Luton match-winner McGuinness relished the 'horrible' nature of Tigers victory

Luton defender Mark McGuinness absolutely relished the ‘horrible’ nature of the 1-0 victory over Hull City in which he proved to be the match-winner on Saturday.

With Town going into the game on the back of a woeful 5-1 loss against Middlesbrough during their previous contest, and the match taking place during Storm Bert which saw the rain pouring down at Kenilworth Road, with the wind up as well, then it was never a classic performance from the hosts when getting the three points.

Bar McGuinness’s half volley from a Shandon Baptiste corner that flew in on 33 minutes, then Town’s only shot on target came from Teden Mengi before that, meaning they went over an hour without testing visiting stopper Ivor Pandur. They then saw City create and waste a number of gilt-edged opportunities, Joao Pedro putting one header wide and then sidefooting against the post, with Chris Bedia off target from close range at the death too.

Thomas Kaminski also made a brilliant save from Kasey Palmer’s deflected attempt, but on scoring the only goal of the game, picking up three points and earning a fifth clean sheet of the campaign, McGuinness said: “It’s a perfect day for us, for a centre half, I think everyone chipped in though it wasn’t just me. We defended really well towards the end, it was really important, bodies on the line and we got the three points which is lovely.

“I enjoy defending, that’s my job, if it’s like that every week I’m happy with that. It’s horrible to watch probably, but for me it’s perfect, that’s what I get paid to do and I think everyone really, really dug deep today. We realised the importance of the game, we’ve got a tough week coming up so it’s a good platform for us to build on.”

McGuiness might have had a second as well, as he thrashed a quite brilliant volley into the top corner from Liam Walsh’s set-piece, only to find out the ball was adjudged to have gone out of play before he thundered it home. The defender continued: “It was probably the cleanest strike I’ve ever had. I didn’t know what happened to be honest, I was unaware, so I just tried to put the ball in the back of the and it felt good.”

With McGuinness becoming the ninth player to score for Town this term, then boss Rob Edwards was also pleased to see the Hatters’ club record signing up and running in a Luton shirt, as he said: “It was a good day for him. As a defender to get a clean sheet and score the winner it’s a really nice day for him, we need more of it.”

The centre half’s performance bookended a momentous week too as he also made his Republic of Ireland debut during their 5-0 Nations League defeat to England at Wembley Stadium the weekend before. On winning a first senior cap, McGuiness added: “It was a big moment for me, a great experience playing against top opposition, playing on the international stage which is the top level. It was nice to come home with the boys, get back to work and three points makes it all worth it.”