Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Luton Town and Watford at Kenilworth Road on Saturday; Hatters ease pressure on boss Rob Edwards after sinking rivals; victory comes after social media mind games which saw Watford mock Kenilworth Road
Saturday 19 October 2024 17:39, UK
Luton had the last laugh over rivals Watford after a comprehensive 3-0 Sky Bet Championship home win gave the Hatters the perfect response to some social media mind games.
Before kick-off, Watford mocked Luton's Kenilworth Road by posting a video of pouring rain in the local area on X with the caption 'Taking in the sights'.
The social media post has received over three million views, but it appeared to give their rivals added motivation as they ran out comfortable 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Jordan Clark, Carlton Morris and Jacob Brown.
The victory led to the Hatters firing back at Watford after full-time on X with a celebration picture captioned 'Taking in the sights'.
Luton boss Rob Edwards said: "I'm really pleased for the supporters today because I know how much it means to them.
"It's been a big two weeks, and we knew we had to respond after the disappointment of our last game [against Sheffield United]. The lads have done that, they've gone and shown it today and that's when it matters."
The hosts gave their fans a scare early on when full debutant Tom Holmes's ill-advised backpass flew over the head of Thomas Kaminski, only to bounce inches wide of a post.
Giorgi Chakvetadze then saw his shot deflect behind as Luton went close when Reece Burke stayed onside, forcing Daniel Bachmann in a smart save at his near post.
As expected the action remained frenetic, Tom Dele-Bashiru curving a hopeful attempt over the top from just outside the box
Town then took the lead in the 11th minute in the most fortuitous fashion as Alfie Doughty's corner was volleyed goalwards by Holmes and hit the knee of midfielder Jordan Clark, who was actually looking to get out of the way, with the ball somehow bouncing off him and into the net.
Now dominant, the Hatters could have had a second in the 20th minute, another corner causing real trouble and the ball rebounding out to Tahith Chong on the edge of the box, but he could not keep his effort down.
Home centre-half Mark McGuinness made a brilliant sliding challenge on Vakoun Bayo, while Carlton Morris was freed by a ball on the left from Chong, seeing his pass to Elijah Adebayo just cut out by Ryan Porteous.
Chong went for a second, his effort deflecting into the gloves of Bachmann, as Chakvetaze showed that the visitors were not out of the game, finding space to rifle narrowly over.
A head injury to Holmes meant Daiki Hashioka came on at half-time and Town made the perfect start just two minutes in when another Doughty set-piece saw Morris left all alone at the back post and the Hatters skipper got the goal his performance truly deserved, powering a header past Bachmann.
Luton then lost Burke to an injury when overstretching in the middle of the pitch as teenager Joe Johnson had to come on, giving Town an even more patched-up defence.
Kaminski did well to keep out a curling attempt from Dele-Bashiru, before another injury saw Chong make way for Marvelous Nakamba.
Town now had to dig in, Doughty doing superbly to block from substitute Kwadwo Baah, as Jacob Brown came off the bench for Luton and almost had a third, his shot deflecting behind.
Watford had hopeful claims for a penalty turned down in the 71st minute, Daniel Jebbison's backheel hitting Hashioka, but the visitors never looked like getting back into the contest and Festy Ebosele made an awful attempt.
Hatters great Pelly Ruddock sent Adebayo away, the striker denied by Bachmann, but Luton did score a killer third in stoppage time, Brown capping off a truly magnificent day for the Bedfordshire side with his first goal of the season.
Watford played the final seconds with 10 men as Angelo Ogbonna was sent off for his protests in the aftermath.
Luton's Rob Edwards:
"It was good. We had a good day here on April 1 last year, and we've had another one today.
"I'm really pleased for the supporters today because I know how much it means to them.
"It's been a big two weeks, and we knew we had to respond after the disappointment of our last game (against Sheffield United). The lads have done that, they've gone and shown it today and that's when it matters.
"It's no good just talking about it. You've got to go and show it. And they did it. It looked like today it mattered to us. It looked like they cared. It looked like they understood the magnitude of the game, so we're really, really proud of them.
"I thought that every individual was at least seven or eight out of 10. We made a few mistakes. You're always going to make some, but if we did, we recovered really well, either with a great block or a great tackle.
"Our intensity was amazing. Both with and without the ball, we had a real purpose and a fire about us that I liked."
Watford's Tom Cleverley:
"It doesn't take a genius to see that it was a very disappointing performance.
"You know what you're going to get when you come here and that is good channel balls and strong channel runs, competing, winning set-pieces, balls coming in your box.
"We didn't stand up to that challenge well enough to start and then our own identity, which is to get on the ball, playing through the lines, getting the ball wide and into the box, we just didn't commit to.
"So when you fall short in both areas, it resulted in a really poor afternoon for us.
"There'll be an inquest into what we can do as a coaching staff to make the players realise, but for me it's an away form thing and it's something we really have to address.
"We are flat away from home, we're not committing to trying to play football and we're just not standing up to the battles well enough either.
"So that will result in some shaky performances and it's absolutely my responsibility to make sure the team looks like it has an identity away from home and can start picking up results."
