Luton snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as Hatters concede twice late on to lose to Wigan

Luton Town threw away their first home victory of the season as they conceded twice in the final 10 minutes to somehow lose 2-1 to Wigan Athletic this afternoon.

It had looked like the Hatters were on their way to recording an opening three points at Kenilworth Road, courtesy of Carlton Morris's first half goal, as the visitors offered little for the opening 80 minutes of the contest.

However, Tom Lockyer then deflected Callum Lang's low shot into the net and from the visitors' first actual shot on target, Thelo Aasgaard curled beyond Ethan Horvath with two minutes to go to seal a smash-and-grab victory.

Town chief Nathan Jones made one change to the side that beat Cardiff 2-1 on Tuesday night, Gabe Osho replacing Reece Burke who came off at half time with a head injury, captain Sonny Bradley and Harry Cornick returning to the bench

The hosts made a bright start, Jordan Clark finding Carlton Morris whose backheel sent Elijah Adebayo clean through, keeper Ben Amos off his line in the nick of time to get a vital block on the striker's shot, denying him a first of the campaign.

Back came Wigan, as Ryan Nyambe had space and when his shot was charged down, James McClean's effort deflected behind off a Town defender.

Luke Freeman sent an ambitious effort well wide of the target, as did James Bree shortly afterwards, nowhere near from even further out.

With both sides struggling to put any passing moves together, too often going long or not picking out an opponent, the game became a laborious affair, with precious little goalmouth action to get excited about.

Out of nothing, Luton almost had the lead with 33 minutes gone, as Lockyer won the ball back and found Freeman.

He ate up the yards ahead of him before unleashing a terrific strike that drew an equally impressive save, Amos arching his back to tip over the bar.

The resulting corner saw Lockyer's stooping header cleared away before it could creep in, while another of Freeman's dangerous corners had Morris’s shot blocked.

With the pressure being ramped up, and the crowd finally coming to life, Luton made the most of it on 39 minutes, after a sublime corner routine no doubt dreamt up from the mind of first team coach Alan Sheehan.

Allan Campbell took it, as Freeman and Clark were involved, the ball played back to Bree, who lofted a cross into the area where Morris took off, soaring through the air to guide his header into the corner for a third goal in four games.

A second almost arrived moments later, Campbell setting off a run that Lionel Messi in his pomp would have been proud off on the right, jinking his way past three players, unleashing a cross that was almost diverted into his own net by Nyambe.

After the break, Adebayo who appeared to be struggling with a knee injury, was replaced by Cauley Woodrow, able to go in his favoured striking berth alongside his ex-Barnsley team-mate.

The two combined to send the increasingly influential Campbell through, but Jack Whatmough was covering round with a crucial challenge, as from the corner, a skied clearance saw Amos make a mess of his punch, Osho found by Woodrow to curl just past the post.

Although Luton were in control, a second strike was needed to allay any nerves, Lang putting a diving header wide at the far post to remind Town they weren't home yet.

Jones reacted by bringing on Cameron Jerome and Cornick for Morris and Freeman, with Woodrow back into midfield once more, Jerome thinking he had a penalty when he robbed Curtis Tilt in the area and went down under the defender's challenge, although a lenient referee Chris Kavanagh, as he had done pretty much all afternoon, gave nothing.

Town then paid the price for not getting that security blanket of another goal with 10 minutes left, Amari’i Bell's clearance rebounding and not going behind, with the ensuing cross in to the box finding Lang.

It looked like Campbell had got back in time, but the ball stuck to the forward whose low effort hit Lockyer to beat the unlucky Ethan Horvath.

The visitors then appeared the more likely to snatch victory, flooding forward, as Osho made two terrific blocks, before Luton had a huge let-off, Graeme Shinnie, brother of ex-Hatter Andrew, having his legs taken away by Bell inside the box, only to see Kavanagh somehow not award a spot-kick.

However, the visitors did have the winner with two minutes to go, Town, with Fred Onyedinma and Luke Berry now on in search of a victory, leaving too many forward and too many spaces at the back, allowing an unmarked Aasgaard to curl home a super shot from 20 yards to leave the hosts and their supporters absolutely shell-shocked.

In stoppage time, Luton thought they had rescued the point they deserved at the very least, Bree's free kick turned home, but the referee's assistant flag had already been raised, as the Hatters' search for that elusive home win continued.

Hatters: Ethan Horvath, James Bree, Gabe Osho, Tom Lockyer, Dan Potts (C), Amari'i Bell, Allan Campbell (Luke Berry 83), Luke Freeman (Harry Cornick 71), Jordan Clark (Fred Onyedinma 83), Carlton Morris (Cameron Jerome 71), Elijah Adebayo (Cauley Woodrow 54).

Subs not used: Matt Macey, Sonny Bradley.

Latics: Ben Amos, Ryan Nambe, Tom Naylor (Thelo Aasgaard 62), Jack Whatmough, Max Power (C), Will Keane (Joe Bennett 86), James McClean (Ashley Fletcher 86), Jason Kerr (Nathan Broadhead 63), Curtis Tilt, Callum Lang, Josh Magennis (Graeme Shinnie 62).

Subs not used: Jamie Jones, Rarmani Edmonds-Green.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.

Booked: Morris 70, Power 90.

Attendance: 9,885 (1,035 Latics).