The Hatters Under-21s fell short in the Beds Senior Cup quarter-final as Leighton Town came out on top 3-1 at Bell Close.
Taylan Harris struck early in the first half before goals from Sydney Ibie, Bernard Christie and Jamie Breen guaranteed the home sides semi-final place.
It was the perfect start to the evening for the young Hatters as Harris, making a return to Alex Lawless’ side for the first time since returning from his loan at Tranmere Rovers, found the net early with an impressive finish.
The forward, starting on the right-hand side of a front three, cut in on his left foot to fire a powerful low drive into the back of the net, leaving Jesse Bedford helpless in the Leighton goal.
Town continued to fight and pile on the pressure in the first half but never managed to find that crucial second goal and it proved costly, as just four minutes from the interval Ibie hit a deflected effort that sailed over Liam Coyne to draw the home side level.
Bad turned to worse for the U21s in the second half, as just minutes after the restart Leighton found their second, as a whipped in cross evaded the Town defence which allowed a flick on at the near post to be bundled in by Christie to put his side in front.
The young side, hoping to progress further after beating Dunstable Town 5-0 in the previous round of the competition, struggled to find fluidity and momentum in the second half and their evening became much tougher just past the hour mark as Jamie Breen converted following another deflection in the Hatters penalty area to make it 3-1 to the hosts.
A late second half rally from the Town proved insufficient, falling to another defeat at Bell Close following the last meeting in which the young side fell just short in a tense penalty shootout in the same round of the Beds Senior Cup.
Town: Coyne, Source (sub Isufi 80), Kwame Anson, Paternoster, Ioannides (Roberts-Edema 68), Fox, Stitt, Trustram, Benagr (sub Lorentzen-Jones 45), Hincapie-Alfonso, Harris (sub Shepherd 51).
Subs not used: Booth
Report by: Liam Wilmot
