Northampton Town v Chesterfield
SKY BET LEAGUE 1
Saturday February 11th, 3.00pm
Sixfields
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 3
John-Joe O'Toole 12, 42
Marc Richards 48
CHESTERFIELD 1
David Faupala 54
Attendance: 5,824 (452 away fans)
Cobblers: Adam Smith, Neal Eardley, David Buchanan, Zander Diamond, Lewin Nyatanga, Hiram Boateng (sub Paul Anderson 87), Matt Taylor, John-Joe O’Toole, Keshi Anderson (sub Gregg Wylde 84), Marc Richards, Michael Smith
Subs not used: Jak McCourt, Rod McDonald, Harry Beautyman, Aaron Phillips, David Cornell
Chesterfield: Lloyd Allinson, Daniel Jones (sub Reece Mitchell 46), Ian Evatt, Dan Gardner (sub Angel Martinez 46), David Faupala, Jon Nolan, Dion Donohue, Kristian Dennis (sub Ched Evans 62), Tom Anderson, Liam Grimshaw, Sadiq El Fitouri
Subs not used: Sam Hird, Rai Simons, Reece Brown, Matt Duke
Referee: Richard Clark
Booked:
Cobblers: none
Chesterfield: Angel Martinez (88)
10 cautions on or before 11 April; 2 match suspension
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension
Sent off:
Cobblers: none
Chesterfield: 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.
None
Chesterfield were the visitors to Sixfields for the first of back-to-back home games for the Cobblers. Michael Smith made his home debut and first start for the club with a sore knee sidelining Luke Williams.
On a bitterly cold wintery afternoon, Marc Richards 8th minute shot took a deflection before being saved by Lloyd Allinson.
The Cobblers were building up a head of steam and took the lead on 12 minutes, Hiram Boateng’s inch-perfect cross met by the head of John-Joe O’Toole.
O’Toole headed wide as the home side looked for a second while somewhat against the run of play Adam Smith made a good save to deny Chesterfield's Jon Nolan.
The Cobblers doubled their lead as the game approached half-time, John-Joe O’Toole in the right place at the right time to bag his second goal of the afternoon, finishing from close range on the follow-up to Keshi Anderson’s deflected cross.
Angel Martinez and Reece Mitchell came on in a double change for Chesterfield at half-time, replacing Dan Gardner and former Sixfields loanee Daniel Jones.
Smith made a good save to deny Liam Grimshaw one-on-one at the start of the second half but it wasn’t long before the Cobblers increased their lead, Marc Richards on the end of Matt Taylor’s free-kick to make it 3-0.
David Faupala pulled a goal back for the visitors on 54 minutes, the Manchester City loanee with a calm right-foot finish after being played in by Dion Donohue. Ched Evans came on for Kristian Dennis as Gary Caldwell made his third and final change.
Michael Smith shot wide after a flick on from Richards and a rare right footed effort from David Buchanan was well-saved by Allinson as the Cobblers looked to restore their three-goal cushion.
Winger Gregg Wylde came on for the closing stages in place of Keshi Anderson. Paul Anderson came on for Hiram Boateng.
The Cobblers looked comfortable at 3-1 and that was how the game finished as Justin Edinburgh recorded consecutive wins in his first two home games in charge.
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (3) 5
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (2) 3
CORNERS: (3) 4
FOULS: (5) 13
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 0
CHESTERFIELD MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (4) 7
CORNERS: (2) 5
FOULS: (1) 6
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 3
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta