Luton’s Wembley dream alive as Sonny Bradley secures draw with Huddersfield

Before this frayed, scrappy but thoroughly engrossing tie the Luton captain, Sonny Bradley, had fretted that it could be his last chance to become a Premier League footballer. He is hardly on his last legs at 30 but nights like this do not come along often.

The Hatters’ presence in the playoffs is a thing of wonder and it was Bradley himself, equalising Danel Sinani’s early goal, who ensured Wembley will be within tantalising reach when they play the second leg in West Yorkshire on Monday. The same is true for Huddersfield, who will be happy enough to have left a raucous, hostile environment with a draw and now hope to make home advantage tell.

Kenilworth Road has not hosted a top-flight fixture since 25 April 1992, when a win over Aston Villa could not stave off relegation and a sliding-doors moment with the riches of the Premier League. The ground, rickety and ramshackle, appears to have been frozen in time since then; Luton’s on-pitch fortunes have been far more fluid and, as they were roared out by a sea of orange-clad fans, it scarcely felt believable that a five-year stint in what is now the National League only concluded in 2014.

Built on a shoestring and playing to the most distinct of galleries, Luton and Nathan Jones have contrived a fairytale. Five years ago Huddersfield achieved their own unlikely promotion and, while they did not last too long at the top, this season’s third-placed finish in the Championship under Carlos Corberán has primed them for a repeat.

After a dozen frantic minutes they came closer to making that a reality. They had been denied a fair penalty shout after 12 seconds when Harry Toffolo was bundled over at the far post by James Bree; almost immediately it was Bree, the right wing-back,