Rob Edwards hailed “loveable rogue” Alfie Doughty and match-winner Carlton Morris for their starring role in the only goal as Luton did the double over Swansea and claimed a first scalp against the Welsh side at Kenilworth Road for 22 years.
A 39th minute tap-in moved Town’s top scorer to 14 for the season, as he had the easy task of finishing off a move a cross from the Hatters’ flying left wing-back.
Doughty was dangerous for the hosts all afternoon and can claim the assist despite Swans stopper Andy Fisher failing to deal with his cross.
It was one of a host of opportunities that the former Stoke ace was involved in and boss Edwards said: “He’s continuing to shine for us and long may that continue.
“There is more to come from Alfie. I want to be a real positive and I want him, if he does listen to this, as well, (the manager then pointed and looked down the press room camera) there is more to come from you Alf, but in a real positive way.
“We really like him here. He’s a cheeky lad, but in a good way. He’s a lovable rogue and a really talented footballer.”
This time last week, there were fears as to whether frontman Morris would be out of action after a horror tackle at Birmingham forced him off with a damaged shoulder.
But the hitman was a surprise inclusion in the midweek draw against Millwall and then was in the right place at the right time to down Swansea.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the man,” said Edwards, adding: “He’s been brilliant. A number of men are fighting through pain. He’s gone out there again and scored the winner for us. He’s such an important member of the team and the group. He’s a real leader.”
Unlike that point in midweek, where an offside was not spotted for Millwall’s second goal, the linesman’s flag did go for Luton against Swansea.
It ruled out a Liam Cullen strike in the second half when the Swans were pressing for an equaliser.
Edwards said: “I asked them (players) in there (dressing room), ‘was it?’ They don’t know. It was obviously tight. It’s nice to have a decision go the right way for us, in terms of getting the three points. Yeah, we’ve come off the wrong end of a few.”
But Edwards’ assistant Richie Kyle still fell foul of the officials, seeing red, along with Swans boss Russell Martin, for a mass brawl on the bench right at the death.
And despite some supporters tussles and smoke bombs from the packed away end, Town navigated a way through the chaos to claim a first home victory against Swansea since 2001, when current Academy development coach Adrian Forbes scored.
Aside from righting that long-awaited piece of history, the three points also moved Town up to fifth in the Championship, with a three-point cushion over Millwall, who lost against Norwich.
Edwards said: “I know it was a really important three points, any three points at this stage of the season are really key.
“But after the week we’ve had, backing up the four points that we got from the Saturday and the Tuesday it felt today like, we put the pressure on the lads a little bit, that we’ve got to find a way to win this game and they did.
“Swansea pose you a lot of threats and they ask a lot of questions of you without the ball because they’re so good with it.
“They’re going to make us run and at the end of a really tough week, we’ve got to go and we need our energy, and we probably lacked a little bit today.
“Pelly (Ruddock Mpanzu) came off the other day just feeling his groin, but Al (Alan Campbell), we know what he’s going to give us, loads and loads of energy. I’ve got no problem him coming in we’re just as strong and he certainly gave us loads and loads of that today which he does, he’s great.
“But I felt like we probably lacked a little bit of that energy and that intensity in the first 20-25 minutes. I’m trying to roar on from the sidelines, but it’s difficult to have an influence.
“I just felt when we played with a little bit more intensity and played forward and ran forward, got some action going, then we probably lifted the crowd a bit and then we did start getting some chances towards the end of that first half.
“I thought we deserved the goal, a bit disappointed we couldn’t go on and get that second, they made one or two tweaks and began to get a little bit more control.
“We retained a threat on the counter-attacks as the game wore on, but we weren’t able to press with the same intensity as we’ve been able to do in recent weeks.
“(It was a) similar sort of game to Burnley if you think how Burnley play and think how we did that night for 96, 97 minutes. Today, it was a bit of a different way but that’s fine, you’ve got to solve problems and we got over the line.”
