The Hatters fell two goals behind in the first 13 minutes and had to wait until two minutes to go to get themselves back into it when Under-16s’ forward Josh Allen netted, though an equaliser eluded their reach.

Walder did praise the performance after the ‘slow start’, saying: “Just before the half-hour mark, we started to play our way back into the game a little bit but obviously coming from 2-0 down, although we had the better of it for the following 65 minutes, I think we probably gave ourselves too much to do.”

At this level, the coach reminded it’s more about development than results, highlighting the positives that came from the defeat.

“There were positives that came out of it, one of our Under-16s came up and did well, Tra Lucas did quite well on the left as a winger, so there were positives to come out of the game.

“I think we need to have a bit more character and personality, which is the topic of the week really, to try and get more out of them.”

TOWN: Parker, Halsey, Pettit, Wedd, Jones, Beckwith ©, Stevens, Boorn, McJannet, Allen, Lucas.

Subs: Moloney, Francis, Quigley

Goal: Allen 88

The U18s are back in action this Saturday as they travel to face Cambridge United, a side with whom they played out a 2-2 draw back in August.

Kick-off is 11am at United’s Clare College training ground on Bentley Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AW.