The Hatters' reserves were comfortably beaten by their Peterborough United counterparts in front of the watching Richard Money and Gary Brabin at Kenilworth Road.

After dominating the opening stages a mistake from Town goalkeeper Shane Gore enabled Posh to take the lead on 21 minutes when his attempted catch rebounded inadvertently off Ryan Charles and Carl Pierganni and over the line.

Coach Kevin Watson fielded a strong-side including Andy Burgess, Freddie Murray, Callum Reynolds, Ryan Charles and Shane Blackett who was named captain against his former club.

The goal had come against the run of play but Posh grew in confidence once they were in front as the Hatters struggled to establish their authority on proceedings.

With James McKeown in the visitors' goal rarely troubled it was no surprise when Peterborough doubled their lead six minutes into the second half when the Town failed to clear their lines and the Posh midfielder Jamie Day lashed home a fierce shot past Gore from eight yards.

As the Hatters continued to tire, the visitors - who brought on striker Ben Wright who had scored for the Hatters while on-loan at Kenilworth Road last month - made the game safe with 14 minutes left.

Dominic Green, who had tormented the hosts defence all afternoon down the left-flank, slipped striker Josh Simpson in one-on-one with Gore and with all the time in the world the Peterborough man coolly slotted the ball home for the visitors' third of the afternoon.

Only some last-ditch defending and a good save from Gore prevented Wright from scoring on his return to keep the score at 3-0.

The defeat means the Hatters have now lost all three of their fixtures in the totesport.com Combination so far this season but Coach Kevin Watson was pleased with the performance of the players involved despite the defeat.

He said: "In the first half I thought we played some good football, passed the ball well and looked lively.

"Some of the young players put in a decent displays. Taylor Nathaniel's done well on the right and Alex Lacey was superb when he came on at centre-half.

"Of the more experienced lads Steve Basham did well until his calf tightened up so we took him off as a precaution and Ryan Charles has led the line well throughout.

"The first goal was a bit of a farcical to concede but I thought we responded well after going behind but as the game wore on we got a bit tired. Especially those who were playing their first full 90 minutes in a while.

"It was a bit of disjointed towards the end as we made a few mistakes choosing the wrong option or not passing it quickly enough but overall I'm pleased with some of the individual performances out there."

Luton Town reserves 0

Peterborough United reserves 3

Full time

FULL-TIME - It's all over here at a cold Kenilworth Road the Town's second string have gone down to their third straight defeat in the Combination. The players have gone on a warm down already led by skipper Blackett as Peterborough leave the field victorious.

88 mins - There isn't much time left here but there have been chances few and far between for the Town. The visitors however have come close to make it four. Wright forced Gore into a save with his legs with a low shot on 78 minutes and the Hatters defence had a combination of Murray, Burgess and substitute Lacey to thank for clearing the ball as Posh pressed into a goal melee.

76 mins - GOAL Hatters 0-3 POSH - Sorry our internet connection again has been playing up again. Posh make it 3-0 when Josh Simpson latches onto Green's through-ball and strolls comfortably through to beat Gore with ease.

58 mins - Not much action since the goal so I'm spotting well-known faces in the crowd. Do Barry Fry and Darren Ferguson count? Well, they're here.

51 mins - GOAL Hatters 0-2 POSH - Oh dear. Firstly Murray does well to prevent Dominic Green's cross-cum-shot cross the line but as the Town fail to clear their lines the Posh number 17 - who isn't listed on my team-sheet - sees a shot well blocked by Blackett. The ball spins way up in the air and is brought down well by Wright who's touch falls kindly into the path of the number 17 who lashes the ball past Gore, giving the keeper no chance.

48 mins - Ben Wright is on for the visitors. It's been a very low key start to this half...

46 mins - We're off for the second half. Both Richard Money and Gary Brabin are present. Let's hope the second period is better than the first.

HALF-TIME - Luton Town reserves 0-1 Peterborough United reserves - That's the first 45 minutes out the way. A mistake from Shane Gore has handed Posh the intiative. Other than that the Town have been on top with Nathaniel impressive and Thornton always keen to receive the ball and look for a pass. More in 15 minutes.

42 mins - That change for the Hatters has seen James take Nathaniel's place on the right-wing with the latter joining Charles up top.

40 mins - The sparse Kenilworth Road crowd are having a giggle as Posh's Russell Martin sportingly plays the ball back to Shane Gore following a stoppage in play. However the visiting captain's pass is more of a shot - unintentional of course - but is has to call Gore into action to tip the ball over the crossbar. It goes for a corner which Jay Davies takes simply passing the ball to the Hatters goalkeeper with nobody else in the box. That's entertainment...

37 mins - There's a change for the Town as Steve Basham has gone off clutching his leg with an injury. He's replaced by Matt James.

35 mins - Another six minutes passes without incident. Basham marginally adjudged offside at one end and a good tackle from Blackett and a brave block from Reynolds at the other. Still 1-0.

29 mins - More sign of encouragment as the Town go in search of an equaliser as Murray, Burgess and Charles combine for the latter to chase on to but the fine passing move comes to an end when McKeown is quicker to the ball to prevent Charles from getting a shot away.

27 mins - I'll admit this isn't the greatest entertainment ever. Still not many chances of note. All we've had was a wasteful free-kick from Thornton on 23 minutes that cleared McKeown's crossbar much the annoyance of his team-mates.

21 mins - GOAL Hatters 0-1 POSH. From the resulting corner, Gore drops the ball at the feet of who I think is Peterborough centre-half Carl Pierganni. 1-0 to the visitors against the run of play.

21 mins - A good seven minutes with a chance of note and Gore has to palm away a deflected effort from Posh striker Danny Wright after his drive from 20 yards was blocked by Blackett.

14 mins - Back come the Hatters and good work from Basham holding the ball up well results in the ball falling to Nathaniel 25 yards out who hits a first time shot that is well hit but off target, sailing over Jim McKeown's crossbar. Promising play.

10 mins - First effort from the visitors. Coutts runs down the left flank, gets the better of Jack Wood and fires a low shot goalwards that is well blocked by Shane Gore who turns the ball behind for a corner.

8 mins - Taylor Nathaniel is looking lively for the Town on the right-hand side of midfield and has shown some nice neat touches and good close control. He fashions a chance for Charles who let's fly from 25 yards but his shot his blocked by the backside of Krystian Pearce.

7 mins - First chance of the game falls to the Town as from a Burgess corner from the left Charles turns in the box but his shot is blocked at close quarters by Paul Coutts.

5 mins - The game did kick-off at 2pm, don't worry. I've plenty of excuses for the lack of updates. First and foremost our internet connection at Kenilworth Road. It's pretty weak and very dodgy. Secondly, there hasn't been much action...

1 mins - We're off, the Hatters are kicking towards the Oak Road end. It's still cold but it's not as miserable as it was earlier. No wind or rain. Thank god.

13:59 - Lining up against his former side Blackett is captaining the Town this afternoon. We're almost set...

13:50 - Kevin Thornton is the Hatters' number eight this afternoon. He's in centre-mid and has had plenty of league experience, playing over 50 times in the Championship for Coventry City. He came up through the ranks at the Ricoh and has been involved in the Republic of Ireland's Under 21 set-up. Coach Kevin Watson is named among the Town subs.

13:45 - After two defeats from two matches in the totesport.com Combination the Hatters reserves are looking for their first points of the season in their first fixture of the campaign at Kenilworth Road.

We're going to be bringing you live updates from the match. I'm sure there are better ways to spend a Tuesday afternoon but if you're stuck for something to do keep tabs on the Town's strong second-string against Peterborough United.

Team news:

As mentioned previously, it's a strong line-up for the Hatters with a the side including a number of players with first team experience. Andy Burgess, Ryan Charles, Steve Basham, Freddie Murray, Shane Blackett and Callum Reynolds all start.

Posh boss Oldfield, meanwhile fields a less experienced side but included on the bench is striker Ben Wright who was on-loan at Kenilworth Road only last month and scored against Tamworth.

Luton Town: Shane Gore, Jack Wood, Freddie Murray, Sam Barker, Callum Reynolds, Shane Blackett, Taylor Nathaniel, Kevin Thornton, Steve Basham, Ryan Charles, Andy Burgess.

Substitutes: Lewis Kidd, Alex Lacey, Matt James, Kevin Watson.

Peterborough United: Jim McKeown, Russell Martin, Scott Griffiths, Paul Coutts, Carl Pierganni, Krystian Pearce, Jay Davies, Jamie Day, Danny Wright, Josh Simpson, Dominic Green.

Substitutes: Ben Wright, Ramone McCrea, Alex Austin, Nathan Koranteng, Sam Cole.