Manager Jack Wilshere was sent off and had to endure Luton slipping to a 2-1 loss away to Stevenage from the dressing room.
The flashpoint came after 23 minutes when Dan Kemp burst on to a free ball and guided a lovely effort past Josh Keeley to open the scoring for Stevenage.
The Luton bench were incensed that there was no foul given on Liam Walsh by Dan Phillips during the build-up, and whatever Wilshere said in response was deemed unacceptable by referee Andrew Humphries.
Bookings followed on both sides as passions rose and there were almost more discipline problems when a long Lewis Freestone clearance went over the heads of the Luton defence and then bounced over Keeley who had advanced from his area.
Kemp got in but ended up on the turf before he had a chance to shoot. No push was the decision this time.
Calm was restored after the interval but Luton's evening got worse after 70 minutes when a break and cross by Ben Broggio was bundled in from close range by Josh Magennis.
Kasey Palmer did give Luton hope five minutes later when he sent in an effort that was deflected in by Mads Andersen but Boro's solid defence offered no more openings.
After the game, assistant boss Chris Powell expressed his frustration with the incident that led to Wilshere's dismissal.
"When you come to Stevenage, you have to be prepared to stand up to them and I felt we did that, but obviously the game turned on a couple of incidents that really, at any level, shouldn't happen," he said.
"That's not sour grapes, that's just me talking on behalf of everyone connected with Luton Town, but the game was decided by a couple of incidents that should have been dealt with a bit better by the officials.
"The stadium kind of stopped, everyone's expecting a free-kick for us. Of course, you shouldn't stop, but the way it happened, we were just waiting for the whistle to blow but it didn't happen.
"Fair enough, it's a good strike by Dan Kemp but it shouldn't have got to that."
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Powell also questioned the legitimacy of Magennis' goal, which proved to be the winner.
"Then the second goal, we felt that it was offside and so it was proved when we saw it. You're just hoping that the officials see these and make good decisions because that's why they're there and we need them.
"I felt we were in the ascendancy, we were the side that looked to be a bit better in the final third, but the game is done on two decisions, which is hard to take."
