Accrington Stanley v Northampton Town
SKY BET LEAGUE 2
Saturday April 5th, 3.00pm
Crown Ground
ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1
Chris Hackett 3
Attendance: 1,616 (410 Cobblers fans)
Accrington: Marcus Bettinelli, Peter Murphy, Luke Joyce, Tom Aldred, Dean Winnard, Will Hatfield (sub Piero Mingoia 78), Lee Molyneux, Nicky Hunt, James Gray (sub Kal Naismith 78), Adam Buxton, Kayode Odejayi.
Subs not used: Michael Liddle, Danny Webber, Josh Windass, Rob Atkinson, George Bowerman.
Cobblers: Matt Duke, Evan Horwood, Zander Diamond, Mathias Kouo-Doumbe, Leon McSweeney, Ian Morris, Darren Carter, Ricky Ravenhill, Chris Hackett (sub Ben Tozer 79), Emile Sinclair (sub Alan Connell 70), John Marquis.
Subs not used: Dean Snedker, Gregor Robertson, Gary Deegan, Brennan Dickenson, Ivan Toney.
Referee: Mr F Graham
Booked:
Accrington: James Gray (17)
Cobblers: Darren Carter (21, 10th of the season, misses games against Burton and Wycombe), Mathias Kouo-Doumbe (84, 2nd), Leon McSweeney (90, 3rd), Matt Duke (90, 1st)
10 cautions on or before 13 April; 2 match suspension
15 cautions at any time in season; 3 match suspension
Sent off:
Accrington: 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.
The Cobblers starting eleven was unchanged for the trip to Accrington with the only change to the 18 coming on the bench where Gregor Robertson, having recovered from illness, replacing David Moyo.
Town had the lead on 3 minutes, Chris Hackett with a cute finish from a tight angle after using his pace to beat the Accrington goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli to a long ball.
Kayode Odejayi headed wide as Stanley looked for a quick response while for the Cobblers John Marquis saw a header saved from a Darren Carter free-kick.
Carter picked up a booking midway through the first half, his 10th caution of the season, meaning a two-match ban for the midfielder.
In first half stoppage time, Emile Sinclair rounded Bettinelli before seeing his shot blocked by a covering defender. From the ensuing corner, a half-volley from Carter was cleared off the line.
Luke Joyce was denied by a terrific sliding challenge from Leon McSweeney just after the hour mark following a quiet start to the second half.
Alan Connell replaced Sinclair for the final 20 minutes as boss Chris Wilder made a change to his front line. Ben Tozer then came on for goalscorer Hackett.
A flicked Marquis header came back off the post from a Tozer long throw on 86 minutes as the Cobblers went agonisingly close to doubling their lead.
Matt Duke did well to save a deflected shot from Tom Aldred as the game entered stoppage time.
Four minutes of injury time were signalled and the Cobblers saw that out to claim an invaluable three points.
ACCRINGTON MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (5) 10
CORNERS: (2) 7
FOULS: (5) 6
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (2) 5
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (6) 9
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (1) 1
CORNERS: (2) 3
FOULS: (2) 10
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (2) 6
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta.