Town Under-18s seal fine away win
The Hatters Youngsters travelled to top of the table Peterborough United on Saturday and an excellent performance saw them impose a first defeat of the season on the Championship outfit with a 2-0 victory courtesy of second half goals from Jemale McKenzie-Lowe and an own goal.
They started brightly and created an early chance for McKenzie-Lowe whose shot was saved by the home keeper who also had to be alert to save a Jerome Jibodu strike from a short free kick by Charlie Smith in the 22nd minute.
A third chance came in the 25th minute when Zane Banton found McKenzie-Lowe on the break and his shot was parried out and half cleared to Jordan Davis on the edge of the box but his shot was driven over the bar.
Peterborough then had a couple of good chances themselves with a header going just wide in the 26th minute and Tinashe Chabata produced a good clearance from a cross with an attacker waiting in the six yard box to convert the chance in the 33rd minute.
The Hatters also began the second half well and Charlie Smith had a free kick from 25 yards tipped over in the 47th minute. From the resulting corner, Davis regained possession and found Burtenshaw who played the ball to Smith whose cross was drilled in at the back post by McKenzie-Lowe to give the Hatters the lead.
McKenzie-Lowe then nearly doubled the lead in the 72nd minute when Davis again won a loose ball and found Banton in space. The midfielder linked up with Smith whose cross was volleyed by McKenzie-Lowe from 15 yards with the keeper again pulling off an excellent stop to tip the ball over the bar.
Despite the home team pushing for an equaliser, the Hatters restricted their chances to a total of only two shots on target in the whole game and then added a second in stoppage time to make the victory safe when a Jerome Jibodu cross was dropped into his own net by the unfotunate keeper.
Paul Driver told lutontown.co.uk: "This was an excellent all round performance with and without the ball - one of our best in this league over the last 13 months - so we are really pleased with the boys today. Peterborough will be one of the best footballing sides in the league this season and have made an excellent start so to play so well and win with our first clean sheet for a while is rewarding.
“It was great to have Zane Banton back after suspension and he made a real difference in midfield, linkiing things up nicely and Brett (Longden) looked to be back to his best after the injury when he came on."
Luton Town: Carpenter, Burtenshaw, Galliford (Longden 52), Rees, Jibodu (c), Chabata, Amu, Smith, McKenzie-Lowe, Banton, Davis (Cobb 75). Subs Not Used: Barnes (GK), Stanley, Haag.