Luton stretched their winning run to four games in all competitions with their most important victory of the season as they saw off League One leaders Stockport County thanks to goals from Jake Richards, Cohen Bramall, Isaiah Jones and a penalty save from Josh Keeley.
Town’s Hatters namesakes boasted a formidable record of just one defeat at Edgeley Park this season and came into this clash on the back of a four-game winning streak, so they started in confident mood. But they ended the match with ten men after Owen Dodgson was given his marching orders, with Town having already rattled in three goals.
The first came somewhat against the run of play when 18-year-old Richards pounced on a Bramall cross to opened his Hatters account.
Then four minutes later assister turned scorer, lashing a free-kick into the top corer. it was the wingback’s first league goal for Luton, but his second sumptuous set-piece strike for the club.
It came after Hatters boss Jack Wilshere opted to switch to a centre back three, which had proven largely unsuccessful and unpopular for both his predecessors Matt Bloomfield and Rob Edwards. Not today.
County found some joy against the formation that matched theirs, but the did not find the net, as Keeley had pulled off a couple of good saves before guessing the right way to keep out Nathan Lowe’s spot-kick early in the second half after the other wingback, Jones, had fouled Odin Bailey.
But the winger atoned in the 69th minute by firing his first goal of the season on his first league start of the campaign, after a cheeky dummy and run from Richards to set Jones up.
And to ease any fears of a County comeback – as had happened the week before when 3-0 up against Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup – the hosts were reduced to ten men after Dodgson’s second yellow card.
But it mattered little, such was the quality of Luton’s performance. It was comfortably the best of the Wilshere era, which is now gathering some momentum.
“We didn’t start great but we spoke to the players before about having to suffer together. I’m a believer, if you suffer together you get your rewards for it,” the Hatters boss told LTFC+.
“They’re [Stockport] top of the league for a reason. They’ve got a way of playing that is dangerous and you have to solve those problems and we did. Of course, they had a few opportunities still, but then, at the other end, you have to be clinical, you have to be ruthless and we were definitely that.”
Town could and should have had more. Nahki Wells saw a one-on-one saved in the first half, while late on, substitute Ali Al-Hamadi had a shot cleared off the line by Callum Connolly.
But perhaps even more telling of where this Hatters squad are in terms of renewed fight and togetherness was when Teden Mengi hunted down Kyle Wootton in the final minute, crunching the forward with a superbly timed sliding tackle and then celebrating in front of the travelling Town fans, like he’d scored a goal.
“You can see the response from the fans. We know what the fans want to see and we’ve been speaking about it a lot. They got us through as well,” Wilshere said.
Speaking of Mengi, the manager told the BBC: “His spirit is actually inspirational. I said to the staff, ‘he’s actually whipping me up and giving me energy’. You see the way he tackles and he does that in training, he was doing it in training all week.
“He has to keep that going because he’s so important for us and we love him. We love him and we want him to keep going that way. And I thought Mads [Andersen] came into the team today and was outstanding as well. He won a lot of duels, but I’m happy for Ted and he needs to keep going this way.”
Luton too need to see this victory and this performance as the benchmark because, make no mistake, this was a statement.
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