Northampton Town v Mansfield Town
SKY BET LEAGUE 2
Saturday August 9th, 3.00pm
Sixfields
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1
Kaid Mohamed 26
MANSFIELD TOWN 0
Attendance: 5,202 (900 away fans)
Cobblers: Matt Duke, Daniel Alfei, Gregor Robertson, Zander Diamond, Lee Collins, Chris Hackett (sub Evan Horwood 79), Ricky Ravenhill, Darren Carter (sub Ian Morris 76), Kaid Mohamed, John-Joe O’Toole (sub Ivan Toney 57), Marc Richards
Subs not used: Jordan Archer, Ben Tozer, Lawson D’Ath, David Moyo
Mansfield: Sascha Studer, Ritchie Sutton, John Dempster, Ryan Tafazolli, Fergus Bell (sub Sam Clucas 54), Alex Fisher, Oliver Palmer (sub Liam Hearn 54), Simon Heslop, Lee Beevers, Adam Murray, Robert Taylor(sub Christopher Clements 80)
Subs not used: Martin Riley, Jamie McGuire, Liam Marsden, Amari'i Bell
Referee: Mr Andy Davies
Booked:
Cobblers: Zander Diamond (27, 1st of the season)
Mansfield: Ritchie Sutton (7), John Dempster (83)
5 cautions on or before 30 November; 1 match suspension
10 cautions on or before 11 April; 2 match suspension
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension
Sent off:
Cobblers: none
Mansfield: none
Sendings off: 2 cautions in one game; 1 match suspension but cautions do not count towards above totals. Other sendings off; 1 or 3 match suspension. Extra match ban for additional sendings off.
Mansfield Town were the visitors to Sixfields for the Cobblers opening game of the 2014/15 season.
Summer signings Daniel Alfei, Zander Diamond, Gregor Robertson, Kaid Mohamed, John-Joe O’Toole and Sixfields returnee Marc Richards all started for Town with Kelvin Langmead (Achilles), Emile Sinclair (groin) and Lewis Hornby (back) the only absentees. Lee Collins skippered the side.
The first opening of the afternoon fell to Mansfield’s Alex Fisher but under pressure from Matt Duke his shot went over the bar.
After a spell of pressure the Cobblers took the lead on 26 minutes, Kaid Mohamed heading in at the far post from a Darren Carter corner.
Matt Duke made sure that lead was preserved going into half-time, the Cobblers keeper making a terrific save in stoppage time to keep out a header from Mansfield centre-back Ryan Tafazolli, with a follow up effort going just wide.
Marc Richards was close with a flicked header that went just over the bar at the start of the second half, Daniel Alfei setting up the opportunity.
Ivan Toney replaced John-Joe O’Toole on 57 minutes with Mansfield having just brought on Sam Clucas and Liam Hearn.
Sascha Studer saved a curled effort from Carter on 63 minutes as Town pushed for a second goal.
Toney showed real strength to win the ball and set up a chance for Richards who one-on-one with the Stags keeper put his shot a fraction wide.
Substitute Ian Morris, on for Darren Carter, then provided a chance for Toney but the youngster couldn’t find the target.
Those missed chances from Richards and Toney didn’t impact on the final outcome however as the Cobblers secured their first opening day victory since the 2008/09 season.
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (3) 7
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (1) 5
CORNERS: (1) 3
FOULS: (4) 7
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 1
MANSFIELD MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (4) 6
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (3) 6
CORNERS: (1) 2
FOULS: (5) 11
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 4
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta