Second half showing at Oakwell disappoints Luton chief

Hatters boss Nathan Jones was left frustrated his side never really forced the issue during the second half of their 3-2 defeat at Barnsley on Saturday.
Dan Potts goes for goal against BarnsleyDan Potts goes for goal against Barnsley
Dan Potts goes for goal against Barnsley

After trailing 2-0 with 26 minutes gone, Luton gave themselves a lifeline moments before the interval, when Harry Cornick was clipped in the area, James Collins netting the penalty.

However, rather than being the start of a second half onslaught, Hatters only had one shot on target after the break, that being when Collins fired home to make it 3-2 late on, something that disappointed his manager.

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He said: “We never really forced the issue second half, we were better, but we never really forced the issue.

“The third goal is poor defending, we don’t clear it and then they got in front of us, which was us all day really.

“They got in front of us, got on the seconds better than we did, had a lot more know-how, a lot more energy than we did first half and that’s the disappointing thing.

“As although we weren’t fluent, we lost our individual battles and we can’t come here to Barnsley and do that, because they’re a good side.”

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The manner in which Town had played during the first period was also a bone of contention for Jones as well.

He added: “We said they’re missing Kieffer Moore so we wanted to press them high.

“We had two scenarios, if they didn’t play with a big man then we pressed them really high and it’s ironic we conceded from that.

“We lost the first header, lost the second ball, and they just did the basics a little bit better than us first half.

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“That meant we couldn’t get a foothold in the game first half.

“We’re an away side, coming to an ex-Championship side who are probably as good as a side in the league.

“We’ve come up, so we knew that at times we were going to have to defend well and be strong.

“But we didn’t do that, and that’s the disappointing thing for the day.

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“We didn’t pass it well enough, we could never get through their press, so credit to their press, but we could have caused them more problems.

“Then when the big decisions came, people got those wrong, which hindered us in terms of the result.

“I’m not standing here saying we should have won the game, but we could have got something out of the game if things are different.”