Coventry City v Northampton Town
EMIRATES FA CUP
Saturday November 7th, 3.00pm
Ricoh Arena
COVENTRY CITY 1
Jacob Murphy 10
NORTHAMPTON TOWN 2
Zander Diamond 5
Marc Richards 19
Attendance: 9,124 (2,509 Cobblers fans)
Coventry: Lee Burge, Aaron Phillips (sub Ryan Haynes 46), Aaron Martin, Sam Ricketts, Chris Stokes, Conor Thomas (sub Bassala Sambou 58), John Fleck, Ruben Lameiras, Jacob Murphy, Jim O'Brien, Marc-Antoine Fortune (sub Lateef Elford-Alliyu 71).
Subs not used: Cian Harries, Dion Kelly-Evans, Ben Stevenson.
Cobblers: Adam Smith, Brendan Moloney, Zander Diamond, Rod McDonald, David Buchanan, John-Joe O’Toole, Jason Taylor, Lawson D’Ath (sub Ryan Watson 68), Nicky Adams (sub Sam Hoskins 83), Alfie Potter, Marc Richards (sub Dominic Calvert-Lewin 63)
Subs not used: Ryan Clarke, Josh Lelan, Chris Hackett, Evan Horwood
Referee: Darren Handley
Booked:
Coventry: Sam Ricketts (37)
Cobblers: John-Joe O'Toole (27, 4th of the season)
5 cautions on or before 30 November; 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:
Coventry: 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.
Northampton Town took on Coventry City of League One in the first round of the Emirates FA Cup, a game which was also their first ever visit to the Ricoh Arena.
Brendan Moloney made his first start of the season, replacing Darnell Furlong. Lawson D’Ath returned from suspension while Jason Taylor came in for the injured Joel Byrom.
Before the game there was a minute’s silence ahead of Remembrance Sunday and the Cobblers players donned black armbands in memory of former Northampton Town director Brian Lomax who sadly passed away in the week.
The Cobblers got off to the perfect start and had the lead inside five minutes, Nicky Adams' swinging free-kick was touched in by Zander Diamond.
Jacob Murphy quickly had the Sky Blues back on level terms however, scoring with a strike from distance.
As the fast paced action continued, the Cobblers re-took the lead on 18 minutes, Marc Richards with a text book header from a pin-point Lawson D’Ath cross.
Moloney had a shot blocked at close range following some good work from Richards before from the following corner a bullet John-Joe O’Toole header was straight at Burge.
After a quieter start to the second half Dominic Calvert-Lewin replaced Marc Richards in the Cobblers first change just after the hour mark.
Ryan Watson then came on for Lawson D’Ath at the midway point of the second half as the Cobblers continued to frustrate their League One hosts.
A strong run from Moloney ended with his cross come shot being put behind for a corner by Burge, who then somehow kept out an O’Toole header as the Cobblers went close to doubling their lead.
Murphy found the side netting on 81 minutes and the same player had a shot from distance saved by Adam Smith as the game entered stoppage time. That was the closest the home side got to an equaliser and it was the Cobblers, who had defended heroically in the final moments, who put themselves in the hat for round two with a famous victory.
COVENTRY MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (2) 4
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (3) 8
CORNERS: (1) 5
FOULS: (2) 10
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 3
COBBLERS MATCH STATS (first half in brackets, match total out of brackets)
SHOTS ON TARGET: (4) 5
SHOTS OFF TARGET: (1) 1
CORNERS: (3) 5
FOULS: (7) 11
CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (1) 1
The above stats are recorded by club staff. The stats shown elsewhere on this page are recorded by Opta