Luton on wrong end of thumping at Mansfield Town

Luton Town suffered a heavy defeat away at Mansfield Town as they lost 5-2 at the One Call Stadium.

The Hatters had arrived in Nottinghamshire with an unbeaten start to the League One campaign and a 13-game unbeaten in the league stretching back to last season, but they found themselves unstuck after they were 5-0 down.

Two goals from Nathan Moriah-Welsh, a further brace by Jon Russell and a goal from Louis Reed gave Nigel Clough’s side a big advantage, with a late brace by Nahki Wells giving Luton fans some late consolation.

Despite a midweek defeat in the Carabao Cup by Chelsea, Luton had arrived hoping to grab a second win of the season, but they had a rude awakening when they found themselves 3-0 down at half-time.

Mansfield opened the scoring after 17 minutes when Russell teed up Moriah-Welsh, who duly managed to fire the ball past Josh Keeley.

He then grabbed his second 11 minutes later, with the winger receiving Regan Hendry’s ball before thumping it past the Luton keeper.

Having grabbed the first two, Moriah-Welsh then turned provider, as his cross picked out Reed for a close-range finish to give the hosts a three goal lead just before half-time.

Luton’s day got worse when they fell 4-0 down just after half-time, as a cross was half cleared out to Russell and he duly dispatched the ball into the back of the net.

Russell then got his second and Mansfield’s fifth just before the hour, as he bundled home when Luton couldn’t clear Michael Smith’s header.

The visitors would grab two goals later on through substitute Wells. The striker would score from the penalty spot with just over 10 minutes to go after he was brought down in the box, before Wells then had another in stoppage time with a crisp drive from outside the box.

But the late flurry for Luton wasn’t enough to prevent a hefty loss, with the Hatters looking for an improvement in upcoming back-to-back home games against Stockport and Leyton Orient.