SKY BET LEAGUE 2     
Tuesday December 20th, 7.45pm
Sixfields

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 2
Sam Sherring 53
Louis Appere 56

CARLISLE UNITED 1
Jack Armer 50

Attendance: 4,583 (225 away supporters)

Cobblers: Lee Burge, Aaron McGowan, Sam Sherring, Jon Guthrie, Akin Odimayo, Ben Fox, Marc Leonard, Shaun McWilliams (sub Mitch Pinnock 75), Louis Appere (sub Danny Hylton 86), Sam Hoskins, Kieron Bowie (sub Tyler Magloire 90)
Subs not used: Jonny Maxted, Ryan Haynes, Josh Eppiah, Josh Harrop
 
Carlisle:  Tomas Holy, Jack Armer, Owen Moxon, Morgan Feeney, Paul Huntington, Callum Guy, Ryan Edmondson (sub Toni Sho-Silva 70), Kristian Dennis (sub Jack Stretton 62), Taylor Charters (sub Jordan Gibson 69), Corey Whelan (sub Jamie Devitt 70), Jack Ellis
Subs not used: Joel Senior, Jayden Harris, Michael Kelly

Referee: James Oldham

Booked:
Cobblers: Ben Fox (45), Lee Burge (83), Aaron McGowan (88)
Carlisle: Corey Whelan (41), Jack Armer (81)

Sent off:
Cobblers: none      
Carlisle: none

It was third versus seventh under the lights at Sixfields as Northampton Town took on Carlisle United in a hastily re-arranged midweek fixture following Saturday’s postponement.

Marc Leonard and Louis Appere came into the Cobblers starting XI while the bench was boosted by the return from injury of Tyler Magloire and recent new signing Josh Harrop. Jack Sowerby missed out through illness while Mitch Pinnock, also hit with a sickness bug, was named among the substitutes.

Ryan Edmondson, who spent the second half of the 2020/21 season on-loan at Sixfields, shot just wide in an early chance for Carlisle, with the Cobblers first real strike at goal a deflected effort from Kieron Bowie.

Going into the game neither side had played for over two weeks and clear cut chances were proving hard to come by in a tight first half but with just over five minutes to play before the break Tomas Holy made a good save to keep out a low shot from Sam Hoskins after some good work down the right by Bowie.

The Cobblers started the second half on the front foot but it was Carlisle who made the breakthrough, Jack Armer firing home following a goalmouth scramble, the goal given despite strong appeals for off-side.

The Cumbrians lead was short-lived however, Sam Sherring heading home from a Hoskins corner.

Louis Appere then had a chance to put the Cobblers in front but couldn’t keep his shot down. He soon made amends however with a composed finish into the bottom corner to turn the scoreline on its head.

As the Cobblers looked for a third goal to try and put the game to bed, Paul Huntington made a terrific tackle to prevent Bowie getting a shot away after some superb set up play from Marc Leonard.

Shaun McWilliams made way for Mitch Pinnock in the first change made by Jon Brady before some superb defending from Sherring denied Cumbrians substitute Tobi Sho-Silva.

Sho-Silva had the ball in the back of the net from a corner but the off-side flag was already up and the Cobblers went on to see out eight minutes of stoppage time to claim all three points.

COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)     
SHOTS ON TARGET: (4) 5
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (6) 6
CORNERS: (5) 8         
FOULS: (6) 14       
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 0

CARLISLE MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)      
SHOTS ON TARGET: (0) 3
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (1) 1 
CORNERS: (1) 3
FOULS: (5) 10
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 4