Cambridge United fell to a resounding 7-0 defeat at the hands of high flying Luton Town in Sky Bet League Two.

The U’s lined up without Uche Ikpeazu and Jabo Ibehre, with George Maris and Liam O’Neil returning to the starting eleven.

United were under the cosh early in the encounter with keeper David Forde forced into two excellent saves to deny Danny Hylton’s header and Scott Cuthbert’s powerful strike inside ten minutes.

Brad Halliday broke into the Luton area down the right on 15 minutes and ensured Marek Stech had a save to make low down to his left.

However, with the hosts building pressure they broke the deadlock midway through the half, Dan Potts in a prime position to tap in a deflected Luton effort at the far post. The right back looked to have registered his second minutes later when he headed past Forde but the attempt was rightly ruled out for an offside.

The advantage was doubled on the half hour mark though when midfielder Olly Lee dispossessed United before scoring from his own half with an outrageous shot to lob David Forde.

Luton danger man Hylton made it three soon after, finding the bottom corner with a left footed shot, before turning provider moments before half time when chipping a ball through for Elliot Lee to volley into the top corner and complete a miserable half for the U’s.

Emmanuel Osadebe, David Amoo and Paul Lewis were introduced after half time and certainly gave the U’s more energy across the field during a second period where they saw far more of the ball than they had in the opening 45 minutes.

But Andrew Shinnie’s fierce drive which crashed against the outside of David Forde’s left post that was the next opportunity of note. Legge then denied Shinnie the chance to get on the score sheet, when the centre-back tracked back to head the Luton forward’s right footed attempt off the line.

However the Hatters did round off the score line in the final ten minutes firstly through Hylton, who neatly finished Jack Stacey’s low cross to register his second of the afternoon. Then Elliot Lee grabbed a brace of his own, firing a mid-range effort past Forde in the closing stages of the match.

And the final say went to Hylton who claimed his hat-trick and the match ball during stoppage time, ending a dreadful afternoon for United at Kenilworth Road.

Luton Town: Stech, Potts (Justin, 78 mins), Cuthbert (Ruddock Mpanzu, 52 mins), Stacey, O.Lee, Hylton, Shinnie (Cook, 72 mins), Rea, Berry, E.Lee, Sheehan

Cambridge United: Forde, Halliday, Legge, Taylor, Carroll, Mingoia (Lewis, 45 mins), Deegan, O’Neil (Osadebe, 45 mins), Maris (Amoo, 45 mins), Brown, Elito

Attendance: 8,721 (642)