Northampton have been relegated from League One after Luton skipper Kal Naismith secured a 2-1 win at Kenilworth Road to move his side within three points of the play-offs.

With five minutes remaining, the defender whipped an incredible 30-yard set-piece past Lee Burge to help the Hatters climb to seventh.

Northampton, who knew that they needed a miracle to stay up, should have gone ahead inside five minutes when Sam Hoskins was denied by Josh Keeley.

Tom Eaves then volleyed at Keeley, as Luton's only chance came from Kasey Palmer's free-kick, which clipped the outside of the post.

Northampton stunned the home crowd, netting on 31 minutes, when Hoskins was left unmarked to race through and lob Keeley.

Luton were back on level terms with 43 minutes gone, Liam Walsh's 20-yard strike flying into the net.

After the break, Cameron McGeehan's shot deflected just wide, while Jordan Clark was inches off target.

Substitute Ali Al-Hamadi slammed his shot against the post from 25 yards on 77 minutes, while Clark drove into the stands again.

However, it did not matter with Naismith's heroics snatching all three points for the hosts.

Match report supplied by PA Media.

Northampton Town's relegation from League One will come as a disappointment following the transformation of their squad last summer.

After securing their third-tier status last season by finishing 19th under Kevin Nolan, who had been appointed in December 2024, they brought in 16 new faces during the summer transfer window.

Perhaps understandably, with so many players new to each other, the season began with three defeats in the first four league games, but that was followed by four wins in the next five to lift the mood around Sixfields.

At the end of November, chairman Kelvin Thomas said that after 10 years he was proud to own a "stable football club" and following a 3-1 home win over AFC Wimbledon on 18 December the Cobblers were in 12th place, although results and performances, by and large, remained inconsistent.

From that point, however, Northampton plunged into trouble with a run of only one win in the next 16 matches - Nolan was unhappy with the club's festive fixture schedule and Manchester United's recall of the highly promising Ethan Wheatley from a season-long loan, to then send him to Bradford City, was also a setback.

Nolan admitted they were in a "dogfight" for survival following a 1-0 defeat in the return game with AFC Wimbledon on 8 March but that result cost him his job.

Technical director Colin Calderwood, a promotion-winning manager with Northampton 20 years ago, proved unable to improve the situation with the players at his disposal after being put in interim charge.

It is perhaps an unfortunate coincidence that relegation to League Two comes exactly 50 years after they were promoted from the fourth tier, finishing second behind Lincoln City under boss Bill Dodgin Jr.