Northampton Town 0 Derby County 1 - the match report
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY
Saturday July 18th, 2.00pm
Sixfields
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 0
DERBY COUNTY 1
Johnny Russell 33
Attendance: 2,542 (1,226 away fans)
Cobblers: Adam Smith, Josh Lelan, David Buchanan, Zander Diamond, Ryan Cresswell, John-Joe O’Toole, Joel Byrom, Lawson D’Ath, Alfie Potter, Nicky Adams, Marc Richards
Substitutes: Rod McDonald (trialist), Sam Warburton, Danny Clifton, Chris Hackett, Sam Hoskins (trialist), Paul Corry (trialist), Ivan Toney, Ryan Clarke
Derby: Scott Carson, Cyrus Christie, Craig Forsyth, Chris Baird, Richard Keogh, Alex Pearce, Johnny Russell, Jeff Hendrick, Darren Bent, Will Hughes, Andreas Weimann
Substitutes: George Thorne, Lee Grant, Isak SSewankambo, Ryan Shotton, Stephen Warnock, Jamie Hanson, Craig Bryson, Thomas Ince, Chris Martin, Connor Sammon
Referee: Mr A Woolmer
Booked:
Cobblers: none
Derby: none
Sent off:
Cobblers: none
Derby: none
Northampton Town welcomed Championship side Derby County to Sixfields for their first home pre-season friendly.
With the Sixfields surface in immaculate condition the Rams named a strong side for the fixture while Jason Taylor (ankle) missed the game as a precaution.
Ex-England striker Darren Bent went close with a deflected effort on 26 minutes following a fairly quiet opening period which did include some good build up play from the home side.
The Cobblers had a strong penalty appeal for handball turned down just after the half hour before Derby took the lead, Johnny Russell smashing the ball home from 10-yards after latching onto a through ball from Andreas Weimann.
Nicky Adams tested Scott Carson with a shot from distance at the start of the second half before the Cobblers were awarded a penalty when Richard Keogh bundled into Marc Richards. The chance For Town to level the score was spurned however with Richards blasting his spot kick over the bar.
Both sides made a number of changes as the second half progressed with Ivan Toney amongst the players to come on for the Cobblers.
A dipping Toney free-kick went narrowly over the bar on 67 minutes while Rams substitute goalkeeper Lee Grant saved a low shot from Sam Hoskins.
Craig Bryson then passed up a golden chance to double the Rams' lead before Toney again tested Grant with a stinging volley.
Adam Smith made a good save to keep out a Tom Ince free-kick and Connor Sammon missed the target from an acute angle and the same man missed a good opportunity in the closing seconds but it was to finish 1-0, the Cobblers again having shown some positive signs in the build up to the new campaign.
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 7
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (0) 2
CORNERS: (5) 8
FOULS: (7) 9
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (2) 2
DERBY MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (0) 4
CORNERS: (2) 5
FOULS: (6) 10
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (2) 3