Somewhere in space, four NASA astronauts are hurtling through the void on an historic first manned mission to the moon in 54 years, while here on earth, Luton made yet another comfortable victory seem more like rocket science.
The Hatters were cruising by the 65th minute thanks to goals either side of the interval from Jake Richards and Jordan Clark, who could’ve had four in a rampant second half opening. They couldn’t add a third when on top and then gifted Peterborough a route back in after a schoolboy error.
But the feared deja vu of a crash landing was averted and it turned out to be one small step closer to the play-offs on a really Good Friday as, elsewhere, Huddersfield bagged a late leveller against Reading. That ensured the game-in-hand Hatters closed the gap on the sixth-placed Royals to four points.
“I’m really happy,” said boss Jack Wilshere despite getting booked to earn a touchline ban. “[I’m] really happy with a lot of good things we’ve done today as well. We’ve got a horrible habit at the moment of making the last ten minutes stressful for us and making it difficult for us.
“But, that being said, we’ve also learned, I think, a little bit to see games out better. I think the two subs in Kasey [Palmer] and Savs [George Saville] help with that. They’ve been there, they’ve got know-how, experience with how to do that.
“But we don’t have to make it into that. [If] we put our chances away, we win the game three or four, but, yeah, happy with the three points.”
During that starry spell after half time, Town played some scintillating stuff, though Davy van den Berg skied a sitter and was then at fault for what eventually, after a nervous finale, proved Peterborough’s consolation.
The Dutchman was treated to an earful from Clark after he stopped to appeal Tyrell Lisbie taking the ball over the touchline, but a throw-in decision never came and the winger crossed for Jimmy Jay-Morgan to head past Josh Keeley, who’d had almost nothing to do since saving a first half suspect spot-kick from Harry Leonard.
That dodgy call came from debutant League One referee Isaac Seattle. Keeley took the sting out of Leonard’s initial shot with a partial save and the whistle didn’t blow. Instead the superb Hakeem Odoffin – head bandaged after a bloody incident – stretched every sinew to keep the ball out with a goal-line clearance.
Then, after what felt like an eternity, Searle shocked the Hatters. The Posh players hadn’t even called for a foul, though Keeley and Leonard collided, while the away fans were already being mocked by the Town contingent for prematurely celebrating a goal.
Keeley had the last laugh though with an important save from the penalty, but the official surpassed himself in the dying moments. Palmer danced into the box and was just about to pull the trigger before he almost had his shirt ripped off his back. Boss Wilshere got cautioned for his frustrated protests on the sideline, which will see him banned from the dugout for Monday’s trip to AFC Wimbledon.
He said: “[It’s] a bad decision. I don’t understand how it’s not a penalty. Again, you look at the reaction of the players and he’s actually pulled Kasey down and interrupted his finish. He was going to score. I don’t understand how that’s not a penalty.”
Had it been awarded, or had Palmer converted it would have eased the nerves, but there shouldn’t have been any in the first place.
After a fairly open first half, Town were on top. Clark was at the fulcrum of everything, while Emilio Lawrence was proving a real danger. But Wilshere withdrew the Manchester City loan ace on 65 minutes – as he said he was tiring – and Town inexplicably retreated, offering encouragement to Peterborough, without the visitors offering a real threat.
Then van den Berg stopped, but the world kept spinning.
“You have to play to the whistle,” Wilshere said, adding: “Davy knows that. he’ll be disappointed with that. I thought there were so many decisions that weren’t right.
“Honestly, I haven’t seen that one back, so I’m not talking about that one, but I think about a few offsides that the linesman gave that weren’t offside as well. It’s disappointing, but Davy has to keep going as well.”
But unlike some other capitulations this term, Town stood up to the challenge to see out what could prove to be an important win.
They’ll have to keep repeating that to reach the play-offs and beyond, but for now they’ve closed the space to the top six, which has been one giant leap they struggled all season to take.
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