Luton turn tables on Sunderland to reach Championship playoff final
At full time the Kenilworth Road pitch filled with incredulous fans, one of them claiming a shirt from the striker Elijah Adebayo and a few others setting off orange flares. Should any minor repairs be needed, Luton Town can add them to the £10m bill that would be required for ground renovations upon promotion and it is unlikely they will mind. One match lies between them and the top flight: for a club that was clawing its way out of the National League nine years ago it is a staggering achievement and, as the revellers eventually acceded to requests they return to the stands, the possibility of further celebrations on 27 May felt tantalisingly real.
It will be a wonder if, upon waking up on Wednesday, any of the 9,000 raucous home supporters will have the capacity to vocalise exactly how this felt. Many of them waited for Rob Edwards’s players to emerge from the dressing room one last time to soak in the adulation, the manager greeting them with fist pumps and a thumbsup. If the team had produced then their faithful had too, combining to create a blistering atmosphere inside this eccentric old venue and an environment Sunderland simply could not handle. Coventry or Middlesbrough will have to deal with the awesome energy and power of this Luton side at Wembley if this season is to be denied its greatest story.
“We had to mix it up and be horrible and dirty and that’s how we won the game,” said the Luton captain, Tom Lockyer, who barely lost a challenge in either penalty area all night. When Alfie Doughty swung yet another ball into Sunderland’s box two minutes before half-time it was Lockyer, the thought of coming second best never an option, who powered in and headed past a motionless Anthony Patterson. Luton had their second goal and an aggregate lead; it said everything about their spirit, steel and execution that they never looked like relinquishing it.
With David Pleat and Mick Harford, now their chief recruitment officer, looking on they produced a night’s work to sit with the glory years of the 1980s. In losing narrowly at the Stadium of Light they had not fully exploited Sunderland’s aerial weakness, which was the result of a lengthy defensive injury list, but the lesson was heeded. From the opening whistle they hurled into challenges, pressed ferociously and, backed by a quite extraordinary din, asked questions of a makeshift back line. Crosses were flung in constantly; while Tony Mowbray’s visitors were technical and nimble, Luton overhauled them by bringing the chaos.
It took only 10 minutes for their intensity to pay off. The award of a leftsided corner brought portentous roars and, when it was swung in by Jordan Clark, a Lockyer header was blocked. Gabe Osho swooped to stab in the loose ball, his finish the cue for pandemonium. By levelling the tie so quickly, Luton had the grip they craved.
Lockyer’s clincher came at the end of a whirlwind that Sunderland, craving the break, appeared to have seen off. Every delivery from the flanks caused discomfort, Patterson flapping at a Doughty cross and requiring a combination of Luke O’Nien and Trai Hume to clear off the line from Carlton Morris. Soon afterwards Morris forced Patterson into a spectacular save, Lockyer subsequently heading wide, and the striker was unfortunate a third time when flashing Adebayo’s centre just wide.
“I thought we were exceptional, it was everything we want to be,” Edwards said. “We had the better chances, way more pressure, the lads worked their socks off.”
That continued in the second half, Luton spending it on the front foot when many would have been cowed into dropping deeper. Clark should have punished another Patterson error and the stadium’s foundations shook from the roar when Cody Drameh, their right wing-back, chased the length of the field to win a corner from Jack Clarke. Prompted by the ubiquitous Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu and urged forward from the side, Luton were utterly relentless.
A swamped Sunderland had no answer but could reflect on the moment, straight after Osho’s opener, when Ethan Horvath brilliantly repelled Pierre Ekwah’s near-post flick. When Ekwah drilled the rebound back across, they screamed for a handball by Amari’i Bell but nothing was given and VAR was not present. Amad Diallo tried to get them going but ultimately a stretched squad ran out of the steam needed for successive promotions. “We couldn’t really get them off our backs,” Mowbray said. “I’m proud of the team, how well they’ve done.”
For Edwards, that feeling was multiplied several times over. He was sacked by Luton’s bitter rivals Watford in September and, taking over two months later, has emphatically shown his worth. “This group of players is special,” he said.
“We’re one game away from the Premier League. It sounds surreal saying it, but it’s a fact.” Luton have every right to believe.