Northampton Town v Southend United
SKY BET LEAGUE 2
Saturday January 3rd, 3.00pm
Sixfields
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1
Lawson D'Ath 71
SOUTHEND UNITED 1
Shaquile Coulthirst 47
Attendance: 4,587 (801 away fans)
Cobblers: Matt Duke, Brendon Moloney, Ryan Cresswell, Lee Collins, Evan Horwood, Lawson D'Ath (sub Chris Hackett 90), Jason Taylor, Joel Byrom, Ricky Holmes (sub Kaid Mohamed 84), John-Joe O'Toole (sub Emile Sinclair 56), Marc Richards
Subs not used: Dean Snedker, Kelvin Langmead, Ben Tozer, Darren Carter
Southend: Daniel Bentley, John White, Ben Coker, Adam Thompson, Luke Prosser, Michael Timlin (sub David Worrall 74), Barry Corr, Will Atkinson, Shaquile Coulthirst (sub Jason Williams 83), Ryan Leonard, Jack Payne
Subs not used: Connor Clifford, Paul Smith, Gary Deegan, Jerome Binnon-Williams, Jack Bridge
Referee: Mr T Robinson
Booked:
Cobblers: Ryan Cresswell (31, 3rd of the season), Ricky Holmes (32, 5th), Joel Byrom (38, 7th), Evan Horwood (49, 3rd), Marc Richards (77, 2nd)
Southend: Adam Thompson (31), Ryan Leonard (77), Luke Prosser (77)
10 cautions on or before 11 April; 2 match suspension
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension
Sent off:
Cobblers: none
Southend: Luke Prosser (90)
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.
Northampton Town’s first match of 2015 was given the go ahead by referee Tim Robinson following a 1.50pm pitch inspection after heavy rain overnight and throughout Saturday morning had put the game in some doubt.
Ryan Cresswell returned from injury while a trio of new loan signings all made their Cobblers debut with Yeovil right-back Brendon Moloney, Portsmouth winger Ricky Holmes and Cheltenham midfielder Jason Taylor all coming straight into Chris Wilder’s side.
The Cobblers started brightly and were denied by the woodwork on 8 minutes, Cresswell’s header from a Joel Byrom free-kick coming back off the underside of the crossbar before being put behind for a corner. Daniel Bentley saved well from Holmes midway through the first half while Marc Richards headed just wide from a Moloney cross.
Southend went close to breaking the deadlock on 31 minutes when Ben Coker’s free-kick struck the angle of post and bar, Shaquile Coulthirst just failing to get the ball over the line from the rebound.
After ending the first half strongly it was Southend who took the lead on 47 minutes, Shaquile Coulthirst poking the ball just over the goal line from close range after Matt Duke’s initial save from Barry Corr’s driven cross-shot.
Emile Sinclair replaced John-Joe O’Toole in the Cobblers first change, O’Toole having only returned to Sixfields just before Christmas following a month on loan at Roots Hall.
Lawson D’Ath levelled things up on 71 minutes, heading in Richards inch-perfect cross moments after Bentley had made a good save to keep out a shot from Holmes.
Kaid Mohamed came on for Holmes on 83 minutes, the on-loan Pompey winger given a standing ovation by the Cobblers fans. Goalscorer D’Ath then also received a rapturous round of applause as he was replaced by Hackett.
Five minutes of stoppage time were then played but neither side could find a late winner as the points were shared, Southend ending the game with ten men after Luke Prosser was shown a second yellow card deep into injury time.
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 6
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (6) 6
CORNERS: (4) 7
FOULS: (9) 13
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 3
SOUTHEND MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (7) 12
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (2) 7
CORNERS: (4) 7
FOULS: (7) 10
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 2
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta