Colchester's push for promotion was almost blown off course by a spirited Luton performance and a tempest that blew across the Mill Road pitch.

But the men in black crafted another bonus point victory to stay top of London League division one north, after claiming a 24-7 victory.

And with second-placed Eton Manor failing to secure a bonus point win, Colchester edged ahead in the tight promotion race.

Luton had the wind advantage in the first half, with their forwards working hard at ball retention, attacking round the fringes and avoiding risky long passes.

Colchester colt Ed Perry, making his first senior start at fly-half, was limited to running the ball from defence.

But debutant lock Senitiki Nayalo’s tough tackling and blistering pace bagged him a try while flanker Danny Whiteman made a welcome return from injury.

The wind played a part in Luton’s early score.

Colchester’s 22 metre restart was drop-kicked along the ground to avoid being blown back.

The bobbling ball sat up fortuitously for Elston to take at pace and cut through the outrushing Colchester pack.

Recycled ball was fed along the line where centre Tesh Edwards powered over for the opening score, converted by Rick Hobbs.

The game ebbed and flowed for the next half hour, in a dour war of attrition.

Ollie Pickett and Danny Whiteman tackled and foraged tirelessly, supported by a hard-tackling, hard-running pack.

Number Eight James McRae disrupted Luton lineouts and scrum-half Matt Wadling harassed at the scrum.

Skipper Calum Irvine broke the impasse with a fine solo effort which saw him tackle his opposing centre midway in his own half and wrestle the ball free before racing 60 metres to touchdown for a 7-5 half-time score.

The wind eased during the second half but Colchester still took charge.

Graeme Hay charged to set up an attacking platform from which Wadling’s pass found Nayalo, who zipped through the Luton defence for his first Colchester try and David Higgins added the conversion.

Luton continued to contest the game but Colchester built through a series of attacking phases ending with Merry’s pass to centre Matt Smith, whose angled run at speed helped him score a well-taken try which was converted by Higgins.

Irvine made a 50-metre break only to be brought down by an ankle tap near the Luton line.

The visitors were then penalised for obstruction, with Higgins taking a quick penalty and delivering a cross-field kick for full-back Brett Cutbush to seal Colchester’s win.