Northampton Town 1 Wycombe Wanderers 4 - the match report
SKY BET LEAGUE 2
Saturday December 21st, 3.00pm
Sixfields
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1
Izale McLeod 50
WYCOMBE WANDERERS 4
Jo Kuffour 1
Kortney Hause 13
Stuart Lewis 79
Dean Morgan 84
Attendance: 4,353 (439 away fans)
Cobblers: Matt Duke, Kevin Amankwaah, Joe Widdowson, Mathias Kouo-Doumbe, Paul Reid (sub Luke Norris 46), Chris Hackett, Ricky Ravenhill, Ian Morris (sub Ishmel Demontagnac 23), Stuart Dallas, Clive Platt (sub Roy O'Donovan 26), Izale McLeod.
Subs not used: Ben McNamara, Danny Emerton, Lee Collins, Gary Deegan
Wycombe: Matt Ingram, Marvin McCoy, Anthony Stewart, Dean Morgan, Stuart Lewis, Matt Bloomfield, Sam Wood, Jo Kuffour (sub Matt McClure 90), Kortney Hause, Max Kretzschmar (sub Billy Knott 70), Nick Arnold
Subs not used: Matt Spring, Charlie Horlock, Seb Cann-Svard, Junior Morias, Lee Angol
Referee: Mr S Hooper
Booked:
Cobblers: Kevin Amankwaah (5, 3rd of the season), Paul Reid (26, 4th), Ricky Ravenhill (90, 3rd)
Wycombe: Marvin McCoy (45), Anthony Stewart (62), Matt Ingram (74), Stewart Lewis (80)
5 cautions on or before 31 December; 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
Wycombe: 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.
The Cobblers side was unchanged for the first time this season as they welcomed Wycombe to Sixfields for their final home game of 2013.
Jo Kuffour stunned the Cobblers with a goal inside 15 seconds, the striker finishing well following a flick on from Sam Wood.
A Matt Bloomfield free-kick was saved by Matt Duke on 5 minutes after Kevin Amankwaah had picked up an early booking. Dean Morgan then thought he had doubled the visitors lead only to be denied by a late off-side flag.
It was 2-0 on 13 minutes, Kortney Hause with a header from close range after the Cobblers defence failed to clear from a Wycombe corner.
Kuffour raced through clear on goal on 17 minutes but Duke was there to make the save. The Cobblers were then forced into making a change, Ishmel Demontagnac coming on after Ian Morris appeared to pick up a hamstring injury. Clive Platt was then replaced by Roy O'Donovan.
Mathias Doumbe headed over from a Cobblers corner on the half hour while Izale McLeod forced Matt Ingram into making his first save of the afternoon.
McLeod spurned a good opportunity to halve the Cobblers deficit on 41 minutes but after being set up by O'Donovan he skied his shot over the bar.
Luke Norris came on for Paul Reid at half-time as the Cobblers switched to a 3-4-3 formation for the second half.
After a bright start to the second half Izale McLeod pulled a goal back on 50 minutes, scoring from close range after Norris flicked on a cross from Chris Hackett.
A free-kick from Max Kretzschmar deceived Duke after taking a deflection but to the relief of the home side the ball landed on the roof of the net. From another Wycombe set-piece Duke then made a good save to keep out a powerful diving header from Dean Morgan.
Norris was denied by a last-ditch challenge from Hause on 66 minutes before Mathias Doumbe was forced off with an injury, leaving the Cobblers who had already made all three substitutions, down to ten men.
Stuart Lewis made it 3-1 to Wycombe on 79 minutes, beating Duke with a low strike from 18-yards. Duke then pulled off a fantastic save to tip over a curling strike from Nick Arnold.
Dean Morgan added a fourth on 85 minutes with a low shot into the far corner.
O'Donovan then headed straight at Ingram in stoppage time as the game ended in a 4-1 victory for Wycombe.
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 6
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (3) 6
CORNERS: (1) 2
FOULS: (7) 17
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 1
WYCOMBE MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (5) 10
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (1) 2
CORNERS: (4) 7
FOULS: (5) 11
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (3) 4
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta.