Oxford United 2 Luton Town 0

And so it continues. Another good performance from Oxford, who saw off a disappointing and ultimately frustrated Luton side fairly comfortably in the end, and for a change United handled the large crowd and expectation somewhat better than their opponents, who seemed to freeze.

The first five minutes of the game had more action than in the whole of the match against Forest Green Rovers eight days ago, and many fans missed it as they were still struggling to get into the ground, despite the kick-off being delayed for 15 minutes due to the traffic congestion. In the second minute Rossi Jarvis brought down James Constable in the area, but a clearly nervous Constable had his penalty kick easily saved by Mark Tyler. With the Luton fans still celebrating, Constable made up for his miss when he shot home at the near post after an excellent run and cross by Matt Green. Ten minutes later Jamie Cook, making his home debut after his recent signing from Crawley Town, scored an absolute wonder goal that beat Tyler all end up and gave United a cushion to protect. Luton tried to mount some pressure, but they were undone by a mixture of resolute defending and their own poor distribution and finishing. Only Adam Newton provided any sort of threat, but his colleagues were never at the races. Even after Tom Craddock latched onto a poor back header from Damien Batt his cross was well cut out by Ryan Clarke when a goal looked inevitable.

Luton started the second half looking to get back into the game, but were again let down by their final ball. Clarke, who had been imperious all game, made a superb double save to deny Craddock, but these were about the only chances that Luton managed to get on target. The game was effectively over as a contest ten minutes into the second half, when Luton's captain Kevin Nicholls took out Green with a cynical late challenge and he was rightly dismissed. That was the signal for United to take the heat out of the game and slow things down with some exquisite possession football, although they were also guilty of over-cooking it on occasion. Further chances did fall Oxford's way, with a powerful goal-bound effort from Steven Kinniburgh blocked, and another goal-bound shot from Adam Chapman deflected wide. Chapman also forced Tyler into an excellent save to keep out another long-range shot as Luton had effectively surrendered in the last 20 minutes. This was a big three points for the Yellows, but they are going to face plenty of better teams than Luton this season and will have to treat every game as a challenge if they are to retain top spot until the end of the season.

Chris Wilder kept the same side that beat Ebbsfleet United 2-0 on Saturday. The first substitution was made in the 67th minute, when Adam Chapman came on for Green. Eight minutes from time Jack Midson took over from Constable, and in the final minute of normal time Cook came off to a standing ovation, to be replaced by Alfie Potter.

Tonight's referee was Wiltshireman Brendon Malone, who was recently in charge of United's 4-0 win over Chester City. He had a decent game, all things considered, and didn't allow the occasion to get the better of him. He showed yellow cards to Batt and Cook. The attendance was a reasonably impressive 10,613, with 2,331 going home with tears in their eyes.

The win opens up a five-point gap for United ahead of second-placed Kettering Town, who beat third-bottom Gateshead 4-0. Luton are now in fourth place. Mansfield Town have dropped to third after losing 3-1 at Kidderminster Harriers. Rob Duffy scored The Stags' consolation from the penalty spot. Tamworth now occupy fifth place after winning 2-1 at bottom side Chester City. Sixth-placed Cambridge United were held to a goalless draw by Altrincham.

Forest Green Rovers remain second from bottom after a 0-0 draw with sixth-bottom Hayes & Yeading United. Ebbsfleet United remain fourth from bottom despite drawing 0-0 with Rushden & Diamonds, while Grays Athletic remain one place above the drop zone after going down 2-0 at Salisbury City, who are awaiting the ratification of their ten-points deduction. Jon Ashton opened the scoring for Stevenage Borough, who went seventh after beating Eastbourne Borough 2-0. York City are eighth after drawing 0-0 at Barrow. Chris Carruthers scored Crawley's first in the 87th minute, and a Jefferson Louis goal in stoppage time completed a 2-0 win over Histon. [@news]2556[/@news] [@opponent]luton town[/@opponent]