising first half display and Jones added: “In the second half we just ran out steam a little bit. We looked a little bit tired. But it’s four points on the road and that’s what we have to remember. It’s not just a point we had today, it’s four points on the road. I would’ve taken that at the start of the week, so I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the work-rate and the desire to get a result. Ideally, we would’ve loved three points, but we always do.”
PLAYER RATINGS:
SIMON SLUGA – 6.5
Could do nothing to stop to Carel Eiting’s looping header for the equaliser. Saved comfortably from Josh Koroma, which was Huddersfield’s best chance of the first half. He had little else to do.
MARTIN CRANIE – 6.5
Made two important blocks as the Terriers put the pressure on towards the end of the first half. He was one of the defenders nearest Carel Eiting for the equaliser, but not close enough. Booked in the 40th minute.
SONNY BRADLEY – 6.5
Provided the assist for George Moncur’s opener, but will be disappointed to have left Carel Eiting unmarked for the equaliser. Booked in the 12th minute.
GLEN REA – 6.5
He showed good positional sense to cut out crosses and attacks, particularly when Huddersfield broke in the 54th minute. He moved into midfield after the introduction of James Bree on 60 minutes. Booked in the 28th minute.
MATTY PEARSON – 7
Starting as a right back, he made a number of useful blocks and kept Josh Koroma quiet in the first half, only for the hosts to double up on him, with Harry Toffolo deliver the cross for the equaliser. He’s really stepped up since the Millwall game when he was withdrawn and many, including me, thought he’d lose his place to Tom Lockyer. But he’s been moved out to full back and it currently looks his best position.
PELLY-RUDDOCK MPANZU – 6.5
Effective in his defensive work and looked to burst out of midfield, he just lacked finesse in attack, but never endeavour.
KIERNAN DEWSBURY-HALL – 7.5 (star man)
With a good eye for a pass, he tried to open up the home defence and when one of those through-balls comes off, we’ll purr over his ability, which, when it comes to the basics, already shows he can compete at this level. Clever and strong in tight areas, his free-kick led to Luton’s opening goal via the head of Sonny Bradley.
LUKE BERRY – 7
As the most advance midfielder, he got on the ball in good areas in the first half, but was fouled frequently. Fortunately, one of those led to the free-kick for Moncur’s goal. He also made intelligent runs beyond Collins, but came off on 77 minutes after a clash of heads left claret all over his face.
GEORGE MONCUR – 7
Scored the opener in the 21st minute, his first goal in the Championship this term and saw another shot tipped over the bar by Ben Hamer. He gave the Hatters good balance in the midfield in the first half, but was replaced on the hour by James Bree.
HARRY CORNICK – 6
He saw an early shot saved by Ben Hamer when he probably should’ve pulled the trigger earlier. Plenty of running, and is still getting up to speed after a spell out with injury. Replaced by Kazenga LuaLua in the 73rd minute.
JAMES COLLINS – 6
Didn’t get much joy at the sharp end, with just two crosses to light up his eyes. But he did his defensive duties well, on one occasion chasing after a counter, which could’ve proved dangerous. Booked in the 84th minute for dissent.
SUBSTITUTES:
JAMES BREE – 6.5
It was good to see the right back return. Boss Nathan Jones was looking to get him on just as Huddersfield levelled, which was unfortunate, but he stemmed the tide of any further Huddersfield attacks and put in a fabulous cross in the 81st minute, which has been missed. Unfortunately, James Collins was well marshalled and could not get on the end of it.
KAZENGA LUALUA – 5
He got no change out of the Huddersfield defence on either flank. Booked in the 88th minute.
RYAN TUNNICLIFFE – 5.5
Nothing flashy, but he contributed to Huddersfield being less threatening after he entered the fray for a bloodied Luke Berry on 77 minutes, along with James Bree.
Unused subs: James Shea, Danny Hylton, Elliot Lee, Rhys Norrington-Davies
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I’d go along with Jim’s penultimate sentence. Obviously Hylton was out for a long period last season, but I don’t think a Collo/Hylton partnership has ever been given a sustained trialling. We’re where we are this season largely because of our defensive prowess. Re Collo, am I alone in wondering why on earth he didn’t get on the field for the Republic last night?
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This has been an important evolution this season. Defensively we are so much more dependable. Sluga, Pearson, Bradley and Cranie have to take the plaudits along with the coaches for being so much more consistent this season. Pearson has been a man possessed the past couple of weeks.
And well done Moncur. Our squad has a lot of similar centrally minded midfielders and he’s probably not been giving a fair chance since joining. But he is perhaps the most natural finisher of those midfielders. It’s been good to see him get a couple of starts.
But, we seem to lack a 90 minutes performance at the moment and the attacking threat isn’t the same as last year. This time it was the second half where we failed to try and play much.
I know the majority of fans seem to prefer Collo up front but for me he is a striker in a 4-4-2 formation. He needs close support and opportunities as close to goal as possible. You don’t get that so much as the lone central striker. His attacking running off the ball doesn’t seem to create enough space for himself or others this season either. Danny does that better. Neither are particularly natural goal scorers playing on their own at this level (Collo only has 2 goals in the league this season). But a striker in the current system isn’t just about scoring, it’s about creating space for others to have opportunities. And we don’t have the money to buy a ready made natural goal scorer, so no point thinking we can or should go and buy someone in January. I’d be interested to see if Collo and Hylton could play together without jeopardising our solidity defensively. But failing that Hylton maybe deserves a bit of a crack after the break.