James Shea shines as Luton beat Blackpool

Posted Sunday, December 05, 2021 by PA

James Shea’s fine performance helped Luton earn their first win in five Sky Bet Championship games as they beat Blackpool 3-0 at Bloomfield Road.

The goalkeeper only started due to illness to regular stopper Simon Sluga, but he made the most of his third appearance of the season.

Shea pulled off a string of stunning saves to keep the Tangerines at bay as the visitors spent the majority of the first half with their backs against the wall.

And that paved the way for a superb away-day victory, with goals from Sonny Bradley, Elijah Adebayo and Jordan Clark ensuring the points headed back to Kenilworth Road.

Blackpool, who had the advantage of a fierce wind, had laid siege on the Luton goal in the opening 30 minutes, with Owen Dale the first to be denied as his low shot was saved at the near post.

Adebayo then spurned a pair of chances at the other end before the hosts wasted a golden opportunity to score the opener when Reece James was allowed to dart unchallenged into the box.

His low shot was palmed away by Shea but only as far as Demetri Mitchell, who should have done better when he tamely poked the rebound onto the woodwork.

The keeper then made his best two stops yet, spectacularly tipping Ryan Wintle’s 25-yard pile-driver around the post before saving Dale’s deft header.

And after failing to make their pressure count, the Tangerines’ missed chances came back to haunt them as Luton moved into a surprise lead on 42 minutes.

James Bree saw a free-kick awkwardly spilled out of play and the Hatters went 1-0 up from the resulting corner as Bradley headed home a rare goal.

By 54 minutes it was 2-0, Clark the provider with a delightful deep cross to the back post for Adebayo who duly headed past Chris Maxwell for his ninth of the season.

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley threw on Josh Bowler and Shayne Lavery in an attempt to rescue a result but Shea still stood in their way, acrobatically clawing a deflected James shot over the bar.

Bowler, the liveliest of the substitutes, fired one effort off target from outside the box and regularly tricked his way into promising positions on the right flank but was let down by his end product.

And deep into injury time, Luton compounded Blackpool’s misery as Clark expertly volleyed home from near the penalty spot after a good run into the box by substitute Admiral Muskwe.

The result means Blackpool’s poor run of form now extends to six games without a win, while the Hatters picked up just their third away victory of the season.