Abelow-par Dons were comfortably disposed of by an in-form Luton who gained revenge for last season’s single-point haul against Terry Brown’s men.

Match reporters quite often make notes early on in a game that prove to be quite portentous. I remember covering Wimbledon’s 7-1 defeat at Villa Park 15 years or so ago, and when the Dons took the lead I quickly wrote “Great start, Villa offering nothing.” Last night I at 7.48 pm I jotted down “Cracking start, hope they aren’t our best three minutes.”

Unfortunately for the Dons, it proved to be just that. As they have in most of the early-season games, Wimbledon started like a house on fire, forcing three corners in the first two minutes. A Christian Jolley cross-shot was tipped over by Mark Tyler; Lee Minshull’s powerful header brought an equally smart save from the keeper; and a curling Sam Hatton free-kick also caused the Luton defence problems, but it was scrambled clear.

Luton managed to deal with all the Dons could throw at them, with George Pilkington strong at the heart of their defence, but Wimbledon certainly had much the better of the early spoils. But it was as if the Hatters were irritated that their visitors had the temerity to attack them and collectively decided to give the Dons a lesson in making the most of possession. They were missing influential midfielder Keith Keane through injury, but the highly rated Andy Drury suddenly started to show what all the fuss is about. Adam Newton was exploiting the space opened up by Andre Blackman’s often unwise and unfruitful forays up the Dons’ left, and Ismail Yakubu and Ed Harris now knew that they were going to be in for a busy evening.

With 12 minutes on the clock, a long throw caused havoc in the Dons box and Matthew Barnes-Homer was unlucky to see his overhead flick hit the post and bounce out. Ismail Yakubu, Ed Harris and Seb Brown were now coming under fire with increasing regularity. Claude Gnapka appeared to be impeding Brown at every set play, and it was no surprise when, with the first half at its midway point, Luton took the lead. Brown was unable to get across his line from an inswinging corner, and Pilkington headed home from eight yards, having shaken off Danny Kedwell’s attentions.

The Dons took four points off Luton last season, but it was going to take a monumental effort to turn this game round, even with 68 minutes to go. Kedwell was having one of his quietest games in a Dons shirt, and the midfield trio of Lee Minshull, Steven Gregory and Sammy Moore were all too often coming off second best against Drury, Gnapka and Newton. Wimbledon did not help their cause by carelessly giving away possession.

The bright spot for Terry Brown was the right side of his team. Sam Hatton once again showed his England C qualities with a calm, measured display and worked well in tandem with Ryan Jackson, who was being double-teamed at every opportunity by Jake Howells and Zdenec Kroca. Although the visitors were now getting a little bit more of the ball, they still hadn’t created much for the smaller than usual band of supporters behind Seb Brown’s goal to get excited about, with the exception of a 25-yard screamer from Gregory that smacked off the top of the bar.

With seven minutes to go in the first half, the Dons found themselves two down. Kroca’s near-post header from a long Drury throw somehow found its way into Brown’s net, despite the best efforts of the keeper to save it. What the Dons needed now was a rapid response, and were it not for two outstanding saves from Tyler they may well have got it. After great work by Hatton and Jackson, Sammy Moore’s bullet from 12 yards was arrowing towards the top corner when Tyler stuck out his right hand and acrobatically parried the ball to safety, and his diving effort a few seconds later from another Minshull header was equally stunning and, from a Dons point of view, crucial.

To have any chance to get back into the game, it was imperative that Wimbledon struck early in the second half. With only five minutes gone, the game had its third goal, but it was a Luton strike that settled it. A square ball across the Dons backline found its way to Barnes-Homer, who was given all the time he needed to control it and despatch it past Brown with a resounding thump from 20 yards. If it wasn’t game over before, it was now.

Without dismissing the Dons’ efforts in the remainder of the game, it was clear that a comeback was now out of the question, and a fourth from Luton seemed far more likely. But the scoreline would remain at 3-0, thanks to a combination of Dons’ resilience and Hatters’ reluctance. Wimbledon continued to look for at least a consolation goal, and Tyler had to be at his best to thwart another Gregory effort, a swerving 25-yard Hatton free-kick and a Wellard effort after an inventive corner routine.

That was as close as they came, though. To compound a disappointing night for the Dons, Sammy Moore had to go off injured after having a shot blocked, and Blackman picked up his fifth booking of the season, ruling him out of Thursday’s clash with Crawley, who might well be top of the table by the time of their visit to Kingsmeadow. Wellard, Jon Main and Rashid Yussuff, on for Minshull, Moore and Jolley, failed to make any significant impact on the game, and a brief late flurry of corners had no effect on the scoreline.

The 600 or so Dons fans who made the rearranged trip to Luton didn’t even have the consolation of an eat-as-much-as-you-like carvery to get them through a largely deflating evening - and Luton had helped themselves to the Dons’ three-goal offering.