Luton Town 2-0 Port Vale
Whitfield (og) 38', Stacey 50'
Sky Bet League Two | Tuesday 12th September 2017
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| Photo content belongs to Luton Town Football Club |
So often, momentum is football's most irrepressible force. After relegation from the third tier in 2016/17, Port Vale have experienced a tumultuous start to life in the fourth, failing to register a single point in the five games prior to their encounter with Luton; a sequence which leaves the Staffordshire club bottom of the embryonic League Two table.
Kenilworth Road, hosting its first league game under the lights this season, generated an eerie atmosphere. As the site of Luton's 3-0 loss to Swindon three days earlier, the prospect of a home defeat against the league's bottom club rendered its congregation mute and uneasy. The Hatters, in the midst of a three-game winless streak themselves, already have their fans contemplating a season which began with such promise in the 8-2 demolition of Yeovil last month.
Approaching the fixture, Port Vale manager Michael Brown was faced with a selection headache which only compounded early fears that the Valiants could be heading towards successive relegations. The ex-Spurs midfielder made three alterations to the team that fell to a 1-0 defeat against Coventry. Sam Hornby replaced the injured Rob Lainton in goal, Tom Anderson deputised for Anthony Kay at the back, while Marcus Harness made way for Anthony de Freitas on the wing.
Similarly, Luton manager Nathan Jones had to rebuild his team without captain Scott Cuthbert, whose dismissal against Swindon provoked the Bedfordshire side's capitulation. Glen Rea stepped into defence. Meanwhile, Luke Berry started in midfield at the expense of Olly Lee.
In the early stages, the strong winds duped and deceived more than any jinking run or incisive pass. First, Marek Stech's long drop kick from the Kenilworth Road End had Hornby ferociously backpedalling, only to grasp the ball in relief at the Oak Road End. Moments later, as the ball hung in the air above the hallway line, the flailing elbow of James Collins floored Joe Davis. It is unclear whether misjudgement or malice caused the collision. However, the Luton forward escaped without caution.
After quarter of an hour, Berry calmly controlled on the right-hand side before directing a floated cross towards the far post. Andrew Shinnie evaded David Worrall only to head embarrassingly wide from six yards. The home side had the better of proceedings, but their ponderous passing and rigid formation lacked the element of surprise. To some extent, both teams lacked the cohesion and confidence required to assert dominance.
In a game of little quality, it was befitting that the first goal was scored in calamitous fashion. Once Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu followed his accurate pass into the feet of Danny Hylton, Berry tried to return the ball to the former West Ham midfielder. However, the pass was inadvertently blasted into the bottom left corner by Ben Whitfield. The on-rushing Hornby was powerless to prevent his team falling behind.
At the other end, it seemed like any Port Vale equaliser would arrive by good fortune rather than inventive play. However, de Freitas provided brief moments of quality from the left flank. First, his inviting cross was astutely headed away by Alan Sheehan with Tyrone Arnett waiting to pounce. Next, his free-kick from twenty-five yards looked destined for the top corner, only for Stech to leap to his left and impressively catch the curling effort.
The visitors' direct style was ineffective. While Barnett and Tom Pope had the capacity to outmuscle Sheehan and Rea, the gales which wobbled the windows of the executive boxes at this old ground were not conducive to the long ball game.
Immediately after the interval, Vale at last displayed the urgency and tenacity which once characterised their manager's playing career, but it was short lived. Following an ambitious penalty appeal against Jack Stacey's exceedingly physical defending, Gavin Gunning launched a series of throw-ins into the hosts' box; the trajectory of which tormented the Luton defenders.
The pressure led to a flashpoint which ultimately decided the outcome of the game. When Rea unconvincingly cleared Gunning's throw from the six-yard box, Alan McCormack dispossessed Worrall and passed into the path of the accelerating Stacey. From his own half, the former Exeter full-back galloped down the right flank before striking on the edge of the area past Hornby and into the top right corner. The visiting keeper misjudged the tortuous flight of Stacey's shot which beat the ex-Burton custodian at his near post, almost as if the conditions had conspired to inflict further misery on the Staffordshire outfit.
While the game headed towards a relatively comfortable Luton victory, Stech was intermittently called into action. First, Worrall's cross from underneath the executive boxes was unwittingly headed by Rea towards his own goal. Exhibiting sharp reactions, the Czech stopper tipped over the crossbar. Then, after lackadaisical defending by Dan Potts, Worrall swept the ball towards the bottom left corner. With agility which belied his towering frame, Stech stooped to palm the ball behind.
As referee David Webb blew the whistle on Port Vale's sixth consecutive defeat, the Vale Park board of directors are faced with a difficult question: 'Is Michael Brown the right man to preserve the club's one hundred and five year old status as a Football League club?' On this evidence, his days at the helm are numbered.
Teams (Player Ratings in Bold)
Luton Town
Stech - 7.5, Stacey - 7.5, Rea - 6, Sheehan - 6.5, Potts - 6, McCormack - 7, Shinnie - 6, (Cornick 84'), Berry - 6.5, Mpanzu - 6, Hylton - 6, Collins - 6, (Lee 90+1').
Port Vale
Hornby - 5, Davis - 6, Smith - 5.5, Anderson - 6, Gunning - 6, Worrall - 6.5, Middleton - 5.5, (Stobbs 73'), Whitfield - 6, de Freitas - 6.5, Barnett - 6, (Turner 62' - 5), Pope - 6
Referee: David Webb
Attendance: 7,046
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