Hatters fall to humbling derby day Watford defeat

Luton saw their seven game unbeaten run ended at the worst place possible, beaten 4-0 by fierce rivals Watford this afternoon.

After waiting 16 years to attend a local derby at Vicarage Road, the near 2,000 supporters who made the short trip were in for a 90 minutes they will want to erase from their memory banks, and quickly, Town delivering a defensive display miles away from the kind of ones that had seen them go into the contest undefeated for such a lengthy spell

Boss Nathan Jones made three changes, captain Sonny Bradley, Elijah Adebayo and Luke Freeman coming in from the 1-0 win at Norwich on Tuesday night, Dan Potts and Harry Cornick dropping to the bench and Fred Onyedinma missing out completely.

For all the pre-match hype, the visitors then got off to the worst start imaginable, as following a brief spell of pressure, the hosts worked the ball to the left when Hassane Kamara cross's saw on-loan Aston Villa forward Keinan Davis produce a scorpion kick volley to break the deadlock with just three minutes gone.

Luton were almost level moments later though as Amari'i Bell's cross saw Carlton Morris involved, Allan Campbell's low left footer just inches away from making it 1-1.

The visitors continued to respond well to falling behind, keeping the ball alive on the right and Tom Lockyer picking out Freeman to direct his header straight at Daniel Bachmann.

Luton were then indebted to a big save from Ethan Horvath as with Davis sidestepping Bradley, Luton backed off and off inviting him to shoot, which he did from 18 yards, Town's keeper sticking out a strong left hand to turn behind for a corner.

Referee Bobby Madley got himself involved with a terrible decision to book Bradley after he executed the perfect sliding challenge on his man, Town's skipper quite rightly incredulous with the decision.

Luton had their moments, but they were finding the hosts' midfield containing Joao Pedro and Edo Kayembe too strong to break down, with Horvath needing his wits about him to gather a low cross when Bree was beaten by the flight of the ball.

His handling was also spot on when Kayembe went for goal on his left foot, as Town remained just the one goal behind.

With 35 gone, Luton then worked a decent opportunity, Bradley stepping out to intercept a pass forward and find Freeman who hung up a cross that Adebayo met ahead of the onrushing Bachmann, only to see his header drop on to the roof of the net.

Town were indebted another fine stop from Horvath just before half time as Bradley was turned with ease by Davis, the USA international out sharply to deny him with his legs.

However, he was then picking the ball out of the net on 44 minutes, Watford grabbing a crucial second goal.

A corner was played short and swung into the back post where Campbell and Alfie Doughty were outjumped, Bradley unable to adjust his feet to clear, defender William Troost-Ekong bundling the ball into the roof of the net.

Jones made a change at the break, taking off the already cautioned Bradley, who had been struggling with Davis in the opening 45 minutes, Gabe Osho on in his place.

To their credit, the Hatters came out for the second period with a renewed intensity, as they should have been just one behind six minutes in, Bree's corner missed by a stretching Lockyer from a matter of yards, the ball hitting Osho and bouncing over the top.

However, those hopes were all bit evaporated on 57 minutes when Town got themselves in trouble at the back and Horvath's pass out was straight to Pedro, who was able to steady himself and beat the red-faced keeper to make it 3-0.

The midfielder almost set up a fourth, a mazy run forward too good for both Clark and Campbell, who saw yellow for trying to hack him down, Kayembe dragging off target.

Luton might have had one back on the hour mark, Clark with the inch-perfect cross from the left but Morris's glancing header was straight at Bachmann.

Looking for a consolation to give their travelling faithful something to cheer on an instantly forgettable visit, sub Harry Cornick's angled drive flew wide, with Jordan Clark testing Bachmann, who gathered his low 20-yarder.

With the beleaguered Hatters now with an eye on the full time whistle, there was still time for further misery, another defensive error seeing Lockyer this time caught out, Watford moving the ball left to Ismaila Sarr, who with all the ease in the world, cut inside Bree and curled beyond Horvath.

Cornick tried to raise the spirits, his flick bouncing wide, but just when things didn't look like they could get worse, they did with seven minutes to go, Osho lunging in with a late challenge and shown a straight red by Madley, earning himself a verbal volley from a clearly annoyed Jones as he trudged down the tunnel.

Horvath prevented an even more embarrassing finale, using his legs smartly to stop Yaser Asprilla giving a buoyant home crowd even more ammunition against their rivals, who will now have to wait until April to get their revenge back at Kenilworth Road.

Hornets: Daniel Bachmann, Hamza Choudhury (Mario Gaspar 75), William Troost-Ekong, Keinan Davis (Vakoun Bayo 70), Joao Pedro (Yaser Asprilla 84), Ken Sema, Hassane Kamara, Craig Cathcart (C), Dan Gosling, Ismaila Sarr (Samuel Kalu 84), Edo Kayembe.

Subs not used: Maduka Okoye, Mattie Pollock, James Morris.

Hatters: Ethan Horvath, James Bree, Tom Lockyer, Sonny Bradley (C Gabe Osho 46), Amari'i Bell, Alfie Doughty, Luke Freeman (Harry Cornick 58), Allan Campbell (Louie Watson 87), Jordan Clark, Carlton Morris (Cameron Jerome 78), Elijah Adebayo.

Subs not used: Harry Isted, Dan Potts, Luke Berry.

Referee: Bobby Madley.

Booked: Bradley 17, Davis 30, Doughy 51, Cornick 66, Sema 66.

Sent off: Osho 83.

Attendance: 19,282 (Luton 1,954).