Goals from Jamie Odegah and Charlie Trustram sealed an impressive 2-1 win for the Hatters over Exeter City at Enfield Town.
Trustram opened the scoring midway through the first half with an excellent header at the far post, before Odegah found himself unmarked to double our advantage late in the half to secure our first win in the Premier League Cup group stages.
In a testing opening period for the Town, it was Charlie Booth who found himself tested on several occasions, not least when the shot-stopper reacted quickest in the tenth minute to make a double save from Grecians forward George Birch from close range.
It was the Hatters, however, who took the lead midway through the first half, when an excellent cross from Harry Fox found midfield team-mate Trustram at the far post to nod past Exeter keeper Frankie Phillips.
The Grecians had chances to equalise following Town's opener, though Birch’s long-range free-kick could only sting Booth’s palms, before another smart stop from the young goalkeeper in the 34th minute.
The Hatters doubled their advantage in the latter stages of the first half, when Dylan Stitt found himself with enough space on the left of the box to curl in a beautiful cross which evaded several of the Exeter defenders and found Odegah with space to finish cooly at the near post.
As Town looked to triple their lead after the half-time interval, forward Odegah sprinted clear from the Grecians' defence and unselfishly squared the ball across the box, but no-one in an orange shirt could get on the end of the pass.
Zach Ioannides did well to keep the ball in play, but his cross deflected twice on its way through to Trustram, who couldn’t convert in a scrappy penalty box.
It was Exeter who pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute as forward Kieran Wilson worked his way into the box, seemingly marshalled well at first by the Hatters defence, but the striker managed to cut inside and power home a thundering finish into the top corner past Booth.
In the closing stages as the Hatters sought to increase their lead, substitute Samuel Alfonso did well to get on the end of a long forward ball before dribbling his way into the area.
Although the striker's cross-come-shot managed to evade everyone in the box, in the end it didn’t matter as the Hatters held on to secure their first win of the PL Cup group stages.
Town: Booth, Ioannides, Paternoster (c), Pagano, Evans, Fox (Frimpong-Kwakye 79), Lorentzen-Jones, Isufi (Alfonso 79), Trustram, Stitt, Odegah.
Goals: Trustram 25, Odegah 45.
Report: Liam Wilmot
