start, but an improved second half at Kenilworth Road provided no obvious solutions, with the possibility of relegation becoming more apparent.
The hosts looked the brighter at start, and the Lads had to do some furious defending to keep them from forcing the ball over the line during an early goalmouth scramble.
The failure to deploy a coherent offside trap had already allowed the Hatters in, and their goal after twenty minutes was entirely avoidable, with Sunderland-born Mick Harford thumping home from a corner.
Luton, who had dominated earlier but were now causing their own issues — the set piece was unconvincingly cleared after bobbling about the box, only for a poor back ball to properly put up Benno — appeared much less secure.
Clive Walker forced a wonderful save from Les Sealey, and Bennett had another shot blocked as the comeback continued. Substitute Colin West was the next to test Sealey, but despite some strong penalty appeals when Walker fell down in the area, an equaliser was not forthcoming.
Emeka Nwajiobi finished a rare attack for Luton, only to be declared narrowly offside, but otherwise it was pretty much one-way traffic in the second half, leaving Sunderland to rue a dreadful first half performance that had left them with too much to do.
The Footy Echo man summed accurately the overall atmosphere…
After being defeated 2-1, the players needed to rally fast ahead of the Stamford Bridge match, which was scheduled for a little over 48 hours later.
At least the staff knew what lay in store for them in the near future, as back on Wearside, things were even more gloomy for the locals, many of whom were struggling with the traumatic consequences of nearly a year’s worth of deeply bitter industrial action.
Many a dedicated supporter will have been unimpressed by the match’s outcome; their livelihoods were on the line, and their focus was on something else for once, with the next day regarded as critical.
Sunday may have been a day off for the squad, but a special National Union of Mineworkers delegate conference was scheduled for London, and several North East areas were expected to support a back-to-work call that would provide some respite to the workforce and their families but could not guarantee state reconciliation.
Football results come and go, and defeat to the Hatters was costly in sporting terms, but this was far bigger, and the scars left by the decisions of a disconnected few would take longer, if at all, to heal.
READ MORE:https://sportupdates.co.uk/
Leave a Reply