Luton Town – The Thoughts Of Honest Rob – Crystal Palace (a)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Luton Town - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - March 9, 2024 Luton Town's Cauley Woodrow and manager Rob Edwards celebrate after the match Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 45 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS.
A week can be a long time when it comes to football, as yesterday afternoon showed.
Last Saturday night, Rob Edwards cut a forlorn figure as he walked across the Kenilworth Road pitch after seeing his side lose to a last gasp goal, against Aston Villa.
Yesterday, at Selhurst Park, he beamed with delight after a header from Cauley Woodrow had seen his side grasp a point after the substitutes header rippled the net, going in off the post.
That goal, thankfully, brought an end to a run of four consecutive Premier League defeats.
After the game, Rob, as reported by Sky Sports, spoke to the media, remarking:
“I wouldn’t say a turning point but hopefully a springboard. We’re up against it at the moment. I know there are a number of clubs suffering injuries but to lose two centre-backs in the game, we’ve got a lot of square pegs in round holds out there by the end. To get a result, it’s huge.”
Indeed, our injury crisis is a cause for concern, we look weaker without Lokonga or Nakamba patrolling the area in front of the defence and with a fixture against AFC Bournemouth, in midweek, we can only hope that the medical staff, at the Brache, can perform miracles.
Continuing, Rob added:
“We gifted them a goal early on. That’s disappointing but human error, it can happen. We took the handbrake off in the second half. There were some ‘if only’ moments. Intensity in the second half, that was probably the key to it.”
The gifting of goals has to stop, in our current predicament we cannot afford such lapses but, then again, our spirit to overcome such adversity is something we can only admire.
Continuing, Rob further added:
“We came here to try to win the game. I don’t think we deserved to. But I don’t think we deserved to lose with everything going against us at the moment. I’m just disappointed we didn’t create more. But we found a way to score and get something from the game. If you’d offered me a point at the beginning of the game I’d probably have said no but with how it went it’s a good feeling.”
It is and although I too yearned for the three points a win would have given us, but I’ll admit my mood changed dramatically when Woodrow’s header rippled the net.
Perhaps we should remember, as we approach the tail end of the season, sometimes picking up points is far more important than the performance given.
COYH
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Previous article by Mad Hatter
Luton Town – A Point Snatched Right At The Death At Selhurst Park