Luton boss Matt Bloomfield admitted it was a huge relief to finally be able to celebrate his first win as Hattrers manager when beating Portsmouth 1-0 at Kenilworth Road.
Jordan Clark’s 25th minute goal was enough to separate the two sides with Town’s first win since late December seeing them climb off the bottom of the Championship table in the process.
Bloomfield said: “Relief is probably the biggest emotion right now, it’s been a long time coming, too long.
“I wanted to come in and have an immediate impact and that hasn’t been the case and you guys know the emotion that carries but it’s a fantastic feeling to get that one over the line today.
“It was emotional, relief, it’s been a tough week. I’ve lived it this week, but the boys have been great, worked, we’ve been honest and they know how much we needed a win today.
“There were some anxious moments, it wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch. We’ve probably played more fluently and better in other games, absolutely but to show that character and desire to get it over the line is what this club stands for and it was lovely to see that today.
“It’s a crucial win as it shows it’s still there. It’s not been there enough this season, it doesn’t dissipate the disappointment of last Sunday and it’s not all fixed in one day, but to see those smiles around the ground at the end, it’s what we do this job for.”
A quiet first period saw Colby Bishop’s close range prod deflect over, before Town took the lead when Clark started a move from just outside his own area, finishing well when Jacob Brown’s cross was diverted against his own post by Malon Pack.
Alfie Doughty’s low blast was deflected behind, but after the break, there were few clear-cut chances for either side, Liam Walsh’s low attempt blocked and Clark dragging wide on his left foot.
In the closing stages, Pompey’s Connor Ogilvie headed a glorious chance over from six yards out when meeting Christ Saydee’s inch-perfect cross, as the visitors saw their three-game winning run ended.
Late on, Clark saw his penalty appeals turned down, as Pompey boss John Mousinho said: “We started the game horrifically. First half was really poor, it was an unacceptable first half and ultimately we shot ourselves in the foot by conceding the goal in the way that we did.
“We huffed and puffed, had loads of possession and loads of opportunities to cross the ball from set-pieces, we had enough pressure and I think those are the games where if it isn’t quite happening for you, if you can’t quite find that magic tough in front of goal, you come away with a 0-0.
“But if you defend as poorly as we defended for 45 minutes then you don’t, so I’m really, really disappointed.
“We had that one really good chance with Conor Ogilvie’s header, but apart from that, we had loads of possession, loads of territory, quite a few crosses, quite a few set-pieces, but we didn’t have enough quality.
“Luton defended the box really well and in those sorts of games where sides aren’t going to open up against us, if we don’t manage to score, just come away with a clean sheet, 0-0, so it’s one of those days.”
