The Town Under-18s bounced back after the disappointment of their FA Youth Cup exit with a 6-1 thumping over Bristol Rovers in the Youth Alliance on Saturday.

Joe Deeney’s side had to wait until the 24th minute to take the lead when Dawid Gawel raced clear to put the Hatters ahead at The Brache.

Gawel doubled his and the Town’s tally four minutes before half-time when Alvin Isufi threaded a pass to the striker who kept his composure to bend a fine finish into the far corner.

After the break the Hatters upped the ante further and five minutes into the second period it was three when Fin Evans’ cross was turned home by Sam Hincapie-Alfonso.

Fifteen minutes later the Town gave the Pirates a route back into the game when a defensive mix-up allowed the visitors to pull one back.

But little over a minute later the three-goal cushion was restored when good work from Harry Fox teed up Hincapie-Alfonso to score his second with an emphatic strike.

Fox then got his name on the scoresheet on 71 minutes with a superb low drive from 30 yards after good work from Archie Shepherd.

The Hatters then completed the scoring three minutes from time when Fox and Shepherd combined and, after the ball ricocheted in the box, Rufus Barnes was on hand to notch his first goal of the season from six yards.

“The biggest thing was to shake off the disappointment of losing to Barnet,” Deeney said afterwards. “It was important to get back to winning ways.

“We told the players of the importance of reacting to disappointment and how you bounce back, so we were really pleased with their reaction.

“We haven’t been our ourselves in recent weeks so to be back at it and record such a well-deserved victory was fantastic and all credit to the players.”

The Town youngsters are next in action when they travel to Wycombe in the Youth Alliance this coming Saturday.

Town: Booth, Evans, Mehmetaj, Barnes, Asamoah Junior, Shepherd, Fox, Isufi, Frimpong-Kwakye, Hincapie-Alfonso, Gawel.

Subs: Pipa, Kwame Anson, Passley-James, El Gourja, Lesser.