Hatters boss left dismayed as Town fail to take their chances

Missed chances were the deciding factor in Luton’s 1-0 home defeat to Cardiff City this afternoon according to boss Graeme Jones.

The Hatters chief saw his side dominate large parts of the first half, as they should have taken the lead, only for Harry Cornick to miss the target when faced with visiting keeper Alex Smithies.

He had also miscontrolled a pass from Ryan Tunnicliffe, before Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu slammed a half volley wide.

After the break, Lee Tomlin netted with 17 minutes to go, before James Collins might have levelled in stoppage time, unable to turn in once Smithies had fumbled George Moncur's long range attempt.

Jones said: "We’ve been here before haven’t we.

"We set up with the diamond and we out-possessed them, we created more chances than them, we had more shots on target than them, the boys gave absolutely everything they’ve got.

“The game boils down to two moments, where Tomlin, he doesn't hope to score, he makes sure he can score.

"We had a really good opportunity with Tunni (Ryan Tunnicliffe), an incredible one-on-one with Harry, and Collo’s header.

“You have to take them if you're going to win the game and we didn't, that was the difference.

“If you analyse the performance then I've got no complaints.

“We lost the game, with the opportunities we have that we didn’t take and the one opportunity they had was in the back of the net.

“Alan McInally (Sky Sports pundit) said to me, ‘you should have been three up,’ and we should have been clear.

“But should have, could have, Tomlin gets his chance and he makes sure, he cuts your throat, and that’s the difference.”

Although Town pressed for an equaliser once Tomlin had netted, they never really threatened until stoppage time and Moncur's attempt

Jones added: "We're in the right territory, we've committed bodies forward and then I can think of a cross that goes out of play, a set-piece.

"We tried to do as much as we could, we had George on the pitch, we had Kaz (Kazenga LuaLua) on the pitch, we left Collo on the pitch, left Harry on the pitch to try and get back in the game and we couldn't.

"It's a little bit frustrating, we're in the right territory to hurt them, George I can see now with good composure, he goes past someone, has a shot with his left foot, but the game was won and lost earlier on."