Luton Town suffered defeat in their first game of the New Year after a 1-0 loss away at Exeter City.

Pierce Sweeney scored the game’s only goal in the opening minutes of the second half, as a Luton side who had won their previous two games slid to defeat in Devon.

Defeat means Luton sit 8th in the table, with the Hatters sitting 3 points off the play-off places.

The Hatters had arrived in Devon on the back of back-to-back home wins, scoring 7 goals in wins over Wycombe and Leyton Orient.

But it was the home side with the best early opportunities, with Jayden Wareham seeing a strike hit the post.

Wareham would come close again with a header cleared off the line at a corner, as despite having more possession, Luton’s attack struggled to get going. The hosts would come close again as Sonny Cox was denied by James Shea, who was deputising for the injured Josh Keeley.

The Grecians would score the opening 5 minutes into the second half. An initial shot was blocked but the loose ball fell kindly for Sweeney to fire past Shea and put Luton behind.

Shea made a fine stop to keep out Ethan Brierley, as the hosts looked likelier to make it 2-0.

The best chance that the visitors made in their quest for a point saw a low Jordan Clark shot roll wide, but they ran out of time as they slid to defeat.

Luton are next in action on Sunday, when they make the trip to Doncaster Rovers.