Jack Wilshere’s magnificent Hatters made it four wins in a row in all competitions with a superb 3-0 win at league leaders Stockport.

The Town needed to weather an early storm from the in-form hosts but two goals in five minutes put the Hatters in control as Jake Richards bundled home his first goal in Luton colours before Cohen Bramall doubled the lead with a stunning free-kick.

It got better after the break as Josh Keeley saved brilliantly from Nathan Lowe’s penalty to keep County out and 13 minutes later Isaiah Jones sealed another Hatters victory with his first goal of the season.

The result moves the Town to within six points of County at the top of the table but it was the hosts that had dominated the ball up until the Hatters’ opener.

Showing just one change to the side that beat Forest Green last Friday, with Mads Andersen coming into central defence, the Hatters needed to stand tall in the opening half-hour.

Lamine Fanne blocked a shot from Callum Camps in the fourth minute before Andersen then threw himself into the face of a fierce drive from Jack Diamond.

As the hosts, who came into the game unbeaten in their past seven league games, continued to press, Lowe blazed high over the bar on 18 minutes and the same player came even closer four minutes later when he was denied by the legs of Keeley from close range.

Stockport were within a whisker of opening the scoring again on 25 minutes only for Kyle Wootton to miss the target after Keeley had got a finger on a left-wing cross.

But the Town’s defensive solidity was impressive and captain Kal Naismith’s fine intervention thwarted Lowe with the striker ready to pull the trigger on 28 minutes.

The Hatters’ forward forays had been few and far between but with the speed of wing-backs Bramall and Jones there would always be chances and so it proved on 34 minutes.

Bramall sped down the left and delivered a low cross to Richards lurking at the near post and the 18-year-old got ahead of his man to divert the ball home for his first in Town colours to make it 1-0.

The Hatters fans were still celebrating that opener four minutes later when Bramall went from creator to scorer to double their lead. Jones weaved his way down the right to win a free-kick on the edge of the box and Bramall stepped up and curled a wonderful effort into the far corner.

Shellshocked, County almost pulled one back when Wootton nodded over from eight yards but the Town almost added a third before the break. Firstly, Nahki Wells saw a goal-bound effort blocked by Connolly before home goalkeeper Ben Hinchcliffe palmed away a fierce shot from Wells after the striker had shot clear of the home defence.

But after the restart you knew the Town would need to dig in to prevent a goal to give Stockport hope.

And the hosts spurned the chance to do so on 55 minutes when Keeley saved Lowe’s penalty, plunging wonderfully to his right, after Jones had upended Odin Bailey in the box.

The miss knocked the stuffing out of the hosts and on 69 minutes it was game over when Richards brilliantly created the third, racing down the right to thread Jones through who fired past Hinchcliffe.

“3-0 to the real Hatters” was the chant from the packed away end who then celebrated another fine stop from Keeley, this time the goalkeeper producing a finger-tip save to divert the ball to safety following Malik Mothersille’s cross.

The hosts could not catch a break and with nine minutes left County were reduced to 10 men when Owen Dodgson was shown a second yellow card for a foul on substitute Gideon Kodua.

With more space opening up the Town had chances for further goals in the closing stages as Fanne and another substitute, Ali Al-Hamadi, going close to making it 4-0.

However, the final word went to Teden Mengi. After a week that had seen him receive racial abuse on social media, the Town defender produced an inch-perfect tackle in the final minute to deny Wootton which earned the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

“We’ve got our Luton back” sung the happy Hatters fans at the end of a dramatic and fruitful journey to a ground in which Hatters teams are now unbeaten in eight visits.

Up to ninth, six points off the top. All it takes it a bit of momentum.

UTT.

Town: Keeley, Naismith, Andersen, Mengi, Bramall (sub Odoffin 78), Saville, Walsh, Fanne (sub Yates 86), Richards (sub Kodua 72), Jones, Wells (sub Al-Hamadi 86).

Subs not used: Lonwijk, Shea.

Attendance: 10,090, including 1,151 noisy, happy Town fans in the sell-out away end