Northampton Town v Burton Albion

Northampton Town v Burton Albion

SKY BET LEAGUE 2
Saturday October 11th, 2.00pm
Sixfields

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1

Ryan Cresswell 80

BURTON ALBION 2

Jacob Blyth 45

Alex MacDonald 85

Attendance: 4,935 (339 away fans)

Cobblers: Jordan Archer, Ben Tozer (sub Daniel Alfei 68), Ryan Cresswell, Lee Collins, Enda Stevens, Chris Hackett, Ricky Ravenhill, Joel Byrom, Kaid Mohamed (sub Lawson D'Ath 49), Alex Nicholls (sub Kelvin Langmead 76), Ivan Toney.

Subs not used: Dean Snedker, Gregor Robertson, David Moyo, Darren Carter.

Burton: Jon McLaughlin, Phil Edwards, John Mousinho, George Taft (sub Damien McCrory 68), Ian Sharps, Robbie Weir (sub Liam Slade 84), Lucas Akins, Alex MacDonald, Jacob Blyth, Adam McGurk (sub Marcus Harness 76), Matty Palmer.

Subs not used: Lee Bell, Dean Lyness, Dominic Knowles, Sam Austin.

Referee: Mr G Sutton

Booked:
Cobblers: Lawson D'Ath (66, 2nd of the season), Enda Stevens (90, 1st)
Burton: Alex MacDonald (80)

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
Burton: 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.

With leading goalscorer Marc Richards (hamstring) sidelined for four to six weeks, Alex Nicholls partnered Ivan Toney up front for the 2pm kick off against Burton Albion.

New loan signing, Aston Villa left-back Enda Stevens, made his Cobblers debut while former Sixfields loanee Jacob Blyth was named in the Brewers starting XI.

After a quiet opening 20 minutes, Chris Hackett and then Ivan Toney both had shots on goal with Toney’s effort well saved by Jon McLaughlin.

As the game started to pick up, Alex MacDonald had a shot blocked at close range before Kaid Mohamed spurned a good chance for the Cobblers, putting his shot over from six yards.

Just before half-time it was Burton who took the lead, Jacob Blyth with the goal against the run of play.

Chris Wilder made his first change on 49 minutes, Lawson D’Ath replacing Kaid Mohamed.

Alex Nicholls shot wide after linking up with Ivan Toney before Chris Hackett fired a free-kick over from 25-yards.

Jordan Archer made a terrific save to palm behind a shot from Alex MacDonald as the game reached the hour mark. Following a lull in play, Daniel Alfei came on for Ben Tozer.

The Cobblers final change saw Kelvin Langmead, a late replacement on the bench following an injury to John-Joe O’Toole in the warm-up, coming on for Alex Nicholls.

Ryan Cresswell equalised for Town on 80 minutes, the defender with a well-taken half-volley following a ball into the box from Alfei.

Burton were back in front five minutes later however, Alex MacDonald with a blockbuster of a free-kick from fully 30-yards in to the top corner.

The Cobblers couldn’t come from behind a second time and MacDonald’s stunning deadball strike proved to be the match winner for Burton.

COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (3) 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (2) 7
CORNERS: (2) 5
FOULS: (7) 18
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 1

BURTON MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (5) 8
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (2) 4
CORNERS: (2) 5
FOULS: (7) 12
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (2) 4

The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta

Match Reports