Luton beat Derby County 1-0 on Saturday to push their way into the play-off places and maintain their stunning form since the turn of the year. Here are our talking points from the game.
- Hylton dishes out the humble pie
It can’t be ignored we that there were Hatters fans that had written off Danny Hylton. Probably not now, and there will be a fair few people full up on humble pie.
After turning 33 on Friday, he’s obviously not going to be Luton’s future, but he has been a huge part in Hatters history and, right now, he’s one of the reasons the club sit in the play-off places.
“Everyone at this football club should be really proud of Danny Hylton because he’s had a tough time. He was the catalyst for us being this wonderful club we are,” manager said Nathan Jones.
“He was a real catalyst for how we play, the goals we score and I don’t forget that. There was times when he was a Championship player playing in League Two.”
There are many reasons for Luton’s current situation, but as a nice, neat narrative point, the striker’s cool finish to see off Derby makes him the man of the moment which, come the end of the season, could be seen as one of the catalysts for the club’s next great adventure.
But, for now, Hylton’s first Championship goal on home soil should re-cement him as a Luton legend and that’s exactly what he deserves.
2. You had one job
This was not a game blessed with big chances. The stats show Derby managed one shot on target and just five in total, compared to Town’s four on target and eight overall.
The game’s first shot on target came three minutes into the second half when Henri Lansbury rolled the ball straight at Ryan Allsop.
That one on-target effort for the visitors came a few minutes later and saw Jed Steer pull off a flying save to tip onto the bar from Max Bird. It was an important stop, because the Aston Villa loan stopper barely had anything else to do.
Jones said: “You really do need your keeper at times because every team has someone or something that they can pull out the bag. Everyone has a bit of quality and it’s a wonderful strike, so we needed him.”
In a game where the first goal looked like it would settle things, Steer’s concentration and agility earned him his third clean sheet in all competitions and Town’s 14th in the league, which set up the platform for Hylton to hit the winner, even if Derby boss Wayne Rooney seemed to be watching another game.
He said: “We gave Luton the respect they deserved, they’re not a team blessed with great individuals, but they’re a good, honest, hard-working team. If we take one of our chances I think we win the game in a comfortable way, but we’ve lost it on a sloppy goal.”
3. Happy anniversary
The victory over the Rams came on the ninth anniversary of former boss John Still taking over and leading Luton out of their five-year non-league exile.
On that day, Still sat in the stands to see Luton lose 2-0 to Braintree in a Conference season that Town lost to the likes of Hyde, Telford and Dartford.
It’s been some ride since and this term Luton have beaten Reading, West Brom, Swansea and Stoke, all of whom were in the Premier League when Still took over.
It’s important to remember where Town have come from because, right now, where they’re going is a concept that the club could only have dreamed of nine years ago.
4. Rolls Reece defender….or is he a winger?
Danny Hylton scored the goal to get Luton into the top six, so he is the man of the moment, but when it comes to the man of the match there was only one candidate – Reece Burke.
Like so many of Nathan Jones’ signings, the defender is proving an astute acquisition. And playing on the right side of a centre back three plays into his talents for pushing forwards.
With Tom Lockyer – a top drawer out and out defender – in the middle, Burke was afforded more licence to burst out from the back and he didn’t need asking twice.
The former West Ham Academy ace was getting to the byline, beating players and looking more like a winger at times, with one dangerous, deep cross requiring Allsop to tip over the bar.
Burke’s been doing it for some time now and, considering he had to bide his time to break into the starting line-up, he’s grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
5. The “big barrier” overcome of three on the spin
Luton’s points haul since the turn of the year has been phenomenal. Their 25 is the best return of any team in the Championship in 2022, which is some feat considering Fulham’s season and Aleksander Mitrovic’s already record-breaking goalscoring return.
But amongst Luton’s fantastic run they still hadn’t put together three league wins on the spin. They have now.
Jones said “It’s massive. It shows that we’ve come a long way.
“Midweek was a big win (at Stoke), away at the stadium dn against m old club and they shows that they wanted to play for me, not just the club, but really get a result for me as they excellent in the second half.
“And then to back that up, that was the final slide on my video today. All I said was, ‘three on the bounce’.
“I don’t care how we got it, and I literally didn’t care how we got it. Yes, I want us to play better, but it’s all about the result.
“There were tough games today, a lot of people playing each other, so I was reasonably confident that if we got the three points that we would at least jump a place, so we did that, and fantastic, but it is a big barrier to get over.”
Not only was it an important hurdle for this season, it was the first time Town have managed it in the second tier since the 1995-96 campaign. Back then, Jones was player and he’d just left Luton and was plying his trade at Spanish Segunda División club Badajoz.
He and the club are now back where they belong and who knows where things go next, but it is nothing short of remarkable, and a moment to savour.
Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Thank you, However I am going through troubles with your RSS.
I don’t know the reason why I cannot subscribe to it. Is there anybody
else having identical RSS problems? Anyone who knows the solution can you
kindly respond? Thanx!!
Asking questions are really nice thing if you are not understanding anything completely,
however this piece of writing presents good understanding yet.
Spot-on JC. Great piece