Luton Town

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George Pilkington

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Luton Town 4-1 Mansfield

Luton picked up their first win of the campaign with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Mansfield on Tuesday night.

The Hatters gave their home crowd something to shout about as they tore apart their opposition for the majority of the encounter.

It was however Mansfield who opened the scoring as Scott Garner latched onto an unconvincing Luton clearance to give his side the lead in the 18th minute.

That was all the travelling supporters had to shout about as Luton then took the ascendancy and started to threaten the Mansfield goal.

A barrage of efforts were thwarted by the opposition goalkeeper as the Hatters looked to find an equaliser.

The goal came seven minutes short of the half time whistle as George Pilkington got his first of two when he latched onto a corner and duly converted.

The sides went into the break all square but Luton looked the more threatening of the two sides.

The first real moment of controversy came just after the break when Rob Duffy was adjudged to have been brought down just outside of the area when it looked a sure penalty.

The opportunity failed to materialise and the scores remained level with just over half an hour left in the game.

Luton's decisive moment came with 25 minutes left on the clock when George Pilkington grabbed his and his sides second from another corner as he powered a low drive into the back of the net that Alan Marriott could do nothing about.

The points were made secure for the Hatters in the 80th minute when an Asa Hall cross was deflected into his own net by Kyle Perry.

Mansfield's night went from bad to worse as, after Luton's Callum Reynolds was given his marching orders for two yellow card offences, Scott Gardner was sent off for a foul on Freddi Murray that was deemed to be an instant red.

Salt was rubbed into the The Stags wounds as Tom Craddock stepped up to convert a penalty in the dying minutes of the game and give Luton a well-deserved and convincing 4-1 victory.

Luton bookings: Murray, Reynolds, Jarvis

Sent Off: Reynolds (82)

Mansfield bookings: Armstrong, Istead

Sent Off: Gardner (87)

Att: 7295

Ref: K Johnson