Rushden & Diamonds' first ever game in Division Two ended in disappointment as they went down 3-1 to crisis club Luton Town.
Diamonds started strongly and could have opened the scoring after just six minutes when Onandi Lowe headed a Marcus Bignot cross straight at that Hatters' young goalkeeper Robert Beckwith.
Steve Howard and Tony Thorpe squandered chances for the home side as they began to gain a foothold in the game, and Diamonds keeper Billy Turley was called into action to tip over an effort from on-loan Courtney Pitt.
But it was Diamonds who went into the break ahead thanks to Jamaica international Lowe, who latched on to a through ball from his international team-mate Paul Hall and slotted the ball past Beckwith.
It was a different story in the second half as the Hatters dominated the game and were almost level within seconds when Matt Spring saw Turley turn his shot away.
Three minutes later they were level though when Pitt found Thorpe with a pinpoint pass and the former Bristol City man side-footed the ball past Turley.
A bizarre incident just before the hour saw the Hatters take the lead.
Turley put the ball out of play believing he had been impeded, but the referee signalled a corner rather than a free kick and as the Diamonds keeper protested Howard floated in the flag kick allowing Thorpe to head into an empty net.
Hall and Andrew Burgess both had golden opportunities to equalise but found Beckwith at the top of his game.
As the visitors pushed forward in search of an equaliser the Hatters went close to adding a third on the break but Barry Hunter was able to block Thorpe's effort on the line.
However in the dying seconds the home side found a third as a quick break culminated with Spring heading past Turley to clinch all three points.