HATTS THE WAY TO DO IT, SAYS JONES
NATHAN Jones praised his side’s approach to their comfortable FA Cup win as Luton reached the fifth round for the first time in nine years.
Reece Burke headed the Championship side ahead, before Carlos Mendes Gomes’ first goal for the club gave Luton a commanding lead with only 22 minutes played.
Looking to add to their giant-killing at Newcastle in round three, Cambridge made a game of it in the closing stages but only really created two major chances before Admiral Muskwe sealed the result with a deflected effort three minutes from the end.
“It’s a tough place to come, the wind was swirling, there was a cup upset on the cards but I thought we were very professional,” said Hatters boss Jones.
“To win 3-0, come here and keep a clean sheet, make eight changes, we’ve come through it. I was able to give a lot of people game time and a lot of people a rest. They’ve shown that they can cope.
“You’ve seen West Ham today go to a National League side and really struggle. I think ours was sightly more comfortable.
“I’m very pleased because it was a tough game.”
The home side were missing the presence of injured forward Joe Ironside, scorer of the winner in their famous triumph at Newcastle in the round three, as well as influential defender Jack Iredale.
Luton handed debuts to goalkeeper Jed Steer and impressive 21 year old midfielder Elliot Thorpe among eight changes made by Nathan Jones from their midweek Championship win at Swansea.
Luton did not have to wait long before they went ahead, with Burke peeling away from his man to head Thorpe’s freekick beyond Dimi Mitov in the Cambridge goal after 16 minutes.
The goal somewhat punctured the raucous atmosphere of the sold-old Abbey Stadium, with the home fans hoping to see more of the cup heroics they had witnessed at St James’ Park last month, and a second goal only six minutes later went a long way to settling the contest.
The experienced Cameron Jerome played the ball across the edge of the box to Mendes Gomes, who escaped the challenge of Harrison Dunk before drilling home low to Mitov’s left.
Cambridge missed a huge chance to get back into the game after an hour when George Williams’ long ball ran through for James Brophy, who pulled the ball back to Sam Smith in a great position but the U’s forward could only drag his effort wide of the far post.
Admiral Muskwe cut inside from the right before seeing his shot deflect past Mitov into the far corner three minutes from the end.
Mark Bonner regretted the goals Cambridge conceded without being too downbeat about the U’s performance.
The U’s boss said: “We didn’t quite have enough to get through. I think the scoreline’s harsh on us. I don’t think they’ve created a massive amount of chances, but we don’t actually think they’ve had to work too hard for the goal.”