The Hatters kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 3-0 win at National League new-boys Boreham Wood thanks to a second-half Lamine Fanne double after Cauley Woodrow had opened the scoring.
It was an impressive start for Matt Bloomfield’s men, with the manager fielding two fresh outfield line-ups in each half with goalkeeper James Shea the only one to play the full 90 minutes and latest signings Jake Richards and George Saville making their debuts.
Town had already seen a couple of good chances blocked, from Milli Alli and Woodrow, before the latter opened the scoring in the tenth minute.
The goal owed much to new arrival from Exeter, Richards’ anticipation to nick the ball inside from Wood right-back Aaron Henry, to set up Woodrow to bend a beauty around home keeper Nathan Ashmore and into the bottom corner.
Shea was right behind a 25-yard drive from their trialist midfielder after 15 minutes, and the Wood man blazed their next chance over ten minutes later as the ball dropped in the penalty area from a corner.
Alli had called Ashmore into action at his near post in between times and was looking a constant threat down the Hatters’ left, while Joe Johnson headed a right-wing corner from Richards wide.
Former Town loanee Callum Reynolds headed against the post five minutes before half-time, then Woodrow and Jayden Luker combined brilliantly in the box for Shandon Baptiste to head goalward, blocked, for Luker to tee Liam Walsh up to curl just wide.
With the whole outfield line-up changing at half-time, Town switched to a back three with George Saville, the summer signing from Millwall, on for his debut and immediately setting the tone with come crisp tackles and perfectly timed interceptions.
The second goal came on 55 minutes, with Zack Nelson winning the ball just outside the area in the same way Richards had for the first, with Fanne coolly stroking the ball home inside Ashmore’s near post.
Nelson had Town’s next two chances, a deflected shot into the side-netting and a left-footed curler pushed away from the bottom corner by Ashmore’s big right hand.
The Hatters’ academy graduate was having a field day and he slid Lasse Nordas in for a 72nd-minute shot on goal that Ashmore once again did well to turn around the post, before once again picking a home defender’s pocket to set the Norwegian away.
Nordas was having a personal duel with Ashmore, who denied him once again on 75 minutes after Fanne had played him in for a chance on goal.
But it was the Spaniard who had his second in the 77th minute, when Mads Andersen picked out Izzy Jones with a perfectly drilled pass towards the right corner flag.
The former Middlesbrough man then pulled the ball back to the edge of the area, where Fanne side-stepped his man to fire across Ashmore and inside the far post.
Nordas arced another chance just wide, Fanne flashed an opportunity for his hat-trick into the crowd and Jordan Clark rained two shots in before referee Dave Rock called time on a promising start to pre-season 2025/26 for the Town.
It continues next week with a training camp in Slovenia and a second friendly on Saturday against NK Trivlag Kranj.
Hatters First Half XI: Shea, Walters, McGuinness, Mengi, Johnson, Baptiste, Walsh, Luker, Richards, Alli, Woodrow.
Second half XI: Shea, Makosso, Andersen, Naismith, Jones, Clark, Saville, Phillips, Fanne, Nelson, Nordas.
Subs: Thomas (GK), Paternoster, Lorentzen-Jones, Fox, Xavier-Jones. Goals: Woodrow 10’, Fanne 55’, 77’
Referee: Dave Rock
