Jones staying positive despite Luton losing 10 in a row

The Newlands Road side were beaten 31-8 at North Walsham on Saturday to remain rooted to the bottom of the table, as Jones said: “Considering our circumstances, I think the lads have done more than what we’ve asked.

“We asked them to go out and give us some heart; we knew we were coming to a team that plays very well at home.

“The guys that stepped up to the plate have given food for thought for next week.

“There were some sterling performances from players that were out of position and we’ve got a lot to think about now.

“We know we’re on the back end of the stick but we’ve just got to keep fighting and turning up every week and putting in the hard work and we’ll get there.”

On Saturday, the hosts began brightly as they drove a maul close to the try line and passed it out to Freddie Henley-Hunter who got over, making it 5-0 with just two minutes gone.

Luton defended well against but 25 minutes in, Matthew Hodgson faked a pass and cut through to score, adding the conversion too.

The Vikings got through again two minutes from half time after Ryan Oakes feinted a pass and broke away, finding Shane Janse Van-Veuren who grounded the ball to end the half 19-0 in front.

Luton came out strongly in the second half as Chris Davies placed an excellent chip over the North Walsham defence and after some pressure, they passed the ball out to Casimir Abaka who got over to make it 19-5.

The visitors kept the pressure on, but North Walsham countered quickly and scored another try in the 47th minute, this time through Akmaan Downing.

The wave of attacks from North Walsham didn’t seem to stop but again Luton held them off well, especially in the 55th minute when Hodgson was taken down just before the try line and play was called back for a knock-on.

By the hour-mark, the home side had received two yellow cards so Luton took advantage of this and piled on the pressure, nearly scoring after Abaka caught a grubber kick, but the hosts held off the attack well until their two men returned to the field.

Just five minutes later, Luton were awarded a penalty for not releasing the ball which Robert Povey scored, but shortly after, Wayne Hemson received a yellow card after being caught offside during a lineout.

The final score came in the 74th minute after Henley-Hunter notched his second try of the day.

Luton host Thurrock this weekend.