Edwards hails 'magical' feeling after Adebayo's mood-changing last-gasp winner

Luton boss Rob Edwards declared it was a ‘magical’ feeling to see Elijah Adebayo’s mood-changing last minute goal hit the net to secure a much-needed 2-1 victory over Stoke City at Kenilworth Road this evening.

The Hatters had fallen behind early to Tom Cannon’s close range strike only to see Carlton Morris level the scores with 24 minutes on the clock, heading home Jordan Clark’s excellent corner. A tight second half was just about to enter stoppage time when Clark sent another dangerous set-piece into the box which was cleared out to Tom Krauß.

The German midfielder returned it with interest, as Adebayo, who had already seen two shots cleared off the line, was able to divert his attempt over any covering defenders on this occasion for his third goal in three matches. Discussing the manner of the winner, Edwards said: “My initial thought was to look at the linesman. I saw him running back and was ‘yes, okay, I can enjoy that now,’ it’s a good feeling. It is great, I don't think there’s a better feeling. I always know how hard it is for them, it’s a horrible game at times football but it’s a good night for us tonight and it does feel great.

"It changes the mood somehow. If we’d have scored in the 70th minute and then seen the game out 2-1, I don’t think the feel around the place would have felt as good as it does now. In that dressing room it was really lively after at the end. There is something magical about a last minute winner, a really good feeling. I think it was deserved, you take those moments and you try and enjoy it.”

Having seen Town produce a thoroughly uninspiring display when drawing 1-1 with Swansea City at the weekend, Edwards was far happier with what his team produced this evening, especially having fallen behind inside the opening six minutes. He added: “Overall the performance was good, better than the weekend. I’m proud of how everyone reacted, proud of how everyone reacted after going 1-0 down early on. We showed some real character to get back on the front foot and find a way to win the game, so It was a good night for us in quite difficult circumstances.

“I think we’re about 18 points from the past nine games at home, so we’ve been doing that here, it’s away we need to try and find that now. The form here is all right and I’m not concerned about that. We’ve come out on the right side of a number of games, not necessarily with a late winner like that, but tight games. Now we’ve got to try and find consistency which I've been saying for quite a long time, that’s our challenge at the moment, but let’s try and enjoy this one for a night.”