Gillingham 2 Northampton Town 0 - the match report
NPOWER LEAGUE 2
Tuesday January 29th
Priestfield Stadium
GILLINGHAM 2
Cody McDonald 4
Myles Weston 84
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 0
Attendance: 5,600 (183 Cobblers fans)
Gillingham: Scott Nelson, Matt Fish, Joe Martin, Leon Legge, Charlie Lee (sub Charlie Allen 89), Andy Frampton, Deon Burton, Myles Weston (sub Danny Kedwell 87), Adam Barrett, Steven Gregory, Cody McDonald (sub Chris Whelpdale 83).
Subs not used: Ben Strevens, Callum Davies, Adam Birchall, Tommy Forecast
Cobblers: Lee Nicholls, Ben Tozer, Kelvin Langmead, Clarke Carlisle, Joe Widdowson, Chris Hackett, Luke Guttridge (sub Adebayo Akinfenwa 63), Ben Harding, Jake Robinson 9sub Ishmel Demontagnac 80), Lewis Hornby, Clive Platt
Subs not used: Dean Snedker, Louis Moult, John Johnson, Lewis Wilson, Manny Oyeleke
Referee: Mr G Salisbury
Booked:
Gillingham: Adam Barrett (13), Charlie Allen (90)
Cobblers: Clarke Carlisle (17, 5th of the season), Joe Widdowson (90, 9th)
10 cautions on or before 11 April; 2 match suspension
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension
Sent off:
Gillingham: none
Cobblers: none
Sending offs: 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 trip to second in the table Gillingham. New loan signing Brentford midfielder Emmanuel Oyeleke (Manny) was named on the bench where he was joined by the fit again John Johnson.
Cody McDonald gave Gillingham an early lead, finishing from close range after a long punt forward from Charlie Lee caught in the wind to bamboozle the unfortunate Lee Nicholls.
Clarke Carlisle was booked for bringing down McDonald before Scott Nelson made a good save to palm away a shot from Clive Platt. Ben Harding then saw his effort from the rebound blocked on the line.
Deon Burton found the side netting with a spectacular overhead kick on 27 minutes following a mis-placed Cobblers header.
Platt flashed a header just wide on 35 minutes after a great run and cross from Chris Hackett while Adam Barrett, who had been booked earlier in the first half, was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card after catching Kelvin Langmead late.
After a scrappy start to the second half with the swirly wind continuing to cause havoc, boss Aidy Boothroyd made a change with Adebayo Akinfenwa replacing Luke Guttridge.
Boothroyd made his second substitution with just over ten minutes to go, Ishmel Demontagnac coming on for Jake Robinson. The Gills then made a change of their own with Chris Whelpdale replacing goalscorer McDonald.
Myles Weston doubled the home side's lead on 84 minutes, firing in off the post after latching on to a long ball from goalkeeper Nelson.
On what was a frustrating night for the Cobblers Joe Widdowson then picked up a yellow card deep into injury time along with the Gills Charlie Allen.
GILLINGHAM MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (4) 5
CORNERS: (4) 3
FOULS: (7) 13
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 3
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (4) 6
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (6) 8
CORNERS: (0) 7
FOULS: (5) 6
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (3) 4
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by the Press Association.