Luton midfielder Clark has 'magic in his feet' after netting wonder goal in Wales

Luton chief Matt Bloomfield believes Jordan Clark has got ‘magic in his feet’ after the long-serving midfielder scored a truly stunning goal during last night’s 2-1 victory over Cardiff City.

The 31-year-old netted easily the best goal of his near five year career with the Hatters in Wales, as with the visitors having fallen behind early in the second half, Alfie Doughty’s deflected cross was then headed out by home defender Dimitrios Goutas on 57 minutes. Seizing the moment, Clark took the clearance on his chest before letting it drop and hooking a quite wonderful dipping reverse volley from 20 yards that flew past his motionless former team-mate Ethan Horvath in the Bluebirds goal and arrowed into the roof of the net.

Although it might not be the most important strike during his 171 games in a Luton shirt, a certain effort at Wembley in May 2023 afforded that honour, it was still a hugely significant moment in the battle for Championship safety as it allowed the Hatters to quickly regain level pegging in a game against one of their main rivals for the drop that they simply had to win, a feat they achieved through Thelo Aasgaard’s close range finish with 10 minutes left.

Back to the goal though, Bloomfield said of Clark, who also bagged the decisive effort over Portsmouth recently: “He’s used to playing slightly further forward Clicker but because of the injures to Shandon (Baptiste) and Marv (Marvelous Nakamba), he’s playing slightly deeper and he’s doing great. He’s got magic in his feet Clicks and he cares. One of the things I love about him is he cares. He’s living this, every day, the situation. He cares about the football club so it was great for him to have that moment, it was some strike.”

In his typical way, Clark played down the quality of his own effort when discussing the 17th goal of his Hatters career, as he continued: “It’s just one of them isn’t it, it bounces up and you think why not? To see it hit the back of the net was just a big relief and then just pure emotion. I saw Tim Krul on the sidelines going ‘get back, get back, come on, we’ve got to win,' and to be fair he was right. We knew how much of a big game it was. A point wouldn’t have been enough and I’m buzzing for Thelo to get the winner. He's been great and hopefully that can kick him on even more, give him that bit more confidence."

Clark’s goal allowed the 400 or so Luton fans who had made the midweek trip to Cardiff on the back of another lengthy journey to Burnley just a few days previously to enjoy an away win in the league, something that has been in seriously short supply over the last 15 months. The midfielder felt it was a deserved success for all the miles Towns travelling supporters have put in watching defeat after defeat, adding: “It’s been a long season like we’ve said before and there’s been a lot of disappointment after games.

"To be fair nine times out of 10 they clap us off. We know how good they are as fans from my time being here, the five years I’ve been here. They’re top, top class, I can’t thank them enough for their support this year and we’re going to need it from now until the end of the season. It’s just nice for a long journey away from Luton to give them something to smile about on the way from home.”