Northampton Town 2 Rotherham United 1
NPOWER LEAGUE 2
Tuesday August 21st, 7.45pm
Sixfields
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 2
Chris Hackett 26
Alex Nicholls 85
ROTHERHAM UNITED 1
Ben Pringle 42
Attendance: 4,171 (624 away fans)
Cobblers: Lee Nicholls, John Johnson, Joe Widdowson, Kelvin Langmead, David Artell, Chris Hackett, Ben Tozer, Luke Guttridge (sub Adebayo Akinfenwa 66), Ben Harding, Clive Platt, Alex Nicholls..
Subs not used: Lewis Wilson, Louis Moult, Ishmel Demontagnac, Anthony Charles, Henoc Mukendi, Dean Snedker.
Rotherham: Scott Shearer, Laurie Wilson, Kari Arnason, Ian Sharps, Jason Taylor. Michael O'Connor (sub Gareth Evans 64), Mark Bradley, Ben Pringle, Kayode Odejayi (sub Alex Revell 78), Daniel Nardiello (sub Kieran Agard 55), David Noble.
Subs not used: Johnny Mullins, Lionel Ainsworth, Andy Warrington, Mitchell Rose
Referee: Mr T Kettle
Booked:
Cobblers: Luke Guttridge (63, 2nd of the season), Adebayo Akinfenwa (86, 2nd). Clive Platt (90, 1st)
Rotherham: none
5 cautions on or before 31 December; 1 match suspension
10 cautions on or before 11 April; 2 match suspension
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension
Sent off:
Cobblers: none
Rotherham: 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.
The Cobblers side was unchanged for the visit of promotion favourites Rotherham United.
After a lively opening, Daniel Nardiello went close for the Millers with a shot from distance.
Chris Hackett gave the Cobblers the lead on 26 minutes with a sublime volley from 20-yards.
As Rotherham looked to level, Lee Nicholls pulled off a fine save to deny Jason Taylor on the half hour mark. Ben Harding then rattled the crossbar as the game really started to open up.
Ben Pringle equalised for the Millers just minutes before half-time, his shot from the edge of the area taking a cruel deflection to beat Nicholls.
Rotherham boss Steve Evans made a change ten minutes into the second half with Kieran Agard replacing Daniel Nardiello. A toe-poked effort from Kelvin Langmead went just wide in a moment of confusion in the Millers defence.
Luke Guttridge picked up a booking on 63 minutes following a clash with Jason Taylor. Guttridge was then replaced soon after with Adebayo Akinfenwa the man to replace him.
With the game now being played at a frenetic pace, Millers substitute Kieran Agard blazed over when well placed while Lee Nicholls palmed over a long range effort from Ben Pringle.
Alex Nicholls restored the Cobblers lead on 85 minutes with a composed finish after some superb set up play on the counter attack involving Chris Hackett and Clive Platt.
The Cobblers then saw out the final five minutes plus an additional four to claim a well earned and hard fort three points.
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (4) 6
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (1) 3
CORNERS: (3) 6
FOULS: (7) 15
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 3
ROTHERHAM MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (4) 11
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (3) 8
CORNERS: (2) 9
FOULS: (5) 9
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 0
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by the Press Association.