At the fourth time of asking, the Hatters finally got that elusive first win of their 2018 / 2019 League One campaign.
After picking up a solitary point, against Sunderland (h), from their first three League One games, the Hatters knew they had to get a result against Southend, to climb away from the relegation zone.
Luton got off to the perfect start when with just 90 seconds gone they took the lead.
The goal came from Elliott Lee who reacted the quickest to score from six yards out after a shot from Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu had deflected into his path.
Midway through the half, the Kenilworth Road faithful thought Southend had equalised when Tom Hopper netted but, thankfully, the goal was ruled out.
Luton continued to push forward and the Southend keeper, Mark Oxley, was called into action to deny Jorge Grant with a fine save.
However, in the 33rd minute, the Hatters were to double their lead when Elliott Lee was brought down in the area by Elvis Bwomono. Danny Hylton stepped up to take the resulting penalty and made no mistake.
The second half wasn’t to produce any more goals but it did produce some entertaining moments.
Hylton was denied a second goal on the night by a fine save from Oxley, in the Southend goal whilst our visitors went close when Jason Demetriou and then Simon Cox caused anxiety amongst the home support.
Luton, buoyed by the two-goal lead, dominated the last quarter of the game and could have made the win even more emphatic. Andrew Shinnie was denied by Oxley when he was put through one-on-one and Mpanzu should have done better with a late chance.
However, those three points will boost confidence in the Hatters camp and we await the arrival of Shrewsbury this Saturday for another home game.
COYH’s
