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Match Report |
Sixfields Stalemate
By: Alun Thomas
PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS? On the evidence of Tuesday night at Meadow
Lane, we need to realise, and soon, that attractive approach play and
endless dovetailing in midfield are not going to be enough to stroll out
of this division. Hard graft and some clog is going to be necessary – it
might not be pretty but we’re on the factory floor for at least a year,
and factory floors are not pretty places.
CONDITIONS? Typical August – constant drizzle.
SUM UP OUR PERFORMANCE IN ONE SENTENCE? A point and a clean sheet
away from home is the best you can say.
TURNING POINT? Erm……….in a game almost devoid of incident, there
wasn’t one.
MAIN INCIDENTS AND GOALS?
It was difficult to separate the two sides during the game, to be
honest. Both tried to play football but neither was really up to it,
which is of course why they are in the equivalent of Division Four.
Ferguson was clattered early, and not for the first time (what happened
to the “Man On” shout, by the way?), and none of our midfielders seemed
to want to take men on or to put their foot on the ball for a second.
Ingham’s sharp save, from a narrow-angled Sabin volley, was one of the
few highlights whilst we were grateful more than once for the linesman’s
flag. A long range effort from Jones and a sudden intake of breath as
their ‘keeper Harper dropped an innocuous cross were about the only
highlights of the first period.
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We played some nice football but
without ever creating too much
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From Prodigal Dragon
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The second half continued in much the same vein, that is to say
disappointing for the very vocal visiting contingent, which,
incidentally, included some of our friends from Cardiff. Both Roche and
Holt out wide, though readily available, crossed poorly and our passing
generally was sub-standard. A plus was that the back three of Pej,
Bayliss and Lawrence were generally on top of things and Ingy, some of
his kicking apart, looked confident and competent.
For the second game running, Evil was replaced by Dean Bennett, who at
least added some pace to the attack, and his involvement led to our only
real chance, Walters’s intelligent cutback finding Jonesey, whose
finish, from fifteen yards, wasn’t one for the scrapbook.
At the death we broke and found ourselves with what looked like a
three-on-one situation. A linesman’s flag brought us up short, and from
the resulting counter Ingy was lobbed, the ball bouncing off the bar and
over. To lose one game in a week to a last-minute goal could be seen as
unfortunate – to lose two would have been unforgiveable.
OPPOSITION AND FANS? The Cobblers were many people’s pre-season
tips, but two points from nine shows that they will find it as hard as
Wrexham will. Their support, in a healthy crowd of 5000+, were subdued
for the most part.
OFFICIALS? No real problems.
MAN OF THE MATCH? There were some disappointing shows today –
Roche, Williams, Jones, even Holt (and it’s not often you can say that)
– I’ll go for Dennis Lawrence, who looked comfortable and authoritative
throughout.
IF YOU WERE DS? Denis is fond of saying “If we’d been offered
that before the game we’d have taken it” and he’ll probably be thinking
along the same lines tonight.
POST-MATCH THOUGHTS? A load of old Cobblers, indeed………it was
pretty dire stuff from both sides, and the failure, for the second match
running, to create genuine chances is worrying. Onward and upward
lads………………..please. |
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Match Reaction |
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Denis Smith: "While I was looking for nine points this
week, overall I thought a draw was a fair result today and Northampton
certainly deserved something from this game. The changing conditions in the
second half certainly took its toll and I was satisfied with point. We know
we have to do more up front, but we have a good base on which to work and
improvements will follow. To come to Northampton and keep a cleansheet is no
mean feat and from what I have seen today, both teams should be there or
thereabouts come next May. The obviously wanted to impress after what has
been a poor start for them, and that certainly showed. From what I have seen
so far, these are the kind of players I would be happy to be in the trenches
with!" [Source:
Wrexham AFC]
Colin Calderwood: ""We had a couple of very good
efforts. The Wrexham boys defended heroically at times, and certainly to not
only block the shot from Josh Low to also to clear away from Eric Sabin. We
are frustrated to only take a point, but it was a decent display. Wrexham
are a good side but we quelled their danger in the second half and we feel
aggrieved that we have not won. We needed a goal to get us ahead against
Wrexham and then I think people's perception of the performance would be a
lot better. In this game I felt we looked dangerous and we looked like we
might score in the second half which is something we did not look like doing
against Barnet. The Wrexham performance was a vast improvement on the final
30 minutes against Barnet. We talked long and hard about the defensive
performance against Barnet, emphasising what roles people have to fulfil and
I thought we looked better defensively against Wrexham. We are just
frustrated that a mixture of last gasp defending from Wrexham and the
woodwork denied us all three points."
[Source:
Northampton Town FC] |
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League 2 Table |
|
Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
|
1 |
Leyton Orient |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
9 |
|
2 |
Barnet |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
|
3 |
Notts County |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
|
4 |
Cheltenham Town |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
|
5 |
Wycombe Wanderers |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
|
6 |
Oxford United |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
|
7 |
Mansfield Town |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
| 8 |
Chester City |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 9 |
Darlington |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 10 |
Grimsby Town |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 11 |
Rushden and Diamonds |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| 12 |
Wrexham |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| 13 |
Rochdale |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
| 14 |
Carlisle United |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
4 |
| 15 |
Bury |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
| 16 |
Peterborough United |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
3 |
| 17 |
Lincoln City |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
-1 |
2 |
| 18 |
Northampton Town |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
-1 |
2 |
| 19 |
Stockport County |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
-2 |
2 |
| 20 |
Boston United |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
-2 |
2 |
| 21 |
Macclesfield Town |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
1 |
| 22 |
Bristol Rovers |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
-2 |
1 |
|
23 |
Shrewsbury Town |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
-3 |
1 |
|
24 |
Torquay United |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
-4 |
1 |
 |
|
|
Northampton Town |
|
Starting XI:
| 01 |
Lee Harper |
| 20 |
Pedj Bojec
 53' |
| 16 |
Sean Dyche |
| 05 |
Luke Chambers |
| 02 |
Jason Crewe |
| 10 |
Joshua Low
 85' |
| 12 |
David Hunt |
| 07 |
Ian Taylor |
| 27 |
Lawrie Dudfield |
| 11 |
Eoin Jess |
| 18 |
Eric Sabin
 62' |
Subs:
| 08 |
Andy Kirk
 62' |
| 13 |
Mark Burn (GK) |
| 15 |
Brett Johnson
 53' |
| 17 |
Bradley Johnson |
| 28 |
Ryan Gilligan
 85' |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
9 |
| Shots on Target: |
6 |
| Possession: |
58% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
13 |
| Corners: |
5 |
| Yellow Cards: |
0 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
|
|
Wrexham |
|
Starting XI:
| 01 |
Michael Ingham |
| 18 |
Shaun Pejic |
| 04 |
Dave Bayliss |
| 06 |
Dennis Lawrence |
| 15 |
Lee Roche |
| 08 |
Danny Williams |
| 17 |
Mark Jones |
| 10 |
Darren Ferguson |
| 07 |
Andy Holt |
| 09 |
Jon Walters |
| 11 |
Lee McEvilly
69' |
Subs:
| 03 |
Alex Smith |
| 12 |
Dean Bennett
69' |
| 13 |
Michael Jones (GK) |
| 19 |
Levi Mackin |
| 20 |
Simon Spender |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
10 |
| Shots on Target: |
7 |
| Possession: |
42% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
7 |
| Corners: |
4 |
| Yellow Cards: |
0 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
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Match Notes |
| Venue |
Sixfields Stadium |
| Attendance |
5,075 |
| Half Time |
Northampton 0 Wrexham 0 |
| Referee |
Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire) |
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