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A headed goal from a set piece in each half from Hungarian centre-half Janos Kovacs consigned the Blues to a 2-0 friendly defeat at Luton. Michael Chopra came closest to scoring for the Blues when his first half header struck the post.
Blues boss Paul Jewell named a side which was a mix of the two teams he fielded in midweek with Scott Loach in goal, Jack Ainsley at right-back, Joe Whight on the left and Damien Delaney and the skippering Luke Chambers at the centre of the defence.
In midfield, Massimo Luongo sat behind Jimmy Bullard in the centre with Cheick Kourouma on the right and former Hatter Andy Drury on the left. Michael Chopra was joined by Ryan Stevenson up front, the Scot having played that role during his time with Hearts.
The first shot of the game was hit by Bullard straight at Luton keeper Mark Tyler after a corner conceded by the stopper when he tipped a Whight cross from deep wide somewhat uncertainly. For the home side, Stuart Fleetwood curled a ninth minute 20-yard freekick wide.
Luton ought to have gone in front in the 11th minute when left-back Lathaniel Rowe-Turner beat Ainsley and crossed low. Fleetwood missed the ball completely but Scott Rendell behind him hit a low strike which Loach saved with his foot.
Play quickly moved to the other end and Ainsley sent in a deft ball towards Chopra, who diverted it to Tyler. Moments later, Luton had the ball in the net but Andre Gray was offside when Jake Howells, a player previously understood to have been eyed by the Blues, played him through.
On 24 Loach pushed a Rendell header wide from a freekick wide on the right but the former Cambridge man was penalised for a push.
Luton were on top at this stage, enjoying most of the possession and creating the better chances. In the 28th minute the ball bounced dangerously in the Blues box but wouldn’t fall for Gray before it went out of play.
Michael Chopra came close to netting his fourth goal of pre-season on 35 when his flicked header diverted Bullard’s freekick from the left against a post with the keeper beaten.
But a minute later, it was the Hatters who would go in front. Howells sent over a deep corner from the right which centre-half Janos Kovacs headed back across goal over Drury on the line and into the net.
A minute before the break, Bullard hit a long-range effort that Tyler couldn’t hold on to. The loose ball fell to Stevenson but Tyler was out quickly to block.
The home side were good for their lead at half-time, having been in control for the most part and having created the better chances. Conceivably it could have been two with Rendell missing the early good opportunity.
With Luton allowing them little time to settle on the ball, the Blues were finding it harder to get their passing going than they did at Cambridge on Wednesday. Despite this, Chopra came close with his header against the post, while only an excellent save from Tyler thwarted Stevenson late on.
Town made a number of changes at the break, Scott Loach, Joe Whight, Jack Ainsley, Cheick Kourouma and Michael Chopra making way for Arran Lee-Barrett, Aaron Cresswell, Carlos Edwards, Luke Hyam, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Jason Scotland. Luton switched Scott Rendell for JJ O’Donnell.
Emmanuel-Thomas hit a low effort through to Tyler then Stevenson headed over as the Blues started the second half more positively than they had ended the first.
On 50 a corner was half-cleared to Hyam 25 yards out and the midfielder stuck what looked to be a goal-bound effort until keeper Tyler pulled off the best save of the game so far to block to his left. Chambers was one of a number of Town players to try to get to the rebound but play was stopped due to a head injury to a Luton player.
Stevenson shot over in the 59th minute with Town beginning to pass the ball around with greater confidence. Three minutes later, Scotland hit a low shot which Tyler claimed comfortably.
Emmanuel-Thomas forced Tyler into another save in the 67th minute, making a powerful run before hitting a low shot which the keeper put behind.
Luton went close to increasing their lead against the run if play on 70, scorer Kovacs again headed a Howells corner towards goal but this time Cresswell was able to clear off the line.
Cresswell curled a shot wide on 79, but with subs coming thick and fast the game was losing its intensity and Town their momentum.
With a minute of normal time remaining, Luton made it two with Janos Kovacs again the scorer. Greg Taylor sent in a freekick from the left and the Hungarian rose to power a header past Lee-Barrett.
Hatters sub Adam Watkins curled a freekick wide shortly before the final whistle confirmed the Blues’ first defeat of pre-season.
Luton had been good for their lead at the break, but after half-time Town improved significantly with Hyam coming closest to beating impressive home goalkeeper Tyler.
But as the half wore on the game lost its shape with the substitutions increasing and the Blues rarely threatened in the closing stages, although on the balance of the second period, Kovacs’s second goal was probably harsh on Paul Jewell’s men.
Disappointing losing to a blue square side. However this is ONLY a friendly match and before all the Jewell haters come on that start moaning, shush. With the team changing a lot throughout the game what do you expect.
I still think we need to bring Davies and possibly Wickham as when Chopra isn't hitting, we need someone else who can. Also another CB is needed for me.
Just when we'd taken heart after the improvement at Cambridge from the same match a year ago, this happens! OK, so it's only a friendly but still disappointing on the day the season tickets arrived in the post when we're all looking forward to returning to Portman Road.
We need some affordable cover in defence, so have Town considered Hungarian centre-half Jonas Kovacs? :-) He is their player of the year I see www.lutontown.co.uk/team/player-profile/index.aspx?playerid=323519&tcmuri=41944
When for goodness sake will we learn how to defend from set pieces as this scenario has gone on for far too long now. Centre of defence still a big concern for me and the squad still does not look strong enough to make a sustained challenge. I'm afraid PJ still has much to do before the big kick off as we need a commanding centre back a striker and desperately need some pace in the side. How many times have we said that over the past 10 years. I note Ainsley beaten again by his man sadly don't think he is good enough. Not the end of the world losing today but still disappointing. We will see how good we really are next Saturday with hopefully at least a couple of new additions.
where did that come from we go from great form to this, and what makes it worse is that a cb scored both the goals.but on the other hand we did have a mixed squad and made a lot of subs. Sorry to be negative it wont happen again. Plzz win on saturday though it will be the first time ive been to portman road since we beat doncaster two seasons ago in jewells first home game. Coyb
Surely pre-season is just that, trying out new and fringe players and trying new formations. It's also about improving fitness b4 the season starts, so lets not get carried away by this result. Would have been nice to win though :-)
oh dear not good dont get me wrong i like chopra but he seems to miss many more than he scores i dont think he is as good as we all think we definetly need another striker maybe 2 id prefer scotland over him more strength and has a good shot
Disappointing result. Fully accept this is a friendly, but do find it amusing that the same people who were bigging us up after Cambridge, now want to point out that friendly matches don't matter! You can't have your cake and eat it I'm afraid.
After 18 months in charge, PJ still can't seem to find a suitable consistent formation. Furthermore, out of the 4 signings this Summer - we brought in a GK who was dropped by Watford for being poor, a RB who is injured, a loanee who actually looks good - but is not going to be the future of ITFC and a CB (who I do think will eventually be a good signing), who was not wanted by Forest, who have replaced him with a better CB.
Overall, this is still a poor pre-season and demonstrates the amount of work Paul Jewell still has to do. PJ has been aware of the issues and it would seem is still failing to learn from his mistakes.
We need to hit the ground running this season - no excuses about gelling. We need a promotion challenge this year - otherwise we would have been better sticking with Roy or indeed Jim. PJ has had time and must now deliver - or ME will have to look elesewhere next season.
Jas: a poor pre season? Im starting to lose faith in these so called "fans" today is our first loss in pre season, we have signed forests captain at centre half abd scott loach who is a brilliant keeper (dont care what watford "fans" say) the only reason he fell out of the first team was due to kuszcak going there on loan! We are not the european giants we used to be, not even promotion challengers and you all need to accept that, until the "fans" realise that and support the team no matter what (like me and quite a few others on here) that WILL NOT change. Players play for their clubs and fans, if you are happy to moan constantly, why is that going to make them want to play? Perfect examples are norwich im afraid, fans stick by them through thick and thin and look at them now. Take a look at yourselves because we all have the power to chip in and help the lads and spur them on. Still a fantastic pre season in my eyes with the signings weve made. COYB
Gibbs I am afraid you need to turn that around. Kuszcak arrived because Loach was so poor and helped turn around their season. Will only be convinced by Loach a few games in.
So Jas, whoever we sign, i guess you're going to have a moan somehow. The other day i was looking through comments when we got Igimarisson on a free and you seemed happy to get him. But the last few months, you've been moaning about old players! If you're going to support the club, please make some positive comments.
Jewell is changing formations for a reason. These are called friendlies so some of you need to accept that we are going to experiment different ways to play. We cannot always have a consistent formation as other teams will work us out. Just remember that run we had at the start of the season and then once a team worked us out, we went on a terrible run.
Should we be concerned by this defeat? It's a poor result no question about that. We should be beating times like Luton with all due respect comfortably. I guess the first few games of the new season could tell us all what may and may not happen. For me if we start of poorly then we have to make managerial changes. I do hope it works out but I'm very unsure .
I blooming agree this is ONLY a pre season friendly.. all respects to Luton but we should have won this game convincingly.. we are desperate for players that play like professionals, not part-timers
So because he was poor (in sean dyches opinion) we say its been a poor pre season? Scott Loach is not only a good keeper, but a born and bred a town fan! Wake up! Its what everyone has been moaning for! I bet you havent seen him play yet but just going on someone elses word?? Give it a rest, we have captured who we can, thats the bottom line, unfortunatly Casillas failed the medical and Cech is still first choice at Chelsea! #berealistic
I blooming agree this is ONLY a pre season friendly.. all respects to Luton but we should have won this game convincingly.. we are desperate for players that play like professionals, not part-timers
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