Jones satisfied with a point after Luton strike back against Sunderland

Posted Sunday, August 12, 2018 by PA

Luton boss Nathan Jones felt his side were worthy of a point thanks to their second-half display in the 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

The visitors had led through Josh Maja’s opener on the stroke of half time, only for Matty Pearson to level with 23 minutes to go.

Jones said: “They’re as good a side who have come here for a few years and they showed that towards the second half of the first half.

“I thought it was pretty even early on and then for the last 15-20 minutes they controlled the game and we had to get to half time.

“We didn’t manage to do that, which set us back a bit, but second half I thought we were excellent.”

Sunderland were stronger in the first half, with Lynden Gooch inches away from finding the net after half an hour with a left-footed shot.

Gooch then slipped the ball through for Maja to find the bottom corner.

Gooch almost made it 2-0 in the second half with a curling shot beating Marek Stech but going over the top, but Luton were much improved and levelled through Pearson after a short-corner routine.

“We came out, we changed something, a minor tweak really, and then we were really on the front foot,” Jones added.

“We got opportunities, we finally got the goal and look, we’ve both had chances.

“They’ve hit the bar, Danny’s (Hylton) had a wonderful chance with a header, but I think on the whole a point is a fair result.”

Chris Maguire struck the crossbar for Sunderland with an effort from eight yards out, while there was a late chance for Hylton to win it with a free header at the death.

Sunderland boss Jack Ross was satisfied with a point as he continues to deal with a long list of absentees.

“The game was very much how I expected it to be, and given we are so stretched squad wise, I thought the performance levels and effort levels were good,” he said.

“There wasn’t a lot in the game, we were playing different systems, we understand what they’re good at, the pitch is pretty tight here, so it probably negates a little bit of what we’re good at as well.

“We just looked for that bit of quality and we got it from Josh, so I think that’s why the players are more disappointed in there as well.

“Because having been in a winning position and being reasonably comfortable, I don’t think we were under huge amounts of pressure, and I don’t think we were being cut open at any time.

“So that’s probably where more of the disappointment lies, the fact we’ve been ahead and not managed to see the game out from there.”