Luton Town 1-1 Swansea City – Grimes earns a point for the Swans but it could have been more?

After the disappointment of the 2-2 draw with Portsmouth last weekend, the Swans would have seen a visit to Luton as a real chance of getting back to winning ways with the Hatters not having adjusted back to life in the Championship in the same style as Burnley or Sheffield United with whom they were relegated last season.

A medical emergency in the stands delayed the kick off at Kenilworth Road but, thankfully, by the time the game kicked off at 3.15pm the news was the supporter was on their way to hospital and reported as being in a stable condition.

The delayed start did not detract from what was a reasonably bright start from the Swans with Vipotnik and Darling both coming close in the opening fifteen minutes of the game but it was the home side who opened the scoring on seventeen minutes when Adebayo put enough pressure on Vigoroux to win the ball and squeeze it home from a tight angle.  The home side were ahead and bouyed by a relatively early goal.

Being behind though did not deflect from the Swans pressuring the home side defence and Josh Tymon almost pulled us back level when his shot was well saved by Kaminski who would have been relieved to see Franco’s follow up deflected behind for a corner.   Just minutes later it was Vipotnik who had a deflection straight at the keeper and the Swans were threatening to get back on level terms.

It wasn’t to be though for us in the first half and we went into the break a goal down despite having the lion’s share of both possession and goal attempts in the first forty-five minutes.

The opening exchanges though of the second half were a different story with the home side looking by far the most dangerous in the first fifteen minutes after the restart.  Indeed, it took a great save from Vigouroux to deny Adebayo a second in the 49th minute whilst captain Matt Grimes was well placed to block a shot just minutes later.

Changes from Luke Williams on the hour mark saw Eom and Bianchini come on at the expense of Ronald and Vipotnik and just minutes later we were level.   The goal came from a corner although strong appeals from all the Swans players suggested that a penalty was what they looked for as Liam Cullen’s shot was blocked.   But it mattered not as Tymon’s corner was played across the floor to Grimes who slammed the ball home from the edge of the area having been found unmarked from a well worked corner.   On the balance of play it was the least the Swans deserved and the strong travelling contingent were in fine voice as they celebrated the equaliser.

The game was open now and you felt that both sides would think that they could win the game from this point and indeed both sides were pushing hard for the next goal of the game.  The Swans defence has bee relatively tight this season and they were called upon just after the 70th minute to keep the game level when Luton looked like they may take back the advantage but two well timed blocks kept us level and gave us the chance to go forward again.

As the game progressed towards the last ten minutes there was quick action at other end.   First, Franco won the ball back in midfield and sent through Bianchini but his shot was saved by the legs of Kaminski and as the ball rebounded, Clarke looked to make the most of it but he was denied the chance to advance clear on goal by a well timed tackle from Ben Cabango much to the relief of the Swans.

At this stage it was Franco’s time to be replaced and Joe Allen replaced him in the Swans midfield.  Was there to be a winner in what was a reasonably entertaining game?  Luke Williams certainly hoped so from his perspective.

And with three minutes to go the Swans boss should have been celebrating a winner after some great work from Bianchini on the left hand side.  His cross was inch perfect and met by Eom with his head and you just expected to see the ball into the back of the net but instead it flew well wide, was that to be the chance gone, denying the 1,295 travelling fans the chance to celebrate a winner?

Five minutes of injury time normally presents at least one more opportunity to influence the result and the Swans were certainly looking to apply the pressure on their hosts in the early stages with some action in the Luton area causing some level of concern as the Swans forces a couple of corners in succession to keep Luton on the back foot.

However, there was not to be a clear cut chance during those closing stages despite the Swans pressure and as the final whistle blew the spoils were shared but you would imagine that Luke Williams will regret that more than Rob Edwards will in the home dug out.

With games coming thick and fast in this period the Swans now head to Plymouth on Tuesday night having taken a point on their travels and will end another Ssturday with the thoughts of what could have been!

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