Tahith Chong rescued a point for Luton against draw specialists West Bromwich Albion to lift Town out of the Championship’s bottom three for at least the night, leaving boss Rob Edwards pleased but frustrated that his side couldn’t find a winner.
His strike on the hour settled Kenilworth Road nerves and cancelled out Josh Maja’s backheeled opener, their only effort on target in the first period, which came frustratingly against the run of play on the stroke of half time, not that there had been much quality on show.
With the ball at their feet, both sides misplaced passes galore and that was Towns route back into the contest. Chong capitalised on a loose pass from Alex Mowatt, drove into the penalty area and smashed beyond the dive of Alex Palmer.
“Overall, to go behind just before half time, to come back and keep that performance going, yeah, I was pleased,” said Hatters boss Rob Edwards.
“I would like the territory in the possession and then the sort of momentum that we had in the game to turn that into more quality openings and opportunities and shots
“You could see that there’s maybe a little bit of a hesitancy at times in front of goal, too many touches or snatching at things. And I think that’s understandable.”
Maja’s cheeky strike left Luton with a task to break down an Albion side had kept two clean sheets on the spin before their trip to Kenilworth Road, amid on fairly miserly but draw-laden month.
It forced Edwards into a half time change, with Shandon Baptiste making only his second appearance in two months. The midfielder helped the Hatters continue playing largely in the Baggies half, while Liam Walsh and Jacob Brown were introduced just before the hour mark, making equally positive impacts.
“I thought we were much better in the first half, just because we were 1-0 down, I don’t think we deserved to be,” said Edwards.
“The whole game was really in a half and they scored with almost the first time they were in our box. I want to try and get that bit right as well.
“But in the second half we were we were good. Showed a lot of intent. I was really pleased because to concede when we did, you know, could have really flattened the lads, could have flattened the stadium.
“It made me go a little bit earlier with the (Baptiste) change. I felt that because our pressing was so good and Vic (Moses) was obviously pressing high up, it suited Chongy to do that as well.”
He added: “(We) then went early with a couple of other subs as well. So I’m pleased with the impact they had and the whole performance, I thought momentum was pretty much with us the whole game.”
Also in the positives column were Teden Mengi and Amari’i Bell in defence who returned at risk from injury and completed the full game. That in itself was a huge boost for the hosts who through suspension and injury were threadbare at the back.
In the end, they had very little defending to do, which is where the frustration is that West Brom bagged out of nothing.
At the other end, Mason Colgate and Torbjørn Heggem headed away most of Luton’s direct advances, but until Chong struck.
Town continued to press West Brom, but they couldn’t make their territorial dominance pay, as Daiki Hashioka came closest, clattering the woodwork with a header from Baptiste’s corner.
But, on home soil at least, Luton have, in their last three outings, discovered some dominance, if not yet the results that a hat-trick of displays have now deserved. They’re small steps, but something to build on.
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