Through the seasons before us..

Luton Town - 2
Nottingham Forest - 1

It’s been about eight ice ages since we played Luton Town due to a bit of ’ships passing in the night’ around promotions and relegations.  And this trip to Kenilworth Road was to prove pretty unproductive for a lacklustre looking Forest side - slumping to only their second defeat of the season - but if you’re looking for contrasts, today’s the day that Leeds United overtake us despite their hefty point deduction.  A sobering thought.

So whether it was an offday, or the onset of Forest’s traditional winter slump remains to be seen - from reports I’ve heard and read it does sounds like Forest really were underpar, but with two strikers with dubious fitness starting, perhaps that’s not surprising.  The good news is Wes Morgan featured as a late substitute - whilst I wouldn’t class myself like some of our ‘fans’ who seem to love abusing Breckin at any moment, I will concede he’s not my first choice centreback for us!

But let’s not write them off just yet - Luton have a quality record at home, and this is only the first time we’ve been defeated on our travels.  It would be a pretty lame endeavour to start panicing based on snippets from the radio and website match reports - so I’m not going to, although obviously I’d welcome the views of one of the 1,800 Forest fans who made the trip today.

The first half was dominated by the home side - although Forest defended stoutly.  Forest had a couple of efforts via Commons and Clingan, but found it difficult to get into the Luton half for long periods of the game.  On 25 minutes we did have some semblance of a chance, but Grant couldn’t get the ball across the line to Agogo leaving us with nothing.

Coyne headed goalward from six yards shortly after this, forcing a smart save from Paul Smith.  Towards half time Commons was brought down just outside the box, which Clingan struck well - forcing a decent save from the Luton keeper.  At the other end Bennett prevented a goal at the other end - and has drawn plaudits from several sources for his performance today.

The second half started much like this first, with Luton attacking, with Smith having to come out early to claim a cross.  It only took five minutes for them to get a deserved first goal - Chambers allowed the cross to come in from the left, which evaded Smith before finding Perry who headed home from a mere two yards from the goal.

Forest responded with a spell of possession which culminated in a long range effort from Commons, which was just off-target.  At this point Lennon was withdrawn from Lewis McGugan - with Forest visibly lacking any kind of impetus.  A chance did come for Agogo after good work from Holt and Commons, but the keeper was equal to it, tipping it around the post for a corner.

The game entered an end-to-end spell, and shortly into this Wes Morgan was introduced for Sammy Clingan - but fear not, this was not a Smoulders negative substitution, Wes was chucked on as a striker!  Must have irked Emile Sinclair somewhat, who is a striker, as he sat on the bench wondering what he needs to do to get another chance in the first team!

Chambers crossed to Bennett who headed over from six yards out, but alas Luton were to score another - Bell firing into the corner from the edge of the box to put the game pretty much beyond doubt, and give Luton another three home points.  Forest did get a consolation though, Wes Morgan had a header cleared off the line, which fell to Julian Bennett who sidestepped a defender before firing home from around 16 yards out.

Luton almost had a third when Spring shot from 30 yards, but Smith was able to save it before the time ran out and Forest were consigned to their second defeat of the season.  So, all in all, a disappointing one - and a result that drops us out of the playoff places at the expense of Leeds United - although, of course, we still have that game in hand - for three days at least!

So personally I don’t think it’s panic stations just yet - indeed, it’s fairly far from that - but we do need to see a marked improvement on our creation of chances after the last couple of games.  We do seem a bit toothless up front, whether you can blame that on our strikers or the service they’re receiving, I’m not too sure.