Andros Townsend gives revitalised Luton emotional win over Newcastle

Luton did it for Tom Lockyer. They did it for themselves. They also shook up the Premier League for Christmas, delivering a deserved victory to continue the Kenilworth Road fairytale and make Eddie Howe’s Newcastle look ordinary in the process.

A first-half lead from an Andros Townsend header was enough to decide this contest and Luton did not have to strain hard to preserve it. The Newcastle substitute Alexander Isak had a goal correctly disallowed, but that was pretty much it from the visitors whose form is tapering off quickly. They have Liverpool and Manchester City coming up after Christmas. For the Hatters, they are two points from a safe position, but their conditioning, organisation and confidence (not to mention the backing of their home support) mean hopes of a great escape remain realistic.

The name of Tom Lockyer was never far away from the lips of Luton Town supporters as they paid tribute to their captain who collapsed on the field a week ago, suffering a cardiac arrest. There were supportive banners, including from the Newcastle away support, a round of applause for the duration of the fourth minute (Lockyer’s shirt number) and a carousel of chants echoing his name throughout.

The effect of this commemoration was to create an enlivened atmosphere, but there was no sign of nervous energy at Kenilworth Road. The fans weren’t het up and the players went about their jobs, to a man possessed with sang froid. As the opening exchanges of the match passed it was clear that the hosts not only had the mentality to compete with their celebrated guests, but a plan to cause them trouble.

The width provided by Alfie Doughty and Issa Kaboré was, as ever, central to Luton’s threat. A second-minute cross from Kaboré on the right almost connected with Jacob Brown’s toe at the near post. Doughty’s work on the left put Kieran Trippier under consistent pressure.

Newcastle were being hustled and harried. Even when they were able to keep possession, they looked lethargic on the ball. Still, they should have taken the lead in the 19th minute, when Anthony Gordon conjured a split-second cross across the box to where Callum Wilson was unmarked on the six-yard line. The England forward made his header and kept it low, but drove it straight at Kaminski.

Six minutes later and Luton were deservedly ahead. It came from a Doughty corner, and the noise from behind the wing-back as he struck the ball showed how keenly it was anticipated. Driven at head height to the near post, Ross Barkley met the ball with the perfect flick, arcing it over the defenders massed in the centre of the goal and to the back post where Townsend was waiting. The former Newcastle player pounced to head home his first goal for the club. He then ran to the Luton bench, picked up a Lockyer shirt and held it up to all four sides of the venerable old ground.

Barkley, who was purring by this point, might have doubled the lead in the 35th minute but his audacious shot from 30 yards bounced out from the underside of the bar. Martin Dubravka then had to be smart to rush out and deny an Elijah Adebayo effort when one on one. Newcastle had chances of their own, spurned by Fabian Schär and Miguel Almirón. The telling statistic, however, was that Howe saw fit to make two substitutions before half-time, Lewis Miley and Jamaal Lascelles making way for Alexander Isak and Sven Botman.

These changes made little difference. Neither did whatever Eddie Howe had to say at half-time. Newcastle emerged for the second period exactly as they had left the first; one yard too slow, one pound of pressure too light. Brown had the chance to give Luton some distance just four minutes after the restart but his powerful effort, just as Barkley’s, bounced wide off the bar.

On the hour Newcastle were nearly blessed with fortune after Gordon’s through ball was deflected into Isak’s path. The Swede took a touch then curled his shot past Kaminski only to be ruled offside. A lengthy VAR check followed, raising expectations of an overturn, but ultimately the decision clearly stood.

Only in the last 10 minutes did Newcastle create anything approaching the siege conditions that – perhaps just a month ago – most neutrals would have anticipated throughout. A chance could not be fashioned, however, and Howe’s side ended up contemplating their fifth defeat in their last six matches.