Darlington kicked off a month of very tough fixtures with a defeat at Luton Town last night, and although it will be of no consolation to Gary Bennett or the hundreds of Quakers fans who made the trip, the match was a hugely entertaining affair.

Seven goals, two of which were belonged to a higher stage than Kenilworth Road, three penalties, two of which were missed and six bookings made for a superb game of attacking football. The Hatters, deserved winners on the night, however were flattered somewhat by the one-sided scoreline.

The defeat means Darlington have yet to keep a clean sheet in six away games and now know they must take something from next Saturday's game at home to Mansfield if they're to keep track of the division's pace-setters.

Gary Bennett wasn't too down-hearted, although he was annoyed with the way his team conceded Luton's third goal, which ultimately killed off Quakers.

"I thought we could have got at them more than we did but after an hour we were chasing the game," he said.

"The quality of football by both teams was very good, a credit to the third division. But you can't argue about two of their goals, especially the one from Matthew Spring. I was always said it was going to be a good test and I thought we matched them. But where we were let down was their third goal.

"If we'd cleared our lines and defended a litle bit better the game could've gone either way."

Despite injury concerns over several players, Darlington made just two changes, one of those being the inclusion of Neil Wainwright, while Mark Ford failed to recover in time from his knee injury and didn't travel. His place taken by Phil Brumwell, who came in for his first start of the season.

Neither side could stamp their authority on the game in the opening stages and it took until just before the 20-minute mark for Darlington to force their first chance.

Simon Betts whipped in a deep cross which Richard Hodgson connected volleyed wide.

Quakers were gifted the lead minutes later when Luton goalkeeper Carl Emberson made a hash of a Matthew Taylor backpass. His first-time clearance went directly to Mellanby on the edge of the penalty area who made no mistake in dispatching the ball past the embarrassed keeper.

Although it gave the match some spark, the goal was harsh on Luton who'd created just as much as Darlington with the hosts' French left-winger Jean-Louis Valois performing well.

But the Hatters, watched by club director and ex-FA Chief Executive Graham Kelly, didn't have to wait long for an equaliser.

Darlington couldn't clear 25-yards from goal, and Spring picked up the loose ball to lash home superbly, giving Andy Collett no chance.

Mellanby could have given Quakers a half-time lead when he received the ball 18 yards from goalwith the keeper off his line, but the ex-Bishop Auckland hitman shot straight into the arms of the grateful Emberson.

Within five minutes of the re-start both sides nabbed a goal each, with the hosts' impressive Valois, who played in the Champions League for Lille last season, providing the ammunition from a corner for Luton's second strike of the evening.

His pin-point cross found ex-Hartlepool striker Steve Howard who headed into the net to give the hosts the lead - for two minutes.

Craig Liddle's pass was picked up by Wainwright who cut inside before firing a goal-bound effort which took a deflection on its way into goal.

But Quakers' hopes of grabbing a first away since the derby at Hartlepool were extinguished midway through the second half with Dean Crowe and a Kevin Nicholls' penalty grabbing two quick-fire goals.

Crowe added the crucial third after a mix-up between Liddle and Alex Jeannin and from this point the hosts were in command. Liddle was then adjudged to have brought down Howard in the box.

Luton had played some good, quick passing, but didn't deserve to be two goals in fron although the strike was of outstanding quality and bettered Spring's first half effort. The classy Valois cut in from the left and with his weaker right foot blasted the night's seventh goal from outside the penalty area.

And if the evening's proceedings hadn't been enough, the game's last five minutes saw two more penalties - one for either side - and both were saved.

After Mellanby was obstructed by Nicholls, Conlon saw his effort palmed wide before Collett saved with his legs to prevent Spring from scoring his second after Simon Betts brought down Valois.

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