Luton boss Rob Edwards accused his side of handing out some ‘early Christmas presents’ after they were beaten 3-1 by Brentford this afternoon.
After a goalless first period in which Town had kept their opponents at arm’s length fairly comfortably, they were then hit by an injury to Tom Lockyer, who failed to appear for the second period.
With the Welsh international absent, the Hatters fell behind just four minutes in, Tahith Chong trying and failing to win a free kick in a dangerous position, referee Anthony Taylor waving it away as the Bees were able to capitalise, a spell of pinball in the box ending with Neal Maupay firing home.
They then added a second on 56 minutes, a corner from the left seeing Ben Mee’s header hit Carlton Morris and beat Thomas Kaminski. Although Jacob Brown pulled one back for Luton with 14 minutes left, the Bees swiftly had a victory-sealing third goal as Shandon Baptiste netted from close range, Luton once more falling to clear their lines.
Edwards said: “I’m disappointed to lose the game, bottom line, Brentford deserved the win. The first half we defended well, we were organised, we were resolute, but we couldn’t get any kind of rhythm going with the ball.
“We didn’t take any of our counter-attacking opportunities and weren’t able to really get any kind of control with the ball which we’ve been doing better recently, that’s been getting us a few points and keeping us in games as you can’t be just defending for the 90-plus minutes.
“At half time at nil-nil, okay we can adjust a few things better, but we lost our captain at half time in Locks. That doesn’t help and neither does conceding after 49 minutes, it was always going to be an uphill task then.
“They got their tails up and it was difficult for us. The lads kept going as they always do and I’ve got to credit them for that. They found a way whether we deserved it or not just to be in the game in the latter stages.
“Browny’s goal was a really good goal, but I felt like we gave a few early Christmas presents away in the second half. I didn’t feel like they had to work too hard for all their goals, and they deserved the win, but we’ve gone away from giving gifts away.
“We did that in the first couple of games of the season, we did that a little bit today, but in the end we’ve got one out and out centre back on the pitch and that’s going to be a bit difficult against a team like Brentford.”
Asked if he felt Chong had been fouled in the lead-up to the Bees’ opener, Edwards added: “They didn’t feel it, if there’s any contact I think it’s minimal. so no complaints from me.”
