Luton boss Nathan Jones hailed a James Collins hat-trick-inspired triumph over Preston as the best of his 200-game reign, marking his 100th victory.
It’s hard to see how his men could’ve given him a better present as they dominated the side with the best away record in the Championship and put in sparkling performances all over the park.
Having beaten league leaders Norwich 3-1 in their previous home match, this was Town’s biggest and best win of the season. For Jones though, across his two spells, on such a milestone afternoon, it was the best, full stop.
He said: “This is a better win than beating Yeovil 8-2 (in League Two), without being disrespectful, because it’s a club I love. And Cambridge 7-0. This is far more of an achievement because of the level.
“To score seven goals in anything, a training game, is phenomenal, but the level of performance to beat an Alex Neil side, because they’re aggressive in what they do, shows that we’re not in a bad place.”
And for Collins, who’s not had his shooting boots on for the last few games, this was arguably one of the best days of his career, as he notched a first half brace before claiming the match ball in the 66th minute.
His treble was bookended by two wonderful goals. The first, after an opening 15 minutes of Preston pressure, was a thing of beauty. It came from an inch-perfect cross-field pass from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu – one of an outstanding midfield foursome – which Collins chested down and fired low.
Jones said: “I’ve got a goalscorer that was absolutely clinical today. The first goal was a wonderful ball from Pelly-Ruddock. It’s something we’ve worked on and it’s the one thing we can say we’ve worked on it all week, in terms of that movement. Mick (Harford) has worked with Collo and we’ve worked on that ball, so to score from it was wonderful.”
The second, nine minutes later, was a poacher’s tap-in, but the third came from a relentless press that saw Harry Cornick win the ball high and feed in his strike partner, who with work still to do, beat his man and smashed low.
“It’s slightly more complete,” said Jones when comparing this victory with their last on home soil.
“We played a bit more than we did against Norwich. Today, we just showed a level of work-rate and pressing and aggression that is rare. I haven’t seen that in many teams and I’m really, really happy.”
To watch the manager kicking and heading every ball from the touchline, screaming to the heavens at missed opportunities and punching the advertising hoarding, you’d have thought this was anything but the performance highlight of a reign, which now has an impressive 50 per cent win rate in all competitions.
But that’s the perfection that Jones strives for. There’ll always be room for improvement, but as he seeks to make the Hatters an established Championship side, their last two home performances – in front of 1,000 and then, today, 2,000 fans – showed they’re making real progress.
PLAYER RATINGS:
JAMES SHEA – 7
He can thank his outstanding defence that he had very little to do.
DAN POTTS – 8
A really solid display in his third 90 minutes in a row.
SONNY BRADLEY – 8.5
A towering defensive display and a highlight in particularly good season for the skipper, on the whole.
TOM LOCKYER – 8
Somehow missed the chance to open his Hatters goalscoring account, late on. It would’ve capped off a fine performance, but it didn’t diminish it.
MATTY PEARSON – 8.5
Continues to excel at right back. Excellent reading of the game. He has really stepped up in the last two months.
GLEN REA – 9
In the old days he’d have come off caked in mud after throwing himself into slide tackles galore. But on top of that dominant display, he provided the assist for James Collins’ second. He didn’t have the armband but this was captain fantastic stuff.
KIERNAN DEWSBURY-HALL – 8.5
Always available, always in space. His first touch is sublime and his speed of thought outstanding. Effortless. Replaced by Ryan Tunnicliffe on 80 minutes.
GEORGE MONCUR – 8.5
Busy around the box. A real livewire showing to get 2,000 bums off seats every time he got the ball. Replaced on 74 minutes by Rhys Norrington-Davies.
PELLY-RUDDOCK MPANZU – 8.5
Picked out a stunning pass to set up James Collins for the opener and he ran the first half show after that. Replaced by Luke Berry on 80 minutes.
HARRY CORNICK – 8
Ran, ran and ran some more and that saw him provide the assist for James Collins’ third after not giving Preston’s backline a moment’s rest. He could’ve had another one moments earlier but for a last-ditch block to deny Collins. Replaced on 74 minutes by Jordan Clark.
JAMES COLLINS – 9.5 (Star man)
An all-action, every-blade-of-grass hat-trick display. When he wasn’t making the net bulge he was back in his own box heading away crosses or dropping deep to link up attacks. Only a fabulous block from Paul Huntingdon prevented hi from notching four. Replaced on 84 minutes by Sam Nombe for a very well-deserved ovation.
SUBSTITUTES:
JORDAN CLARK – 7
Fizzed a shot over soon after coming on as Town continued to go after Preston.
RHYS NORRINGTON-DAVIES – 7
Should’ve had an assist with a fabulous free-kick that somehow Tom Lockyer headed wide.
LUKE BERRY – 7
Immediately involved with a decent cross as Town kept up the pressure right until the final whistle
RYAN TUNNICLIFFE – 7
Added even more aggression to a team that already had Preston pegged back.
SAM NOMBE – 7
More valuable minutes and he endeared himself to the Kenilworth Road stand by chasing down a lost cause and muscling off a Preston defender
UNUSED SUBS: Martin Cranie, Harry Isted, Kazenga LuaLua, Joe Morrell
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