Rushden and Luton battled out a 2-2 draw at Nene Park which was a fair result on the reflection of play.
Luton were the better side in the first half and they took the lead in the sixth minute when leading scorer Adrian Forbes shot home from close range after a cross by Steve Robinson, who had been played in by Steve Howard.
Luton took confidence from the goal and on seven minutes Forbes was just wide with another good effort.
Rushden equalised, however, in the 16th minute when Paul Hall's cross was glanced home via the post from Paul Kitson.
On 19 minutes Jamie Ashdown made a fine point blank save to deny Luton's Chris Coyne.
A fine Luton move in the 23rd minute ended with Peter Holmes shooting just wide and minutes later Holmes was in the thick of the action again when he was again just wide.
On 39 minutes Luton regained the lead when Ahmet Brkovic crossed from the left for the unmarked Holmes to head past Ashdown.
A minute into the second half Rushden should have equalised when Ritchie Hanlon headed wide after a fine cross by Hall.
Rushden began to dominate the second half and on 55 minutes Rodney Jack was inches wide with a fierce drive from 30 yards.
Rushden gained a deserved equaliser in the 64th minute when Barry Hunter headed home powerfully from a Andrew Burgess corner.
Rushden pressed hard for a winner and on 80 minutes they were awarded a penalty when following a cross from the right from Kitson, there was a goal mouth scramble and a Luton defender was adjudged to have handled.
From the resulting spot-kick however, Marlon Beresford saved although the shot from Richie Hanlon was almost straight at him.
Despite efforts by both sides in the closing stages neither side could grab a winner and a draw was probably a fair result which left both sides within two points of each other in the table.