Nick Sandamas sees Barnet slip to a 4-1 defeat in the Vertu Trophy

The entrance to Kenilworth Road stadium in Luton — Nigel Cox / Luton: Oak Road / CC BY-SA 2.0

A much changed Bees side were well beaten by Luton Town in the opening group game of the Vertu Trophy (Football League Trophy) at Kenilworth Road.

The League One Hatters struck three times in a first half display of scintillating football to rip the Bees apart. A late second half penalty put the gloss on the scoreline and, while Adam Senior scored with virtually the last kick of the game, it was scant consolation for the 404 away fans who made the short trip up the M1.

Luton showed their intent in the seventh minute when, from a free kick, the ball came to Zach Nelson who flashed a fierce shot wide of the far post.

The opener came just four minutes when Nelson found Gideon Kodua on the right and he played a low cross into the box for Lasse Nordas to finish.

The Hatters doubled their advantage on nineteen minutes when Cohen Bramwell played a lovely ball to Jack Yates who turned his man before slotting the ball calmly into the net.

A few minutes later, Bees centre back Ollie Kensdale went down to what looked like a serious injury and, after lengthy treatment, was led from the field with clapping from both sides. This meant Danny Collinge came on to replace the unfortunate centre half.

Owen Evans was alert twice in a minute to prevent Nordas from furthering the Hatters’ lead, first palming away, then blocking with his legs.

However, with half time seconds away, Christian Chigozie was felled outside the box on the right hand side by Ryan Galvin and Bramall fired an unstoppable free kick into the net off the underside of the bar.

Ryan Glover came on for the second half to give the Bees some width on the left side and came close with an effort which went straight into the arms of keeper James Shea for their first effort on goal.

As the Hatters sat back on their three goal lead, the Bees came into it with Emanuel Osadebe and debutant Ben Winterburn coming close to reducing the deficit with the loan player heading over from a corner on the seventy minute mark.

Then, on 87 minutes, a run by Hatters’ Shayden Morris into the area saw Glover bring him down and he dusted himself down to strike the penalty home to make it a resounding four nil.

With the full time whistle looming Senior headed home a consolation to give the large contingent of travelling fans something to cheer about, but in truth the Bees were totally outplayed by a side who only two seasons ago were Premier League participants.

The Bees seek to register their first home league win of the season when they host Shrewsbury on Saturday.

Team: Evans, Crichlow (Taveres 72), Kensdale (Collinge 26), Galvin (Glover 46), Senior, Smith, Osadebe, Winterburn, High, Adeniran (Ofoborh 72), Stead (Ndlovu 60)

Subs not used: Slicker, Hartigan

Attendance 3157 (404 away fans)

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