Southend's youngsters had a rare chance to shine in last night's reserve team outing against Luton Town - but it was the visitors who did most of the twinkling.

Blues fielded what was more or less an under-21 side at Roots Hall, with transfer-listed frontman Neil Campbell their most senior player on show at the grand old age of 23, against an equally youthful, but much stronger Hatters line-up.

However, the Shrimpers' stand-in second-string manager, veteran Southend defender Rob Newman, praised his side for their effort in this Avon Insurance Combination League fixture, despite their defeat.

"We fielded a very young side against Luton, which included a handful of players from our under-19 team, and I thought they did well," said Newman.

The former Norwich star was put in charge as Blues boss Alan Little and his assistant Mick Gooding were away on a scouting mission.

"Luton also put out a youthful eleven, but they've got that little bit more experience than our lads and as a team they were sharper and stronger, although we matched them at times," Newman added.

Southend's more experienced fringe players were scrapped for this game, giving Blues' babes the chance to stake their future claims on the first-team.

Midfielder Danny Kerrigan, who has played in the senior squad, went close early on with a tight angled drive, which was wide of the target.

However, Luton took the lead on 22 minutes when their oldest player, striker Andrew Fotiadis, who has played more than 50 first-team games for the Hatters, carved Blues open.

The 22-year-old marksman caught Southend defenders Chris Perkins and Tom McDonald dozing with a superb reverse ball, which allowed Paul McLaren to sprint through and score with a crisp finish from the edge of the box.

Blues attempted to get back in the game with forward Neville Roach and defender Garry Cross both forcing visiting keeper Daniel Tate into saves.

But impressive Southend midfielder Craig Edwards came the closest to levelling matters in first-half injury time, when his long-range piledriver forced Tate into a full-length block.

Roach, who like Campbell had an indifferent evening, missed a sitter from six yards after the restart and Perkins went close with a drive from the edge of the box.

However, Luton wrapped up a deserved victory on 71 minutes when the outstanding Fotiadis robbed a shaky looking McDonald before running the length of the pitch and nudging Tresor Kandol through for a close-range finish.

The dread-locked Kandol almost grabbed a third goal for Luton in injury-time, as he headed a pin-point 40-yard centre from Michael McIndoe against the foot of Southend keeper Jamie Lunan's right-post.

Southend: Lunan, Cross, Perkins, McDonald (Davey), McSweeney, Johnson (Ayres), Kerrigan, Hunter, Edwards, Roach, Campbell (Pitts). Booked: Campbell and Cross.

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