Nathan Jones believes Luton deserved their FA Cup win against Wycombe

Posted Sunday, November 11, 2018 by PA

Luton boss Nathan Jones felt his side got their just rewards for a fine display as they beat Wycombe in the FA Cup first round.

Andrew Shinnie and Harry Cornick were on target for the Hatters to ensure they made it into Monday night’s draw for round two.

Jones said: “It was a difficult game, you’re always playing a difficult game when you come up against Wycombe, for lots of reasons.

“They go man for man with you all over the pitch, we knew we’d have to really be brave, there was no real rhythm in the game and that’s the frustrating thing.

“Every time you play them, they slow the game, they don’t want that fluency which we need, so we had to create and it was important we got the first goal and once we did that, I never felt we were in any danger.

“I felt we were by far the better side on the day, we were braver in possession and we had opportunities.

“Harry had a great opportunity early on, we finally got the goal, got the second, Matty Pearson had one, Sonny Bradley had one headed off the line, theirs has been a far busier box than ours.”

Town’s second through Cornick, which came after an error from Adam El-Abd, was the turning point in the opinion of Wanderers chief Gareth Ainsworth.

He said: “We wanted to stay in the game, the first goal is avoidable, definitely, we’ve picked the bones out of that already.

“Then the second goal, Adam’s put his hands up in the dressing room and said ‘Sorry boys, that’s my fault entirely’.

“That’s finished with now, for me, he’s devastated in there.

“That’s a tough one to take – they were the better team, I’m not trying to pretend they weren’t, this is a massive club, they’re at home, they’ve got some really good players – but at 1-0 we can always manage to nick something.

“Craig Mackail-Smith’s gone through at the end and almost scored, and Randell (Williams) had a couple of chances.

“At 1-0 there’s always that nervousness that we could pick something up, but the second goal puts us out of sight and gives them breathing space.”

The hosts almost led inside three minutes, Cornick pouncing on Joe Jacobson’s under-hit backpass, shooting straight at keeper Ryan Allsop.

Luton had the lead four minutes before half-time when Shinnie curled a left-footed strike into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

James Collins saw his goal ruled out for offside moments later, while in the second period, Wanderers missed a great chance after 57 minutes, with Dominic Gape side-footing wide when well placed.

Luton had breathing space after 71 minutes, with El-Abd’s bizarre backheel allowing Cornick to burst into the area and find the bottom corner.