The Town Under-18s maintained their position at the top of the Youth Alliance with a thumping 5-0 win over Portsmouth on Saturday.

Joe Deeney’s side took the lead in the 15th minute when good combination play down the left-hand side between Harry Fox, Archie Shepherd and Benny Benagr saw the latter spot Dylan Stitt’s run into the box and the midfielder slotted home from 12 yards.

One became two 15 minutes later when Tyrell Giwa cut inside on the right and forced the Pompey goalkeeper into a save but Shepherd was on hand to knock home the rebound.

It took the Hatters seven minutes into the second half to add a third when Matthew Takawira tackled the Portsmouth goalkeeper and rolled into an empty net.

With 22 minutes left on the clock the Town made it 4-0 when Lloyd Asamoah beat two men down the right to feed Benagr and he laid the ball off to Charlie Trustram to hit a shot into the top corner from 15 yards.

On 73 minutes the Hatters completed the scoring when Benagr found Takawira in the box. The forward rounded the keeper but found the angle against him he so teed up Trustram who fired home from 12 yards.

The victory keeps the Town top of the table and seven points clear of Oxford who have three games in hand.

The Hatters travel to Forest Green on Saturday for their penultimate league fixture.

“It was a good performance and I was very proud of the way the boys went about their business,” said Deeney afterwards.

“We were dominant on the ball and on another day we could have scored more goals.

“The intensity was outstanding throughout and with two games left all we can do is keep going.”

Town: Hockey, Roberts-Edema, Fox, Giwa, Chigozie, Kwame-Anson, Shepherd, Stitt, Hincapie-Alfonso, Trustam, Benagr.

Subs: Emery, Pipa, Asamoah, Ioannides, Takawira.