SWINDON Town were dumped out of the Checkatrade Trophy following a dismal 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Luton Town.

Two first-half goals from Josh McQuoid were enough to cancel out Luke Norris’ opener and hand the Hatters a first half lead.

The second half then saw the Robins draw level through Ellis Iandolo’s superb strike, before falling behind yet again when Isaac Vassell grabbed Luton’s third.

Luke Williams’ side went into the game well rested after their weekend off due to their early FA Cup exit but soon looked lethargic after a promising start.

It was Swindon who broke the deadlock within six minutes when Luke Norris curled his shot back towards the far post following a fantastic through ball from Jon Goddard.

The visitors were then gifted a goal when Will Henry dropped the ball after a simple shot from Vassell, into the path of Josh McQuoid who prodded the ball home to equalise.

Luton then went close to putting the Hatters into the lead when Pelly Ruddock picked out Vassell who had peeled off to the back post, but a double save kept the League Two side at bay.

It wasn’t level for long as McQuoid doubled his tally in the 18th minute when he thumped his shot into the corner following a spell of loose possession from Swindon.

Swindon were lucky again not to fall 3-1 behind when Vassell was clean through before his chipped effort fell wide of the post with half an hour played.

The hosts fielded an unfamiliar set up, with Jake Evans, Conor Thomas, Darnell Furlong and new arrival Rhys Sharpe making up the backline.

With no recognised central defender in the squad it’s no surprise that Swindon looked dazed and confused defensively as they continued to be carved open by the Hatters.

Ahead of the second half Town opted for a triple change as Anton Rodgers, Luke Norris and Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill all making way for Hylton, who has been recalled from his loan at Guiseley, Iandolo and Jordan Young.

Despite the half time changes the second half picked off from where the first had finished with alarm bells ringing at the back.

Luton were close to getting a third straight after the restart when Vassell, who should have had at least one goal already, was found by James Justin from the right hand side but the striker could only head wide despite being left unmarked in the Town penalty area.

Vassell then had another chance to join McQuoid on the score sheet when the ball fell to him after a number of missed clearances from the Town defence, but after finding some space to shoot, his effort was way over the bar.

Just before the hour Swindon managed an effort of sorts on Craig King’s goal when a surging run from Evans down the right hand side saw the ball worked to Nathan Delfouneso but his shot was put into the Town End.

After settling into a rhythm, Hylton drove towards the Luton defence, who were now sitting very deep in their half, before offloading the ball to fellow substitute Iandolo.

The 19-year-old then took a few strides towards the penalty area before smashing a left-footed shot into the back of the net to level the scoring from nowhere in the 62nd minute.

But again Swindon fell behind six minutes later when a long ball was not dealt with by Furlong, before Vassell finally got his goal as he cut the ball back onto his left foot and tucked his shot into the corner of the goal to restore Luton’s lead.

With just over ten minutes remaining Swindon had a flurry of corners, but neither amounted to anything as the score stood at 3-2 to Nathan Jones’ side.

Despite Swindon’s best efforts the game began to die out with the final whistle edging closer as Luton protected their goal lead.

Luton showed flashes of what had got them into the lead when substitute Craig Mackail –Smith was able hold up the ball when his side did have possession.

Young was unable to find a way through a crowed penalty area as he wiggled past a few defenders late on but couldn’t prevent the Luton backline clearing the ball.

Swindon were then close again when Hylton found a way around the Luton full back and despite finding the head of Goddard, the former Woking man could only direct his effort wide of the mark as Town fell to a 3-2 defeat at the County Ground.