Beckwith dedicates match-winner to family
Dean Beckwith wins another header on Tuesday night
Town defender Dean Beckwith was quick to dedicate his winning goal against Cambridge United on Tuesday evening to his family, writes Mike Simmonds.
The 28-year-old has endured a downright miserable time of it at Kenilworth Road since joining Luton last season.
After notching on his league debut, he made a further 11 appearances, before suspension, injury and falling completely out of favour, meant he didn’t feature in a league game again until the clash with Ebbsfleet last week.
But after playing the last three league games, Beckwith said: “It’s been a tough year for me and I’d like to dedicate the goal to my missus and my two boys.
“I’ve been an absolute nightmare as I’ve had a rubbish year. I’ve not been playing and been a miserable git going home.
“I dedicate that to them for being there for me over the last year. It’s only a goal and it’s only football but it means a hell of a lot.
“I’ve only played three games this year, but I’m feeling good at the minute and helping the team, so it was a nice moment for me.”
The goal itself was a fine strike as Beckwith pounced on yet another dangerous Stuart Fleetwood corner and curled a neat left-footed finish into the bottom corner.
He continued: “It dropped nicely. I think Jake had a shot, I was about eight yards out and just stroked it in.
“I had a quick look up and saw a spot opened in their bottom right corner. I just aimed for it and thankfully it went in.”
Set-plays are something that Town have been working on extensively in training with first team development coach Carl Emberson and they are paying off, with three of the last six goals coming from corners.
Janos Kovacs was on target too to bring Hatters level on Tuesday night and Beckwith believes the practice is paying dividends.
He continued: “It’s part of our game as well, anyone coming up from the back has a chance with the quality going in from the corners and free kicks.
“It’s part of our job to get on the end of the set-pieces and be a goal threat in their box as well.
“It was a great read from Janos, there was a flick on at the near post from Jake (Howells) and it just fell nicely for Janos, he attacked it and put it away well.
“We were in during the morning practicing them, we practice them as much as we can and are getting the rewards now.”
Beckwith’s goal made it 3-1 to Luton but try as they might, they couldn’t put the game to bed, before United pulled one back to ensure a nervy few moments.
The delight all around Kenilworth Road was palpable at full time though as Beckwith added: “It was a tough game, a derby game. The crowd were excellent and really added to the atmosphere.
“They made it difficult, but we stood up to their threat and deserved the win.
“Credit to the lads as we went 1-0 down, it was a great strike from their lad to score in the top corner.
“We showed the character and team spirit we’ve got at the moment as everyone is pulling in the right direction.
“We showed great belief, their crowd were up, their players were up, but we came back and won the game.
“Rens (Scott Rendell), Fleets (Stuart Fleetwood) and (Andrey) Gray got in a couple of times down both flanks with some great shots and their keeper pulled off a couple of good saves, so it was a good performance.”
Like defensive partner Kovacs though, the one thing that was missing for Beckwith was a clean sheet, something they haven’t managed in their four games at home this season.
He said: “It’s disappointing letting in two goals. There’s not much we could do about the first one, but the second one is something we have been working on.
“We need to start getting clean sheets as we can’t always rely on the boys upfront to score three goals to win games.”
Hatters head to Alfreton Town this weekend, with a great chance of making it four wins on the bounce, but Beckwith appreciates they will have to work hard for the victory.
He added: “It’s another tough game, away from home, but we’re second in the league now, so it’s another chance to get top spot.
“It’s a difficult place to go, every place is difficult as they’ve got one of the bigger clubs coming to their place.
“They’ll raise their game, we need to raise our game like we did on Tuesday and hopefully we’ll get the three points.
“We know we’re going to have to win the battle first and try to earn the right to get the ball down and play.
“But we can do that and we’ve got quality in forward positions to go and win the game.”
For all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, MOM poll, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our Hatters Microsite.
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Weather for Luton
Saturday 25 May 2013
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Temperature: 5 C to 15 C
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