It’s matchday and the Cobblers face Cambridge United at Sixfeilds Stadium. This ends a busy week for the Cobblers, as on Monday Evening the Cobblers got drawn away to Chippenham Town in the first round of the FA Cup and this game will take place Sunday, November 10th 2019 with Kick-off at 12.45pm. (This game has been selected by BBC TV for extended highlights.) The Cobblers then took a 250 mile trip to Carlisle on a Tuesday night and came back with a 2-0 win with Scott Pollock scoring his first professional goal for the Cobblers. Today many multiple Ex-cobblers return to Sixfeilds, Colin Calderwood, Mark Bunn and Marc Richards.
Head to head
Here is a look back at when the Cobblers beat the U’s 1-0 in the Leauge Trophy only a few weeks ago.
Cambridge United were beaten 0-1 in their opening Leasing.com Trophy group fixture against Northampton Town, with Harry Smith’s early goal the difference on the night at the Abbey Stadium.
Colin Calderwood’s side lined up with seven changes from their previous League outing which included youngster Ben Worman stepping into the side for his first professional start for the Club, whilst second year scholar Lewis Simper (18) was also named on the bench.
Billy Waters fired an early warning wide of the mark inside five minutes, before Harry Smith broke the deadlock on 12 minutes for the visitors, when the striker finished clinically from six yards first time on his right foot past Callum Burton.
Andrew Dallas looked to have levelled on 25 minutes when the striker beat Cobbler’s keeper Andrew Fisher in an aerial challenge before slamming the ball home tidily, only for referee Sam Purkiss to pull the play back for a foul.
Waters hammered a late tester at Callum Burton in first half stoppage time but the U’s shot stopper had no issues in keeping the strike out at his near post, to ensure United were only down by the solitary goal at the break.
Sam Smith stung the palms of Fisher five minutes after half time with an indirect free kick from just inside the Northampton 18 yard box, after the Cobbler’s keeper had illegally picked up from a pass back before recovering with a fine save.
Marc Richards and Harvey Knibbs were introduced with 25 minutes left to play, as Colin Calderwood injected fresh legs to search for a leveller that could force a penalty shoot-out in the event of a draw at full time.
United had a second effort of the evening chalked off, with Knibbs this time burying a shot from 12 yards only for the referee this time to adjudge the striker to have handled the ball as he took it under his control in the build-up.
Last 6 Games
This is what happened when Cambridge last visited Sixfeilds;
Gary Deegan scored a late equaliser as Cambridge twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Northampton.
Kevin van Veen put the home side ahead on two separate occasions in the second half but both times the visitors fought back to snatch a point.
The first half mostly belonged to Northampton as Matt Crooks and Andy Williams missed chances, but the first goal did not arrive until 13 minutes into the second half when Van Veen gathered Daniel Powell’s pass and smashed the ball into the top corner.
Crooks headed a great chance over the crossbar and he was made to rue that miss 20 minutes from time when George Maris finished coolly into the bottom corner after pouncing on a poor defensive header.
But the home side were back ahead eight minutes later through Van Veen’s second as he charged down a clearance and fired home via the underside of the crossbar.
Again Northampton could not hold on, though, and with just four minutes left, Deegan brilliantly curled a shot into the far corner from 20 yards to earn a share of the spoils.
Northampton’s Last Game
Second-half goals from Scott Pollock and Sam Hoskins earned Northampton a 2-0 win as Carlisle’s slump continued with a fourth straight league defeat.
It was a happy return to Brunton Park for former Carlisle manager Keith Curle, who saw his side record a second win in the space of four days.
Neither side could establish much authority in the opening phase of the game although Nathan Thomas twice threatened for Carlisle.
His first effort was parried by David Cornell, with Hallam Hope just failing to get a meaningful header on the rebound. Then Thomas again cut in from the left to hit a powerful drive which was deflected for a corner off Charlie Goode.
Carlisle’s Thomas was one of the few bright sparks in the first half and he went close in the 41st minute with a raking 20-yard shot that Cornell tipped away for a corner at full stretch.
The breakthrough for Northampton came six minutes into the second half when Carlisle was slow to get the ball away and Williams fed Pollock, who hammered a left-footed shot high into the roof of the net which gave Collin no chance of saving.
The visitors nearly doubled their lead in the 70th minute when substitute Harry Smith forced Collin to dive full length to deal with an accurate low drive and, in the second minute of stoppage time, Hoskins came bursting through to hammer home Northampton’s second.
Match report supplied by PA Media.
Cambridge Last game
James McKeown’s penalty save helped Grimsby secure a point from a goalless draw at Cambridge.
Cambridge enjoyed the majority of the possession but were limited to efforts from outside the box early on, with Marc Richards slamming a shot onto the bar after Mattie Pollock had given the ball away in a dangerous position, with Sam Smith’s rebound deflected over.
The U’s missed a glorious opportunity to take the lead eight minutes before half-time when Liam Gibson tripped Paul Lewis in the box, but McKeown kept out Smith’s penalty and the forward fired the rebound off target.
Grimsby went close straight after half-time, with George Taft blocking Matt Green’s shot and James Hanson firing the rebound over. At the other end, McKeown saved well from Harrison Dunk at his near post in the 55th minute.
Smith went close again when firing wide after Luke Hannant’s cross fell to him but despite continuing to dominate possession, Cambridge were unable to break down a Grimsby side who ended a run of three straight League Two losses.
Match report supplied by PA Media.
Match Officials
Todays referee is GRAHAM SALISBURY.
the last time GRAHAM SALISBURY was the man in the middle for the cobblers was on 10/11/2018 at LINCOLN in FA CUp 1st round and the Cobblers lost 3-2.
Ex-Cobbler Focus
Upon retirement as a player, Calderwood became reserve team manager at Tottenham. He became manager of Northampton Town on 9 October 2003. In his first two seasons in charge, Northampton reached the promotion playoffs. They finally won promotion in 2006 by finishing second in League Two, setting a new club record for clean sheets in a single season, with 25. Colin then left the Cobblers to manage to at Nottingham Forest and was at Forest from 2006-2008.
