Lorentzen-Jones at the double as Luton U21s hit back to beat Rangers U21s

Jack Lorentzen-Jones scored twice as Luton U21s hit back to beat Scottish Premier League giants Rangers U21s 3-2 at Kenilworth Road in an entertaining friendly clash last night.

The Hatters named a youthful side for the contest, although did include centre half Aidan Francis-Clarke, who was with the first team during pre-season, plus Jacob Pinnington, currently on loan at National League outfit Solihull Moors. Town had begun the contest brightly, with Lorentzen-Jones and Christian Chigozie both sending attempts over the crossbar, before they fell behind on 15 minutes, Christopher Eadie firing past Henry Blackledge against the run of play.

The advantage didn’t last long though, Lorentzen-Jones netting with a terrific effort that flew beyond keeper Alfie Halliwell to level the scores. Alex Lawless’ side continued to maintain the pressure as they almost had a second when Joshua Odell-Bature’s speculative long shot was narrowly wide. They did double their lead moments before the break though, Lorentzen-Jones adding to his earlier strike with a penalty after he had been felled inside the area by Zander Hutton in the box.

After the interval, Luton remained on the front foot, as they made the most of their dominance, Charlie Trustram converting Pinnington’s cross to put the Hatters 3-1 ahead. Blackledge was called into action on the hour mark as he repelled Eadie’s low drive, before Rangers did reduce the deficit with 20 minutes remaining, Archie Stevens on target. A brilliant save from Blackledge prevented Alex Lowry from drawing the visitors level in stoppage time, as Town saw off a flurry of late attacks to continue their winning start to the season.

Hatters: Henry Blackledge, Christian Chigozie (Zacharias Ioannides 90), Benedict Benagr, Aidan Francis-Clarke, Vladimir Paternoster (Claude Kayibanda 68), Josh Odell-Bature (Harry Fox 46), Jacob Pinnington (Tyrell Giwa 59), Dominic Martins, Oli Lynch, Charlie Trustram (Josh Phillips 59), Jack Lorentzen-Jones. Subs not used: Coyne, Emery. Attendance: 502.