Benson thankful for a ‘comedy of errors’

In a tight first half, Luton grabbed a vital lead when home defender Gaz Dean and goalkeeper James Belshaw both made errors, allowing Benson to fire home his 13th of the season.

The forward, who went on to get goal number 14 as Town ran riot in the second period, said: “There were a couple of bad mistakes, I don’t like commenting on the opposition usually, but the first one, the centre half I felt should have done better than that.

“It allowed me in and then my first touch was a heavy touch, it wasn’t the greatest touch to put me through.

“The keeper’s come out, I’m expecting him just to gob it up and take it, but it’s gone through him, I don’t know how.

“It left me with a chance just to slip it through the net, so a comedy of errors and that summed up the first half I think.”

On the performance itself, which saw Hatters romp to a 5-0 triumph and move 11 points clear at the top of the Skrill Premier, Benson continued: “My goals are a bonus, but the team performance was spot on.

“The first half wasn’t great and I think it was easy to tell from the sidelines that conditions weren’t great.

“There was a strong wind and the pitch was very bobbly, so it was very hard to try and stamp any sort of authority on the game.”

Benson came off with 10 minutes remaining and although admitted it was a bit disappointing to miss out on the chance of a hat-trick, felt replacement Jon Shaw was a more than adequate replacement.

He said: “I just felt a little something in my neck as I strained it in the build up to the goal,

“Whether the gaffer was just being cautious, I wasn’t too fussed about coming off.

“And we’ve got someone in Jon Shaw who can come in and do as good a job as what I can do, so it was by no means is going to weaken the side.

“If anything it strengthens it because Jon’s such a great player.”

Shaw came on to set up Jake Howells for the fifth goal to earn the praise of manager John Still.

He added: “I feel for Jon, he’s had an injury hit season. He’s a very valued member of the squad, I think he’s got goals in him.

“He came on the other day and fought Alex (Lawless) for a goal, if Alex doesn’t score it, he scores it.

“He’s contributed here and Alex Lawless too. These are good players, it really pleases me to see the players working so hard.

“They aren’t always going to play great, but that work ethic, attitude, that desire is key.”

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