Battling Hatters dig in to earn a hard-fought point at Huddersfield

Luton showed another side of themselves under boss Jack Wilshere this evening when digging in to impressively grind out a hard-fought point at leaders Huddersfield Town.

Earlier in the season, and especially at times during the previous campaign, the Hatters would have ended up losing such a game against a home side who had two exciting wingers in Derensili Sanches Fernandes and Bali Mumba, plus the clinical Joe Taylor upfront, but not so on this occasion, to a man the visitors battling for everything all game, particularly during the second half, as their determination to head back to Bedfordshire with something tangible was evident from very early on.

Both sides went into the game on the back of four straight victories, while with the Terriers top of the goalscoring charts and Luton second, a stalemate was never on the cards and so it proved. The visitors made three changes for the contest as skipper Kal Naismith recovered from his bout of sickness to replace Joe Johnson in the defence, while Nahki Wells returned against the club he served for three years over a decade ago, with Tudor Mendel also in, Callum Marshall and Jake Richards dropping to the bench.

Town had the best chance on seven minutes when Mendel did well to pinch a loose pass in midfield and having played a one-two with Liam Walsh, dinked a lovely ball over the top for Jordan Clark, who on the angle, might have expected to have done better than forcing Matty Young into a fairly tame parry. Huddersfield didn’t overly threaten either in the opening stages, Cameron Humphreys’ effort from outside the box sailing harmlessly over the bar, although he almost broke the deadlock on 13 minutes when his inswinging corner hit the crossbar with a back-pedalling James Shea beaten.

Luton were then hit with another injury blow on 17 minutes when Naismith sat on the turf and had to trudge off, due to a calf issue, boss Jack Wilshere opting to bring on Harrison Ashby and not Johnson, which saw Izzy Jones move over to left back. Shea had to be alert twice just before the 20-minute mark, as Marcus Harness spun Walsh cleverly in the area and curled goalwards, the keeper palming behind, as he was then equal to another dangerous Humphreys set-piece, palming over the bar.

Although Town had long spells of possession, they didn’t do much with it, often wasting their passes in the final third, to gift it back to their hosts, who looked far more dangerous when they attacked. Fernandes won a free kick after being clipped by Palmer around 20 yards out and went for goal himself, striking the outside of the post, Clark doing impressively to volley the rebound behind when only a few yards from his own goal.

With the Hatters struggling for any opportunities of their own, the only one they had saw Jamie Donley send over a cross from the right for Palmer, who rather than take it down, opted for the ambitious acrobatic volley which sailed harmlessly wide. Taylor then somehow beat both defenders to a left wing cross, which saw Shea adjust his feet to collect, as once more any move that Luton threatened often ended up breaking down with some wayward distribution.

As winger Fernandes started to become a real influence on proceedings and tough for Jones to deal with, he was felled by Palmer once more for a free kick, while they were now becoming a threat from Ilias Bronkhorst’s imperious long throws too, one cleared out to Archie Collins, the midfielder shanking wide from 10 yards.

Despite looking like they needed the half time whistle, Luton then went up the other end and took the lead on 40 minutes. It all started with Walsh’s excellent free kick that released Donley, who broke into the box and saw his cross cleared as far as Palmer. His header dropped to Clark, the midfielder doing brilliantly to get a yard and then whip his shot across Young and into the bottom corner.

After trying to run the game down to the break, Shea had to be on his toes to palm away when Collins curled for goal and then get up well to punch two corners away as Town did enter the interval with their lead intact. Once the second period began, Fernandes held the ball up well in the box, with a cross in for Taylor to nod narrowly wide.

The ex-Luton forward made no mistake on 49 minutes, as Luton looked like they had dealt with Fernandes this time, Andersen intervening, but the ball went straight back to him and he was allowed to pick out a delivery, Ashby switching off at the back post, Taylor thumping an unstoppable volley past Shea before he could even move.

With the visitors coming under some real pressure, Shea punching clear once more, they did enjoy some territory and pressure of their own, Walsh spreading the ball beautifully for Mendel as the cross eventually fell to Jones 20 yards from goal, his shot flapped away by Young. That was the end for Mendel, with Richards coming on, as play started to fluctuate between both ends, both teams beginning to look out on their feet, which was unsurprising considering the punishing nature of the recent schedule.

Still Town had a threat as Ashby almost escaped to Johnston’s searching deep pass, only to stumble at the vital moment, while Wells nodded over with 13 minutes left from Richards’ deep cross. The superb Jones, who had swapped to the right, couldn’t get a final ball to a team-mate despite having two bites of the cherry, the only thing he did wrong really in a quite exceptional second half from the winger turned defender.

With fresh legs for the final five minutes, Emilio Lawrence, Dan Gore and Marshall replacing Donley, Palmer and Wells, the changes almost led to Town taking the lead, Ashby’s long throw flicked on by Johnston and Clark sliding in to toepoke wide. In a mere two minutes added on, the lack of time added to the surprise of everyone, Shea continued his commanding display by gathering another outswinging cross as Luton could be more than happy with their efforts in getting a point, climbing up third place in the table in the process.

Terriers: Matty Young, Archie Collins, Joe Taylor (Samson Tovide 90), Marcus Harness (Ashley Fletcher 75), Radinio Balker, Ibane Bowat, Bali Mumba, Cameron Humphreys (C), Ilias Bronkhorst, Sean Roughan, Derensili Sanches Fernandes. Subs not used: Jak Alnwick, Joe Low, Lynden Gooch, David Kasumu, Cameron Ashia.

Hatters: James Shea, Izzy Jones, Kal Naismith (C Harrison Ashby 17), Mads Andersen, George Johnston, Liam Walsh, Jordan Clark ©, Jamie Donley (Dan Gore 86), Tudor Mendel (Jake Richards 60), Kasey Palmer (Emilio Lawrence 86), Nahki Wells (Callum Marshall 86). Subs not used: Josh Keeley, Joe Johnson. Booked: Palmer 35. Referee: Matthew Donohue. Attendance: 15,906 (507 Hatters).