Woodrow wishes he could play Palace every week after second Premier League goal arrives a decade after his first

Town striker Cauley Woodrow joked that he wished he could play Crystal Palace every week after doubling his Premier League tally against the Eagles with a crucial last-gasp goal for the Hatters on Saturday.

Having come through at Kenilworth Road as a teenager, Woodrow was then sold to Fulham back in March 2011 aged just 16, as he went on to make his top flight debut for the Cottagers in the 2013-14 season, opening his account when netting in a 2-2 draw against, you guessed it, Crystal Palace on May 11, 2014. With Fulham then relegated, he remained at Craven Cottage until July 2019, before moving to Barnsley on a permanent deal and then returning to Kenilworth Road in the summer of 2022.

Notching three goals last term, Woodrow, who has been hit with injuries at time this season, had been on target twice, with goals in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, that also a stoppage time effort to beat Everton 2-1. This one topped the lot though, as he flicked Andros Townsend’s wonderful cross beyond keeper Sam Johnstone with just seconds remaining to register a potentially massive point for the Hatters in their bid to stay up. Discussing the moment, the now 29-year-old said: “It’s massive. Ten years ago it was, I scored against Palace at Craven Cottage, it must be a thing, I wish I could play them every week! I’m just delighted for everyone as it’s a big week for us. If we had come away without any points, I think we’d have been really disappointed, so it could be a big point that we look on and fingers crossed that’s the case.”

Once scoring, Woodrow was over to the Luton fans who were going simply bonkers at this point, as he got a spare ball and stuffed it up his top, admitting it was a celebration that had slipped his mind at Goodison Park back in January. He continued: “My wife’s pregnant and the baby’s due seventh of May. She said next time you score, stick the ball up your top. I scored against Everton and I forgot, so I was getting it in the earhole and wasn’t sure if I would score before the baby came. Thankfully it came today and she’s text already saying she’s over the moon so it’s good.”

Woodrow was also greeted with chants of ‘he’s one of our own’ from those in the away end, as Town's players revelled in moving a point closer to Nottingham Forest, Everton and Brentford, who were all beaten at the weekend, On hearing the song, he said: “It’s amazing, I love this club, I’ve obviously got history here from when I was young. I came back last summer, I haven’t played probably as much as I wanted to, but I’ve always got a good attitude, keep my head down, do as much as I can for the team. It was a really great moment, I’m really grateful that they did that at the end and I’m just glad I could send them home with a happy result.”

Boss Rob Edwards was also thrilled to see the former England youth international find the back of the net in the manner he did too, adding: “It’s typical of us, there’s probably a lot of stories like that at Luton Town. Cauley's a brilliant lad. He had a difficult start to the season because of injury, he’s been fit consistently for a while now and he’s been getting a lot more game time and I’m really pleased for him. He’s a great lad, got good qualities, delighted for him, really, really pleased, a nice moment for him.”