Luton Town FC vs Leyton Orient (29th Dec 2025)

29/12/2025 LUTON TOWN 3-0 LEYTON ORIENT

Hatters sign off 2025 in style - Three first-half goals enough to see of Orient to make it back-to-back wins

The Town ended 2025 on a high as three first-half goals made it back-to-back home wins to move Jack Wilshere’s side to within two points of the top six.

Gideon Kodua opened the scoring with a fine strike on eight minutes before Jordan Clark doubled the lead from the penalty spot. And the Hatters were three goals to the good eight minutes before the interval when Shayden Morris found the target.

The Town protected their lead well in the second period with two more games to come this week, and Josh Keeley made several good saves to ensure he kept his 10th clean sheet of the campaign.

Showing one change to the side that beat Wycombe 4-0 on Boxing Day, with Morris replacing Cohen Bramall in the starting XI, the Town began with a bang and were ahead early on in style.

Mads Andersen’s pass found Kodua 20 yards from goal and the winger took one touch before unleashing an unstoppable low drive into the far corner of the net. It was the West Ham loanee’s sixth goal in his last 12 games – and his second against Orient.

In a bright opening for both sides, Nahki Wells saw a snap-shot blocked before Andersen did well to charge-down an effort from former Town academy graduate Tyreeq Bakinson at the other end.

But 10 minutes after taking the lead the Town had the chance to double their advantage when Wells was upended by Jack Simpson in the box and referee Neil Hair pointed to the spot. Captain Clark took responsibility and placed an accurate finish low into the bottom corner for his third goal in as many games.

Orient briefly threatened when Tom James’ effort from distance was held by Keeley on 34 minutes but three minutes later the Hatters extended their lead.

Kodua was this time to architect, wriggling down the left to clip in a deft cross that was glanced goalwards by Wells. The ball fell perfectly for Morris at the back-post and the winger added to his Boxing Day goal by slamming home from close range.

The visitors spurned a glorious chance to reduce arrears moments before the break when Dominic Ballard skied over the bar from five yards out.

At the break, Wilshere replaced Liam Walsh with George Saville as the Town, shooting towards the Kenilworth Road, went in search of more goals.

However, both sides failed to add to the tally in a second period that failed to match the energy of the first.

Clark came close to adding a fourth on the hour when attacking Kodua’s cut-back before the Hatters had Teden Mengi to thank for a goal-line clearance with 18 minutes left.

As time ticked down, the Hatters made changes with trips to Exeter, on Thursday, and Sunday, at Doncaster, in mind.

And Keeley had the final say to ensure a 10th clean sheet of the campaign when keeping out Ollie O’Neill’s curling shot in the final minute – and that was that.

So goodbye 2025. Here’s hoping 2026 is as good as this year has ended.

Happy New Year and see you at Exeter. UTT.

Town: Keeley, Lonwijk (sub Walters 69), Johnson, Andersen, Mengi, Walsh (sub Saville 46), Fanne (sub Nelson 69), Clark, Kodua, Morris (sub Bramall 56), Wells (sub Yates 69).

Subs: Shea, Brown.

Attendance: 11,736, including 1,327 shouting for Orient.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csQFtwPnqUg – Jack Wilshere interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt3FrphpGlc – Match highlights

League One: Luton Town 3 Leyton Orient 0

Dominant first half showing sees Luton ease past Leyton Orient

A dominant first half showing saw Luton record back-to-back home victories over the festive period as they defeated Leyton Orient 3-0 at Kenilworth Road this evening.

The Hatters made just one change to their side from Saturday’s 4-0 triumph against Wycombe Wanderers, with goalscorer Shayden Morris in for Cohen Bramall, who dropped to the bench, where he was joined by Reuell Walters for the first time in the league since the trip to Peterborough United in August.

Eager to produce a better showing than they had in east London a few weeks ago, Town made sure they did just that, breaking the deadlock early on yet again, as keeping hold of the ball in defence, Mads Andersen looked up and played a pass into the feet Kodua, who was able to receive it with centre half Omar Beckles trying and failing to intercept.

Having jumped out of position, it allowed the on-loan West Ham youngster to control, spin and drive towards the box, as once into shooting range, he arrowed into the bottom corner from 20 yards to score his eight goal of the season. Town almost gifted their opponents a way back into the contest soon afterwards, Lamine Fanne’s pass a poor one and Teden Mengi shrugged off the ball, which was cut back to ex-Luton youngster Tyreeq Bakinson, who saw Andersen do his job at the back, out well to crowd him out and get a good block in.

Things then got even better for the Hatters on 19 minutes as a corner was sent back in by Jordan Clark, as Nahki Wells nipped in front of Jack Simpson to draw a foul from the O’s defender which was spotted by referee Neil Hair who whistled for a penalty that saw Town’s captain Clark assume the responsibility and coolly roll into the bottom corner to double the hosts’ lead.

Luton looked like they were going to have a third midway through the first period as they worked the ball impressively up the right, Clark’s cross appearing destined to be turned in by Morris only for an O’s defender to slide in and divert back to keeper Tommy Simkin. The visitors tried to mount a comeback through Tom James, his free kick blocked behind for a corner and then letting fly with another attempt from further out that Josh Keeley was right behind.

The Hatters put the O’s to the sword further though on 37 minutes as Kodua was able to get away on the left under minimal pressure, easing past Beckles and sending a cross in that Wells flicked on for Morris to arrive at the back post and tap over the line. A pulsating run by Mengi from the back saw Clark’s fierce drive cannon into a defender as Walsh had his pocket picked which led to Jack Moorhouse having a pop that deflected behind for a corner Town were able to deal with.

A double change for Orient momentarily unsettled Luton as Sean Clare was able to get away on the right, his cross met by the completely unmarked Dominic Ballard who somehow toepoked over the bar when he simply had to score. Andersen put a header over the top with the last action of the first half, as Walsh made way at the break, George Saville on in his place, as O’s tried to cut the deficit in the early stages, Bakinson ambitiously over from range, while Ballard was straight at Keeley, with Town, as they had on Saturday, making another slow start to proceedings.

The introduction of Bramall on 56 minutes saw Luton up their attacking intensity again though as he quickly fizzed a cross in that was met by Kodua at the back post, Clark’s effort well repelled by an alert Simkin. Saville then sent over a cross which Clark directed wide of the target, as with 20 minutes left, Wilshere made a triple sub, Walters, Jerry Yates and Zack Nelson on for Wells, Nigel Lonwijk and Fanne.

Luton still weren’t at their best though, Mengi doing well to clear the ball away from the line after Orient sent in a dangerous corner, as the absence of Walsh really hindered their ability to be as dynamic in possession as they would like in the midfield areas. Late on, Ollie O’Neill cut in and fired goalwards, Keeley clawing away, but Town were able to win successive home games for the first time since Wilshere took over, as they ended what has been a bitterly disappointing 2025 with some green shoots of optimism.

Hatters: Josh Keeley, Nigel Lonwijk (Reuell Walters 69), Teden Mengi, Mads Andersen, Joe Johnson, Liam Walsh (George Saville 46), Lamine Fanne (Zack Nelson 69), Jordan Clark, Gideon Kodua, Nahki Wells (Jerry Yates 69), Shayden Morris (Cohen Bramall 56). Subs not used: James Shea, Jacob Brown.

O’s: Tommy Simkin, Tom James, Jack Simpson, Ollie O’Neill, Tyreeq Bakinson, Josh Koroma (Theo Archibald 44), Omar Beckles (C, Phil Chinedu 81), Jack Moorhouse (Demetri Mitchell 81), Charlie Wellens (Zech Obiero 44), Sean Clare, Dominic Ballard. Subs not used: Killian Cahill, Mitchell Craigh.

Booked: Mengi 52, Nelson 90. Referee: Neil Hair. Attendance: 11,736 (1,327 O’s).

Wilshere overjoyed with Luton's first half display as Town go back-to-back at home

Hatters have the job done by half time after taking 3-0 lead

Luton boss Jack Wilshere was overjoyed with his side’s first half performance as they recorded back-to-back home wins for the first time since he took over when beating Leyton Orient 3-0 at Kenilworth Road this evening.

The Hatters went into the game on the back of a thumping 4-0 success over Wycombe Wanderers on Boxing Day, and they were up and running quickly once more, Gideon Kodua able to receive Mads Andersen’s pass, drive forward and then arrow his shot into the bottom corner for an eighth goal of the campaign with just eight minutes gone.

Jordan Clark then doubled the advantage from the penalty spot on 19 minutes, after Wells was tripped in the box by Jack Simpson, before a third arrived just eight minutes before the break, Shayden Morris netting at the back post when Wells flicked Kodua’s cross into his path. Although the second period was then pretty much a non-event, Town completed the perfect Christmas period by taking six points from six ahead of two away games at Exeter City and Doncaster Rovers in the next week.

Speaking afterwards, Wilshere said: “We spoke after the Reading game about having a mentality shift of a good performance, but now we need to win games and we did that. Then after the game against Wycombe we spoke about, okay now we need to go back-to-back and start building that momentum and we did that, so I’m really happy with that.

“I thought we were excellent, I thought our decision-making around when to play, when to be a little bit more vertical, and when I talk about being vertical I don’t mean we played long balls into nowhere, it might be a pass through the lines, it might be that we go straight into our nine. So I thought our decision-making was good around that and again, we took our moments at important times and I’m really happy with that.”

Town chief explains why he decided to swap wingers for O's victory - Morris replaces Bramall in Town’s starting XI

Luton boss Jack Wilshere explained why he decided to bring in Shayden Morris for Cohen Bramall ahead of last night’s commanding 3-0 victory over Leyton Orient at Kenilworth Road.

There was some slight confusion when the teams were announced before kick-off with Bramall originally named on the teamsheet and Morris on the bench, but that was purely down to a communication error, with Wilshere always planning on making the one alteration from Boxing Day’s 4-0 thumping of Wycombe Wanderers.

Having started the last 10 league matches for the Hatters, scoring wonderful free kicks against Stockport County and Port Vale, then it was something of a surprise to see former Arsenal youngster Bramall not featuring from the first whistle, but having played a few days earlier and with another two matches coming up this week, away to Exeter City and Doncaster Rovers, then on his reasoning behind swapping the pair, Wilshere said: “It was to freshen him (Bramall) up and rest him.

"I think teams recently have been doing things to try and contain Cohen, so we thought we could mix it up a little bit, maybe give us more of a direct threat on the right hand side and more of a player who can come inside on the left hand side (Gideon Kodua). Cohen’s been excellent, so it was literally just to rest him.

"Also Shayden, he’s been knocking on my door and being hungry. I’ve challenged him to execute more and produce more, he did that against Wycombe and earned his opportunity and I thought he did really well. The challenge for him is can he sustain that and get fitter. Naturally he struggles probably around the 60 minute mark as he hasn’t played many games, so that’s the challenge for him.”

The move paid off in a first half that saw Luton change ends 3-0 to the good as after Kodua had netted with a rasping drive from 20 yards and Jordan Clark nonchalantly rolled in a penalty, it was Morris who added a third when he arrived at the back post to tap in once Kodua’s cross had been flicked on by Nahki Wells. The ex-Fleetwood winger was also scoring for the same successive game after his strike against the Chairboys, as he now has four goals in 16 outings since heading back to England a few months ago.

Although he was taken off just before the hour mark, with Bramall coming on, asked about his impact, Wilshere added: “We spoke before the game about when you have a really good performance and a convincing win, and then two days later, three days later you have to go again, you have to make sure you do the basics really well and whatever the basics are in your position.

"For me a basic for a winger is make sure you lock in the back post and Shayden did that. You see wingers who get four, five goals for free there, so I’m really happy with that. He had some nice play down the side as well, three good goals, three good moments and we managed to keep a clean sheet second half.”