Luton Town 0-1 Bradford City

Written by Lee Pasquariello

This season is shaping up very nicely now.

Coming away with a win at Kenilworth Road, (City’s first win there since 1968) is sweet enough, but looking at the League One table is something else completely. City for now are top of the league, and this fast start is starting to look like we have a very good season ahead.

The tone was set straight from the first whistle and we caught them completely cold. An unlikely header from Bobby Pointon put us into the lead inside 5 minutes, after a beautiful ball in from Kayden Jackson. On another day though we score more than just the one. Soon after this, Callum Connolly had a 25 yarder that you would expect to fly in and make it 2-0, however it was well saved by Luton keeper’ James Shea. If it does go in, we are treated to a much more comfortable watch.

Doing it the hard way wasn’t helped by a refereeing performance that was absolutely laughable at times. The lack of consistency in the officiating was massively frustrating, best seen by Kasey Palmer. He was getting away with everything in the midfield, constantly fouling, and how he managed to go all 65 minutes he was on the pitch is beyond me.

While Palmer got a free pass from start to finish, his teammate and ex City loanee Harrison Ashby was clearly rattled by our game plan. All afternoon there was a running battle with Ibou Touray. Touray did a fantastic job of getting completely under his skin, and literally getting in his head, as the chant goes. By the end of it, it was Ashby who let the frustrations get the better of him as he lashed out at Corey O’Keefe for a red card.

When you don’t get the second goal and the referee hasn’t given you an inch, you have to rely on your defence. The defence for City was nothing short of fantastic. While Luton had a few chances in the second half, City’s back 3 of Aden Baldwin, Matt Pennington and George Pratt were absolute giants in the air. Both wingbacks looked incredible as well, and even though Josh Neufville unfortunately went off injured, Jackson slotted into the wingback position. Overall, it was a brilliant bit of game management to see out our 5th clean sheet in 7 games.

We won’t have long to admire the view at the top of the table but our upcoming game brings a completely new meaning. Our attention turns to the EFL trophy on Tuesday against Newcastle United under 21’s. With our next league fixture against Barnsley rearranged due to international call ups for players like Jon McCracken, it means that from tonight we have a 2 week break before we play in the league again.

Rather than treating this game as a game where there’s lots of rotation, Graham Alexander might choose to almost full strength, just to keep fitness levels sharp before the break. It’s definitely something that needs to be balanced though, keeping our momentum/unbeaten run going, but also giving some other players a chance who haven’t featured much so far this season.