Luton goalscorer thought Town were the 'better team' in Cod Army loss
Mengi felt the Hatters should have gone through to FA Cup third round
Hatters defender Teden Mengi felt his side had been the ‘better team’ during Saturday’s FA Cup second round tie at Fleetwood Town, only to pay the price for some poor defending and poor finishing against their League Two hosts, as they crashed out of the competition on penalties.
The Luton centre back saw the visitors have by far the better of possession throughout the contest, with over 60 percent of the ball, as they had 21 shots too, seven on target, forcing 10 corners to the Cod Army’s five as well. Despite their dominance, Lasse Nordas missed two good chances in the first half, as Zack Nelson fired a decent opening over, while Milli Alli also went close.
After the break, Nordas saw another half-volley cleared away, as Alli threatened again, but with 65 minutes gone, Town fell behind when a mistake by goalkeeper James Shea saw Manchester United loanee Ethan Ennis’s volley go through his grasp and into the net. Substitute Jerry Yates quickly levelled, only for Ennis to score an excellent second goal with the outside of his right boot to put Fleetwood back in front once more late on.
With time running out, Jacob Brown’s effort was cleared off the line, before Mengi himself popped up in stoppage time with a quite superb finish to make it 2-2. Extra time then followed, as Shayden Morris, Kal Naismith and Lamine Fanne all had opportunities, but they couldn’t take their chances as penalties followed, Brown and Liam Walsh seeing their attempts repelled by home keeper David Harrington as the hosts went through. It shouldn’t have even got there though in Mengi’s mind, as he said afterwards: “I thought we were by far the better team.
"We did well to get to extra time, but then again I don’t even think it should have gone to extra time as the goals that we conceded, I feel like they were gifted to them really. As a defender, it’s not nice to concede, but the manner in which we conceded is not great. The never-say-die attitude and the character to come back and climb the mountain is good, but it is disappointing to concede.
"I’m glad that I was able to help the team by scoring and again in extra time I thought the game was only going to go one way. We created so many chances but we just didn’t finish them. It’s frustrating that we couldn’t find the back of the net after all of the chances that we created, but if I’m going to look on the bright side, at least we are creating chances. We’re showing that bright spark, but the next stage is just putting games to bed.”
It was thanks to Mengi that Town did get back to 2-2, as when Reuell Walter’s cross was headed as far as he was positioned, just outside the penalty area, the former Manchester United youngster displayed the perfect first touch before unleashing a powerful sidefooted finish beyond Harrington to score what was his third goal in 68 outings for the Hatters. On his equaliser, the defender continued: “I knew exactly what I was getting into.
"I think that’s what it’s about in the opposition box, it’s just about how composed can you be, but again right place, right time, I’ve just seen the gap and I’ve put it in there. It’s the confidence of knowing you’re going to do it, but also composure at the same time. It’s really important in the opposition box to have that composure and I was really desperate to get that equaliser for the team, mainly for the team.”
What was disappointing for Mengi was the way in which Town were breached twice beforehand though, as Ennis was left unmarked at the back post to leave Shea red-faced with his volley, before he doubled his tally after a poor clearance by young defender Joe Johnson. The centre half was impressed by the way in which the visitors were able to hit back twice to draw level, as he added: “It was very frustrating as we kept on leaving ourselves with mountains to climb by just giving away silly goals. The good thing about this team is we’re good at responding, we’ve shown that time and time again that we can respond, it’s just frustrating that we couldn’t win the game in extra time.”