Luton - Sunderland - Honest Rob Gets It Right

Who would have thought that the Hatters, after being trounced 4-0 in the local derby, would be where they stand now?

The derby day defeat hurt, and matters appeared to be made worse, the following month, when Nathan Jones decided the green, green grass of Southampton was greener.

At the time Luton were sitting in mid-table and many, once the appointment of Rob Edwards was announced, admitted they would be grateful to just maintain Championship status this season.

But Edwards proved to be a breath of fresh air, the club began to have a fresh look and more impetus about it and the climb up the table began.

After we’d lost the first leg of the play-off semi-final, 2-1 to Sunderland, Edwards didn’t panic, he knew the tie was far from over and, last night, his input ensured the Hatters played out of their skin to grab a spot in the Wembley show-piece final.

For those who followed the Hatters in the dark days of non-league football, this all seems like a dream and although others have contributed in getting us where we are now, would we really be on the precipice of a place in the Premier League without Rob?

After the game, the gaffer remained his usual, after a brief show of emotion at the final whistle, his usual calm self, he knows there is still hard work to be done to get the job completed and, as usual, his views, in his post-match interview with the local BBC, were spot on when he remarked:

“It was everything we want to be, we’ve got to try to stick to our plan, stick to what we’re good at.

“We did that tonight, I’m really proud of the players and so pleased for the supporters and everyone connected to the club.

“It’s the first time ever that we’ve won an EFL play-off game and to come from behind and win it here in front of our supporters was really special.

“We started fast, we knew where our strengths lay and where they might be lacking and took advantage.

“We scored a couple of good goals but we could have had more. It was really obvious, a few cleared off the line and an open goal missed towards the end, it was a really strong performance.”

Indeed, we could have, Sunderland couldn’t have complained if the score on the night, had been 5-0, such was our dominance.

COYH’s