Town made it five wins from their last six Sky Bet League Two fixtures as they defeated third-placed Accrington Stanley 2-0 at the Wham Stadium this afternoon to leapfrog the hosts into the automatic promotion places.
The Hatters opened the scoring through James Collins, who tapped in Olly Lee's 22nd-minute header from almost on the line, before Danny Hylton netted the second from the penalty spot after Alan Sheehan had been brought down by Janoi Donacien just before half-time.
It took until the 21st minute for either side to fashion a chance of note as Lee picked the ball up in midfield and made a good run down the right, doing well to keep possession before shooting from 20 yards, but Aaron Chapman got down quickly to his left to palm it away.
It was that attack that saw the Town take the lead a minute later as the ball got played into Berry, who saw his well-weighted pass out wide to Potts expertly crossed in and met by Lee, who had made a fantastic run into the box.
The midfielder powered his header towards the bottom left corner and although Chapman was beaten, James Collins was there to ensure it went in as he tapped in at the back stick.
Jordan Clark looked to drag his side back in to the game as he cut in from the right after 24 minutes and shot from range – it was a decent effort, a good height and with a decent amount of power behind it – but it was straight at Marek Stech, who made a good save.
The keeper was called into action again 15 minutes later as he punched Donacien's right wing cross off the line as John Coleman's side pushed for the equaliser.
Luke Berry thought he had added to the Town's lead as the ball was cleared to him 16 yards out, with Chapman out of his goal with four minutes left of normal time in the first half. The ex-Cambridge United man headed it towards an unguarded goal, but Mark Hughes rose well to head it clear for a corner.
It was from that set-piece, however, that the Hatters netted their second goal of the game when their excellent short corner routine saw Alan Sheehan take the ball past Donacien, who brought down the Irishman in his attempts to stop the attack, leaving referee Martin Coy little choice but to point to the spot.
Danny Hylton took it and smashed it into the bottom left corner from 12 yards, beating Chapman who dived the right way, but couldn't get anything on the ball.
Accrington started the brighter of the two sides in the second half, as Sean McConville poked towards goal from Jordan Thorniley's cross, but it was an easy save for Stech six minutes in, with the Stanley man guilty of missing a decent chance for his side.
Mekhi McLeod came on just before the hour mark and his direct approach caused problems immediately on the left side as he cut in and shot, but it was straight down the throat of Stech at his near post.
Stanley should have got a goal back when the ball was swung in from the left with just under 20 minutes to go, Scott Brown got it on the other side of the box and hammered it towards goal, but Stech did superbly well to get down to palm it away, only to the feet of Liam Nolan who smashed it out of the ground.
Hylton could have added to his tally for the day when he wrong footed Farrend Rawson 80 minutes in and sprinted in on goal, but Hughes once again saved his side as he put in a fantastic block on the striker's shot just inside the Accrington box.
The victory for the Town means they now move up to third in League Two, four points off leaders Exeter City and two behind second-placed Notts County.
TOWN: STECH, STACEY, CUTHBERT ©, SHEEHAN, POTTS, REA, O LEE, BERRY (D'ATH 76), CORNICK (JUSTIN 86), HYLTON, COLLINS.
SUBS: JUSTIN, MULLINS, COOK, D'ATH, SHEA (GK), E LEE, FAMEWO.
YELLOWS: POTTS
ACCRINGTON: CHAPMAN, HUGHES, DONACIEN, NOLAN, CLARK (MCLEOD 57), BROWN (BROWN 78), MCCONVILLE (WILKS 57), THORNILEY, RAWSON, CONNEELY ©, KEE.
SUBS: RICHARDS-EVERTON, DALLISON, WOLLAND (GK), MCLEOD, JOHNSON, WILKS, SOUSA.
YELLOWS: CONNEELY
REFEREE: MARTIN COY
ATTENDANCE: 2,193
AWAY: 587