Southend United v Northampton Town
SKY BET LEAGUE 1
Saturday February 18th, 3.00pm
Roots Hall
SOUTHEND UNITED 2
Jermaine McGlashan 20
Simon Cox 32
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 2
Marc Richards 29
John-Joe O'Toole 44
Attendance: 8,425 (544 Cobblers fans)
Southend: Ted Smith, Ben Coker, Anthony Wordsworth, Adam Thompson, Michael Timlin, Simon Cox, Marc-Antoine Fortune (sub Nile Ranger 62), Jermaine McGlashan (sub Theo Robinson 62), Ryan Leonard, Jason Demetriou, Anton Ferdinand (sub Ryan Inniss 69)
Subs not used: Luke O'Neill, Luke Amos, Frank Nouble, Josh Bexon
Cobblers: Adam Smith, Neal Eardley, David Buchanan, Zander Diamond, Lewin Nyatanga, Hiram Boateng (sub Jak McCourt 62), Matt Taylor, John-Joe O’Toole, Gregg Wylde (sub Paul Anderson 62), Marc Richards, Michael Smith
Subs not used: Keshi Anderson, Gabriel Zakuani, Harry Beautyman, Aaron Phillips, David Cornell
Referee: John Brooks
Booked:
Southend: Ben Coker (51), Jason Demetriou (82)
Cobblers: Neal Eardley (45, 1st of the season), Lewin Nyatanga (45, 3rd), Michael Smith (77, 2nd), Zander Diamond (90, 4th)
10 cautions on or before 11 April; 2 match suspension
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension
Sent off:
Southend: none
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.
After back-to-back home wins Northampton Town faced a tough trip to play-off chasers Southend. Gregg Wylde replaced Keshi Anderson in the only change to the starting eleven while Gabriel Zakuani was named on the bench after fully recovering from a hamstring injury picked up at the African Cup of Nations with DR Congo.
Marc-Antoine Fortune headed just wide early on while Matt Taylor went close with a strike from fully 30-yards. Adam Smith saved comfortably from Michael Timlin before Hiram Boateng fired over as both sides continued to trade chances.
Twenty minutes in and it was Southend who made the breakthrough, Jermaine McGlashan following-in after a fantastic save from Adam Smith had initially denied former Cobblers loanee Simon Cox.
Marc Richards equalised ten minutes later, curling a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Southend were back in front almost immediately, Simon Cox finishing from close range, the goal given despite some appeals for an off-side flag.
The Cobblers equalised for a second time as the game approached half-time, John-Joe O’Toole getting the final touch after Matt Taylor crashed a free-kick against the inside of the post.
Adam Smith then saved a free-kick from Anthony Wordsworth as a frantic first 45 drew to a close.
The Cobblers started the second half brightly and with an hour gone Southend boss Phil Brown made a double change up front, bringing on Theo Robinson and Nile Ranger. Justin Edinburgh also made a double change, Paul Anderson and Jak McCourt replacing Gregg Wylde and Hiram Boateng.
A powerful header from Ranger was tipped over by Smith at full-stretch as the home side looked to build up some momentum. The Cobblers continued to pose a threat of their own though and Michael Smith saw a header saved by his namesake Ted in the Shrimpers goal.
McCourt did well to clear the danger after Ranger had again been denied by Smith while Robinson blazed wide from six-yards in stoppage time. It finished 2-2 and although the second half couldn’t quite match the first in terms of excitement the Cobblers performance certainly deserved a share of the spoils.
SOUTHEND MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (8) 11
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (3) 8
CORNERS: (2) 4
FOULS: (7) 16
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (2) 4
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (4) 5
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (5) 5
CORNERS: (0) 3
FOULS: (5) 9
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (3) 3
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta