Edwards left bursting with pride as his Luton players show their mettle against Watford

Luton boss Rob Edwards hailed every single one of his players for showing just how much it mattered to them when producing an outstanding performance in defeating arch-rivals Watford 3-0 at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

The Hatters supporters who packed out Kenilworth Road for the contest against a side that haven’t travelled well to Bedfordshire in recent years, also losing their last four on the road, arrived with an element of trepidation, having only witnessed one home win all season, and going into the game on the back of what was their worst showing of the campaign, losing 2-0 at Sheffield United before the international break.

Any fears of being turned over by their rivals were quickly put to one side, Luton snapping into their challenges from the off and Jordan Clark somehow diverting Tom Holmes’ volley into the net on 11 minutes to give them the lead they desired. Edwards’ side didn’t take a backward step once from there on either, Carlton Morris capping his own wonderful performance with a close range header from Alfie Doughty’s corner and then Jacob Brown sealing the points in stoppage time.

Speaking afterwards, Edwards, who has now masterminded Town to two victories over a team he once managed for just 11 games before being sacked ahead of being appointed by the Hatters, said: “It was good. We had a good day here on April the first last year and we've had another one today. I’m really pleased for the supporters because I know how much it means for them.

“It's been a big two weeks and we knew we had to respond after the disappointment of our last game. The lads have done that every day in the two weeks and then they've gone and shown it today as well and that's when it matters. It's no good just talking about it, you've got to go and show it. And they did it. It looked like today it mattered to us. It looked like they cared. It looked like they understood the magnitude of the game. We're really, really proud of them.

“I thought that every individual was at least seven or eight out of ten. We made a few mistakes, you’re always going to make some, but a few, and if we did, we recovered really well, either with a great block or a great tackle. I thought we played the conditions well because it was a difficult pitch, but our intensity was amazing. We had 23 high regains in their half. That’s a record for us and something that we do look at. Both with and without the ball, we had a real purpose, and a fire about us that I liked.”

Both of Luton’s first two goals came from set-pieces sent into the box by Doughty, as his corners were a real creative force for the hosts all afternoon. Although Clark knew little about his involvement in the first one, actually trying to get out of the way of Holmes’ volley, there was no doubting Morris’s intentions moments into the second period, criminally left unmarked to power his header beyond Daniel Bachmann.

Edwards continued: “We earned our own luck at that moment. The delivery, the areas that we hit, we've been threatening. I know we've not scored from them (corners) this year, but we've been threatening from them, and we always get a lot, we are a crossing team and we do get a lot of set-pieces. It was great today to see a couple of them go in. Any goal is welcome, especially on a day like this, but it was great to go 2-0 up so early into that second half. And then it was important to try and maintain the level.”

By that point, Luton had been hit by injuries though, Holmes’ full debut ended at the break, before the second period saw Reece Burke, Tahith Chong and Tom Krauß all forced off as well. Despite their misfortune and ending up with a defence containing Daiki Hashioka and Alfie Doughty alongside the excellent Mark McGuinness in Town’s back three, flanked by two wingbacks at the opposite ends of their careers, Victor Moses and teenager Joe Johnson, goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski didn’t really have to make any major saves, bar parrying one long range curler away.

Edwards added: “It’s just a real challenge at the moment because we lost a centre back at half time. We lost a centre back during the second half, we finished off with two wing backs, wingers really, at centre back. A young kid came on in JJ and it's a big game for him to come into, almost out from the cold.

“It's ridiculous at the moment how we're having to manage it. It's hard, and you know, we're going to be dealing with that again on Wednesday now (against Sunderland). But to keep a clean sheet today, with all the injuries and stuff that we had to deal with was incredible. I enjoyed the third goal the most. I think it was just about able to sort of breathe at that point.”