Words | Tom Caldon Luton Town 7-1 Stevenage
Berry 3', 21', 62' Kennedy 45+2'
Hylton 7', 52'
Justin 90'
Gambin 90+3'
Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 14th October
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| Copyright Luton Town Football Club |
Luton versus Stevenage is a fixture which floats between footballing binaries. While the close proximity of the clubs is incontrovertible, it lacks the history and animosity intrinsically linked to a 'local derby'. In the stands however, it means incrementally more than the customary League Two game.
Only seventeen miles separate the towns, but the first league encounter between the teams took place as recently as 2009 following the draconian points deduction which condemned the Hatters to the Conference. Subsequently, Boro edged an embittered race to the Blue Square Bet Premier title. Luton won the only previous meetings between the clubs, both of which were played in the Football League Trophy in the early noughties when the top ten non-league teams were granted entry to the tournament. It wouldn't be the last maligned alteration to the competition.
As two teams in the top seven kicked off, the tension and jealousy manifested in a hot temper. Jack Stacey roared down the right and crossed from the byline. At the back post, Luke Berry astutely nudged the unsuspecting Ronnie Henry before nodding beyond Joe Fryer and into the bottom left corner; the former Cambridge midfielder's first in Luton colours.
The visitors immediately rallied and displayed a fighting spirit synonymous with Darren Sarll's team. An XI containing four ex-Hatters had something to prove. Joe Martin dribbled past the stools which seat those in the lower echelons of Kenilworth Road's main stand, and crossed into the penalty area. Danny Newton met the perfect cross with a powerful header six yards from goal which whizzed past Marek Stech, his right-hand post, and into The Oak Road End, much to the relief of the cumbersome Johnny Mullins. Both teams were playing without inhibition, and that is perhaps when sport is at its most resonant. To play with an emotion and fervour which cannot be sustained; as if to see the ball and goal again for the first time.
As two teams in the top seven kicked off, the tension and jealousy manifested in a hot temper. Jack Stacey roared down the right and crossed from the byline. At the back post, Luke Berry astutely nudged the unsuspecting Ronnie Henry before nodding beyond Joe Fryer and into the bottom left corner; the former Cambridge midfielder's first in Luton colours.
The visitors immediately rallied and displayed a fighting spirit synonymous with Darren Sarll's team. An XI containing four ex-Hatters had something to prove. Joe Martin dribbled past the stools which seat those in the lower echelons of Kenilworth Road's main stand, and crossed into the penalty area. Danny Newton met the perfect cross with a powerful header six yards from goal which whizzed past Marek Stech, his right-hand post, and into The Oak Road End, much to the relief of the cumbersome Johnny Mullins. Both teams were playing without inhibition, and that is perhaps when sport is at its most resonant. To play with an emotion and fervour which cannot be sustained; as if to see the ball and goal again for the first time.
A long pass from the Stevenage half was sent back by the diving Scott Cuthbert and inadvertently missed by Martin. Danny Hylton seized on the loose ball as the most observant and tenacious strikers do. With a stutter and a shimmy, Hylton fired a left-footed effort through the legs of Fraser Franks which wrong-footed the unsighted Fryer. The former Oxford striker ruffled his hair and ran aimlessly in celebration, foreshadowing the chaos.
Boro's hubris only made matters worse. They approached offensive corners recklessly. After James Justin cleared, the subsequent counter-attack was both hair-raising and cringeworthy. First Harry Cornick poked past Dale Gorman and glided into the open space. Once Cornick passed to Olly Lee on the edge of the area, Gorman and then Henry attempted to clear with embarrassingly submissive swipes. The ball eventually bobbled to Berry who dragged across Fryer with his left foot and into the bottom right corner, invoking chants of "Easy! Easy!" among those in the Kenilworth Road End.
The avalanche continued. First Hylton's rasping effort was parried by Fryer, next the Middlesbrough loanee flung himself across goal to paw Lee's header away from the bottom right corner. On the stroke of halftime Lee slalomed through the visiting defence but missed the chance to make the hosts' lead unassailable, and yet there was more action to come before half-time.
The endeavour of Ben Kennedy was Stevenage's only beacon of hope in the first forty-five. His quick feet had Mullins in a spin before poking low across Stech from ten yards and into the bottom left corner. Paradoxically, with the home spectators pondering their Hertfordshire neighbours' successive victories in LU1, the players jogged down the tunnel to a subdued response despite their efforts.
Luton returned with a fearlessness they have lacked in recent seasons. Once the talismanic Hylton dispossessed Kennedy in midfield and sent James Collins racing into the penalty area, Luke Wilkinson's task was to closely monitor the ex-Crawley marksman. Instead, he opted to shove Collins to the turf; making referee Brett Huxtable's job easy. Fryer went left, Hylton went right; prompting the inevitable taunting skip past the travelling supporters.
Boro continued to fall apart in midfield. This time Berry pinched it from Jonathan Smith and distributed to Collins on the left flank. Immediately apparent was the potential for the hosts to register another, such was the naivety of the trailing team. Collins, who has been promoted from the fourth tier on three occasions, centred for Berry. After two quick touches he unleashed a right footed curling shot into the top right corner; sealing a perfect hat-trick. Berry modestly strolled away with his finger aloft, as if startled by the sonic boom which echoed from the stands. A timid hero announcing himself.
A deep free-kick from Martin was Stevenage's only riposte in the second half. After Wilkinson bravely fought off a crowd of home defenders to head towards goal, substitute Kyle Wootton could only hammer off balance into row z. Stevenage were typically physically strong and direct but lacked the cohesion and pragmatism instilled during Graham Westley's tenure.
Elliot Lee came on. exactly what Boro didn't want: a busy striker to further expose the tiring legs of the ailing back four. A one-two between Lee and the marauding full-back James Justin enabled the latter to rifle a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. Six. In stoppage time the junior Lee brother was at it again, hitting the inside of Fryer's right post from the edge of the box. On the rebound, substitute and Maltese international Luke Gambin passed confidently into the net from an acute angle. The fashion of Fryer's last-ditch attempt to boot the ball off the line encapsulated the destruction.
In the aftermath, Sarll declared "We've disgraced our club and our town." And in this instance "we" is the important pronoun, for Sarll must shoulder some of the blame for his team's lack of structural discipline. While the Hertfordshire side's formation suited Luton, The Hatters are an outfit whose artistry in midfield and pace on the counter-attack complements a beguiling forward partnership. With a mature approach away from home, their form at Kenilworth Road could take Nathan Jones' men a long way this season.
Teams (Player Ratings in Bold)
Luton Town
Stech - 6.5, Stacey - 7.5, Mullins - 6.5, Cuthbert - 7, Justin - 7.5, Cornick - 8, (Gambin 76' - 6.5), Lee - 8, Rea - 7, (Mpanzu 65' - 6.5) Berry - 9, Hylton - 9, (Lee 82' - 7), Collins - 8.5
Stevenage
Fryer - 5.5, Henry - 4.5, Franks - 5, Wilkinson - 5, Martin - 5.5, Kennedy - 6, Smith 5, Gorman 5.5, (McKee 64' - 4), Pett - 4.5, Newton - 5, (Wootton 64' - 4.5), Godden - 5.5, (Samuelat 85')
Link to article containing quotation from Darren Sarll post-match interview: