SKY BET LEAGUE 2      
Saturday April 23rd, 3.00pm      
Breyer Group Stadium

LEYTON ORIENT 2
Theo Archibald 45
Jordan Brown 51

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 4
Mitch Pinnock 19
Jon Guthrie 32
Josh Eppiah 38, 45

Attendance: 6,237 (1,250 Cobblers fans)

Leyton Orient: Lawrence Vigouroux, Connor Wood, Paul Smyth, Theo Archibald, Otis Khan (sub Alex Mitchell 52), Aaron Drinan, Darren Pratley, Omar Beckles, Ruel Sotiriou (sub Harry Smith 52), Shadrach Ogie, Ethan Coleman (sub Jordan Brown 46)
Subs not used: Sam Sargeant, Matt Young, Jayden Sweeney, Daniel Nkrumah
 
Cobblers: Liam Roberts, Aaron McGowan, Fraser Horsfall, Jon Guthrie, Ali Koiki (sub Joseph Mills 90), Jack Sowerby, Shaun McWilliams, Mitch Pinnock, Sam Hoskins, Josh Eppiah (sub Danny Rose 77), Louis Appere (sub Chanka Zimba 90)
Subs not used: Jonny Maxted, Max Dyche, Idris Kanu, Scott Pollock

Referee: Darren Handley

Booked:
Leyton Orient: none
Cobblers: Sam Hoskins (29, 10th of the season), Shaun McWilliams (41, 12th), Mitch Pinnock (43, 6th), Jack Sowerby (75, 4th), Danny Rose (84, 9th)

  
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension

Sent off:
Leyton Orient: Shadrach Ogie (84)    
Cobblers: 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.

Jon Brady named an unchanged starting XI for the third consecutive game while Max Dyche replaced Michael Harriman on the bench for the trip to in-form Leyton Orient. Former Cobblers striker Harry Smith was amongst the O’s substitutes.

The home side threatened early on with a good block from Fraser Horsfall and a terrific reaction save from Liam Roberts to deny Aaron Drinan keeping the scores level. The Cobblers also had a good chance when Louis Appere played in Josh Eppiah but having half rounded Lawrence Vigouroux, the O’s keeper recovered to make the save.

Vigouroux did likewise to deny Appere after his mis-placed clearance but the Cobblers weren’t to be denied when Mitch Pinnock broke the deadlock with a thunderous unstoppable strike into the top corner.

Far from sitting on their lead the Cobblers kept coming forward with goalscorer Pinnock going close to a second after again taking aim from distance and Eppiah seeing a shot from an acute angle saved by Vigouroux.

Jon Guthrie then did make it 2-0 after Orient failed to defend a corner, the defender stabbing home at the second attempt after his initial effort came back off the post.

Vigouroux again denied Eppiah at his near post but the on-loan Leicester City forward wasn’t to be denied a third time when he made it 3-0 on 37 minutes, beating the off-side trap and calmly slotting home after latching onto a ball over the top from Ali Koiki.

Orient did however pull a goal back in first-half stoppage time, Paul Smythe’s cross turned home at close range by Theo Archibald.

The Cobblers weren’t done for the first half though and their three-goal lead was restored almost immediately, Josh Eppiah with a sublime volley into the bottom corner to make it 4-1 Cobblers at the break.

Jordan Brown, on for the second half, made it 2-4 with a deflected strike on 50 minutes and the home side then made a double change, Richie Wellens bringing on Harry Smith and Alex Mitchell.

Guthrie made a vital goal-line clearance to prevent Smyth halving the deficit while Roberts had to be alert to collect a backward defensive header from Koiki and Smith headed narrowly wide in some nervy moments for the Cobblers, Orient also appealing for a penalty when the ball appeared to strike Hoskins' arm

Shadrach Ogie was shown a straight red card after reacting badly to a challenge from Cobblers substitute Danny Rose, meaning the home side had to play out the final minutes down to ten men.

The threat from Orient wasn’t over but the Cobblers defended well to clinch a massive three points which saw them move back into the automatic promotion places with two games to go.

LEYTON ORIENT MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)     
SHOTS ON TARGET: (5) 9
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (0) 4
CORNERS: (1) 3       
FOULS: (5) 9       
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 1

COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)      
SHOTS ON TARGET: (5) 5
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (5) 7
CORNERS: (2) 2
FOULS: (8) 17
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 1