The Hatters' Under-18s returned to league action on Saturday morning against Northampton, with Town looking to extend their good form that saw them reach fourth place in the table before Christmas.
In the opening exchanges the game was very even with both teams trying to play on what was a very heavy and uneven pitch. Northampton's pressing game caused the Hatters problems although on the counter attack Luton always looked dangerous.
The deadlock was broken midway through the first half after Alex Lacey clumsily fouled a Northampton forward near the edge of the 18yd box. Michael Jacobs stepped up for the Cobblers and swept the ball over the wall and into the top corner of the goal, leaving Lewis Kidd in the Town goal helpless.
The goal appeared to knock the wind out of Hatters' sails and for the rest of the half Northampton dominated possession and Town never really threatened.
The second half did not start well as Northampton again pressed and Town never really managed to hold onto any meaningful possession and threaten the Cobblers goal. As Northampton pressed again clever play in a wide area saw Northampton's forwards drive inside and fire the ball past Lewis Kidd at his near post.
Town changed shape due to an injury and were sparked into life. All of a sudden substitute Liam Toomey had a positive effect on the game as he held the ball up well, threatened in behind and ran well into wide areas. Ryan Dasilva also linked play well with Matt Harriott maintaining possession well in midfield. Only a fabulous block from the Cobblers goalkeeper stopped Toomey from getting the goal he deserved from his performance.
As Town pressed and attempted to get a foothold in the game, they left themselves exposed at the back and this was to cost them, as poor defending allowed a Northampton forward through on goal one on one and he slotted calmly passed Kidd.
Town maintained their pressure but by now Northampton were sitting very deep and looking to protect their 3-0 lead which they did effectively condemning Martin Prickett's side to a disappointing defeat in their first league game of 2010.
Prickett said afterwards: "We were simply not good enough today, we did not move the ball well enough in tight situations and were defensively all over the place.
"We moved the ball really well in midfield at times and then did not have any product or tried to hit the killer ball too early, what is most displeasing is the way we were out fought and how quickly our heads dropped after conceding the first goal.
"Sometimes you need a game like this so you know how to drive the players forward.
"Today we only had one second year playing so it was all Under-17 or Under-16 players in the team and it shows that they have a lot of work still to do if they want to have a living as a professional footballer.
"I guess that is the joy of youth team football. Some weeks you are excellent and others they are not at the races and we had too many with their head in the clouds on Saturday morning.
"I hope such a poor performance is the jolt they need so they can regain their focus and have some determination to be better next time. At least after today there is only one direction in which we can all go!"
Squad:
Kidd, James, Deeney, Lacey, Donacien, Bufano, Yamfam, Dasilva, Ann, Harriott, Tavernier, Patrick, Blake, Toomey.
