That was a brilliant game and performance against a team who are third in the table and in top form. This game meant nothing to both teams but we still fought like it was a playoff final. I don't know why and I am not complaining, but we seem to play better against these brilliant teams–I know we got beat by Boro, but we still played well–than the teams who are below us. We have played seven teams on the bounce who were all fighting for playoffs–Luton, Swansea, Watford, Millwall, Boro, Blackburn and Sunderland–and we only lost one; winning two and drawing the rest.
I was not too optimistic heading into this game as I thought it was going to be Boro all over again and our away form since the World Cup has not been great; we have only won one! But, I was proven wrong and I have just watched a team who should be capable of pushing for promotion next season. Not many teams can not just lose one game to seven top teams, but hold out a draw against a side who are third—considering where we are in the table, that is a good achievement. We are so close to beating these teams and it is the finishing and the final push that is letting us down.
Kenilworth Road is one of the most unique grounds, opening in 1905, and it is one of the oldest grounds. Historical, perhaps, but it looked like a dump and if they get into the Premier League next season, they must move. First, you cannot even see the ground like you can at other stadiums; second, you have to walk through somebody’s house until you get to the stands; third, it is falling apart, and, finally, it is a dump. It has to be one the grimmest grounds that I have gone to this season, with Loftus Road as a very close second—with apologies to Toby Young.
The signal was bad too and it meant I had to wait until they announced it on the intercom. Nonetheless, according to LiveScore, we were in a 4-4-2 formation and Rosenior made four changes to the starting line-up. That meant our team was as followed: Matt Ingram, in goal; Jacob Greaves, Alfie Jones, Sean McLoughlin and Lewie Coyle as the back line; Harry Vaughan, Greg Docherty, Xavier Simons and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, in the middle and Adama Traore and Ozan Tufan as the front two. It was great to see Ingram back in goal, despite a lot of the fans preferring Darlow, and he made a vital save that kept us in the game. I really hope he stays and after a lot of chants of ‘we want you to stay’ and ‘sign him up’ I hope Darlow was convinced enough to stay too.
On the bench for us was: Ryan Longman; Jean Seri; Callum Jones; Will Jarvis; Harry Wood; Karl Darlow and Alfie Taylor. It was a very unusual bench, with four academy players. Also, after hearing Estupinan may be fit, he did not show up and we now have to wait until next season until we can see him in action again. Or, as bad as it sounds, Rosenior will ship him off due to the amount of time he has spent injured and bring in another star striker. But, that would be stupid considering he is our top goalscorer–13. Finally, Connolly does not look like he is staying after I saw his Instagram post, in which he convinced me that it looks like his journey has ended. It is a shame because he is a player that we need, but if he has played three games for us and spent the rest out, it would be pointless to keep him.
The first period was very good for us as we dominated possession, Luton struggled to get the ball off us, which shocked them, and we had the opening chances. Traore had two efforts on goal, but they were both deflected, and Sayyadmanesh had the biggest of them all; Sonny Bradley made a weak back header and Sayyadmanesh was quick to respond and picked up the ball, however, his effort struck the post.
Then, Luton had their time to shine with two very good opportunities; in the 20th minute, Luke Freeman struck the ball on goal, which took a deflection off our defender and landed into Ingram’s hands. And, just before half-time, Jordan Clark and Alfie Doughty combined exquisitely to send in a cross that was stopped by a strong hand and quick reflexes from Ingram.
The first half ended goalless.
We are having so many chances, but we cannot finish. We practise a lot in training and we have no problem sticking them in the back of the net, but when it matters we struggle. It may be that the players are not used to having that many opportunities, or it might be the nerves. Nonetheless, we should be able to stick the ball into the net, especially when we are in the box. Also, our crosses are either too hard or high; we have Harry Vaughan, who is a small player, at the back post and they fire in crosses at ridiculous heights. They should have someone taller positioned there, or simpler, make the crosses shorter and with less power. On the other hand, at least we are putting them into the box instead of messing around with the ball for ages and getting it taken off us.
In the second period, it was more of the same football from both sides, but we took the most opportunities. Lewie Coyle tried his look from outside the box just after restart, but he was asking for too much and it flew over the bar and into our stand. Then Henri Lansbury had a chance to put The Hatters in front, but his effort was fired over the top from range.
Towards the later minutes, both sides did have a very good chance at taking the lead; Sayyadmanesh received the ball on the edge of the box, but he sliced it wide of the post. But, Luton had the biggest chance; Luke Berry intercepted a clearance and he saw Ingram off his line, but, fortunately, his effort narrowly failed to come down on time.
It was quite a boring half to be honest and both sides spent too much time pinging the ball around and not doing much with it. I know it sounds like we all had heaps of chances, but trust me, we could have had more.
So, in the end, we are staying up and Luton are still where they were at the start of the game. However, the excitement was happening elsewhere; Millwall had a 3-1 lead over Blackburn, but they threw it away by losing 4-3, but it did not matter as Sunderland triumphed and beat Preston 3-0. That means that Blackburn finished in seventh, with the same points as Sunderland, but they scored less goals, and Sunderland finished sixth, in which they will play Luton in the playoffs. For us, we went down one position, as Bristol won, and we finished on 58 points, which is seven points better than last season.
I am annoyed, but slightly glad that the season is over as I can now take a rest and have something to look forward to next season. I have watched all but one game at home this season and every away game, but one, since the World Cup break and two before that. I have had some great experiences, but also some frustrating ones. Let’s hope we can get more wins on the road next season, and at home, and push for the Premier League.