Luton Town were beaten 2-0 by local rivals Watford as their winless start to 2025 continued.

Two first half goals did the damage at Vicarage Road, as a Tom Dele-Bashiru penalty and a strike from Edo Kayembe won the day for the play-off chasing Hornets.

Defeat means Luton are still awaiting a first win under Matt Bloomfield, with the Hatters also now winless in 12 Championship outings. They remain bottom of the table, and with Hull winning on Saturday and Cardiff drawing, it means there is now a 5 point gap between Luton and safety.

The Hatters had made the short trip to their rivals at Vicarage Road still chasing a first win since replacing Rob Edwards with Bloomfield last month, with the hosts having failed to win a home game since Boxing Day and Luton having memories of winning the reverse fixture at home in October.

Luton had started off by looking competitive, but things went wrong for the visitors in the opening ten minutes. A through pass had looked set to be claimed by Hatters keeper Thomas Kaminski, but a mix-up between him and Mads Andersen allowed Mamadou Doumbia to sneak in, and contact with the keeper saw the Watford man go down.

Kaminsi was deemed to have committed the foul, with the referee giving Watford a penalty, which Dele-Bashiru duly converted to put the home side in front in the eleventh minute.

This raised the difficulty for a Luton side that had only collected five points away from home so far this season, and after falling behind, they struggled for chance creation.

Watford had an opportunity when Imran Louza had a shot held by Kaminski, but a second goal would come Watford’s way in the 23rd minute.

Around 30 yards from goal, the ball was picked up by Giorgi Chakvetadze, who was allowed to charge forward down the left flank. He duly drew Kaminski out before squaring to Kayembe, who rolled the ball over the line from a yard out.

Luton had a few half-chances in response, with a penalty appeal waved away and Mads Andersen heading over, but they entered the break still 2-0 behind.

The visitors improved after a triple change at half-time, with Jacob Brown having a shot deflected wide before Isaiah Jones’ strike flew narrowly wide.

But chances would be at a premium for the visitors, whose attacking momentum dissipated as the game wore on, and they nearly fell 3-0 down at the end of the regular 90 when Chakvetadze was denied by Kaminski.

The result continued Luton’s miserable run, with the Hatters at risk of a second consecutive relegation. Luton have not won a league game since December 20th and face another big game next weekend when they welcome 17th place Portsmouth.