Luton Town 3-0 Preston North End: James Collins scores hat-trick for home side
- Published
James Collins netted his second hat-trick of the season but his first in the Championship
James Collins scored his first Championship hat-trick as Luton Town cruised past Preston for only their second win in eight matches.
Tom Barkhuizen and Alan Browne had early chances for Preston, but they never recovered from Collins' quickfire double midway through the first half.
The Republic of Ireland striker showed immaculate control with his chest before slotting in the first, and then nodded in Glen Rea's hooked ball for the second.
He completed his treble with a shot on the turn that found the bottom corner.
It was the perfect way for Nathan Jones to mark his 200th game in charge of the Hatters, with his 100th victory.
Fans returning to Kenilworth Road cheered off their heroes on the full-time whistle, following a victory every bit as impressive as the 3-1 win over Norwich in their last home game.
Collins hit a hat-trick in a League Cup victory over the Canaries earlier in the season but this was the first time he has scored three times in the second tier - and in the same month he turned 30.
Preston's early promise was halted by Collins, whose finishing instincts showed Alex Neil where his side was lacking.
Neil made all five available changes before the hour mark, including two at half-time, but it failed to rouse his team.
Luton Town manager Nathan Jones told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"I thought we were excellent from start to finish. I thought the energy and the aggression showed that we're competing at this level.
"Preston did have the best away record in the league. They've got very good players and are a really difficult side to play against, so for us to win the game in the manner we did, I'm very proud.
"I definitely would have taken 200 games managing this football club and if someone had said I could win 100 of those, I'd have snapped their hand off."
Preston North End manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"I didn't see it coming, if I'm being honest. We've been in good form and I thought in our last game we played great against Middlesbrough.
"I went with the same starting eleven because of how well they did. But if we're being brutally honest, they played exactly the same way we did, except they did it a lot better than us.
"We had two or three decent opportunities before they scored - after that, they got a goal which was really straight forward, and from that point onwards I thought they were the better side."