Northampton Town: Liverpool loan man shines as Cobblers triumph against AFC Wimbledon
Cobblers V AFC Wimbledon, football action.
Luke Guttridge enjoyed a happy Sixfields homecoming as the Cobblers recorded a victory on their own ground for the first time in almost five months.
The midfielder nodded in to give Town only their second home win of the campaign, and a first clean sheet since they won 3-0 at the home of last night’s opponents AFC Wimbledon, also in September.
Aidy Boothroyd’s men remain bottom of league two but only on goal difference after Dagenham & Redbridge were beaten at Oxford United and Plymouth Argyle drew at home to Barnet.
There was a strong debut at the heart of the defence for Clarke Carlisle, who brought the best out of the men around him, and a fascinating cameo from Toni Silva. The Liverpool winger’s arrival was only confirmed an hour before kick-off, but he made a swift start to life in claret and white with a fine run and shot that led to Guttridge’s decisive goal.
Town got on the front foot inside the first minute with space opening up for Luke Guttridge to draw a good low save from visiting keeper Seb Brown.
There was not too much to choose from between the sides for the next half an hour but Chris Weale was called upon to block at the feet of Byron Harrison, who should have done better after going clean through.
It was one of a sparse amount of chances in a first half that ended with Kelvin Langmead’s header at a corner bundled off the line by the covering defence. The home side upped the intensity after the interval and almost took the lead when Jason Euell’s shot was smothered at the end of a swift counter-attack.
Euell managed to miss from a position where it would have been easier to score 10 minutes into the second half when he skied a cross from the right wing after a bouncing ball had got the better of loanees Blair Adams and Clarke Carlisle.
Another loan player Brett Williams created a good opportunity for Adebayo Akinfenwa shortly afterwards, the big man getting his angles all wrong and driving the right-wing cross wide of the target.
Rashid Yussuff then spurned a chance, driving off target after collecting the ball courtesy of a rebound in the Cobblers’ penalty area.
Another loan player was added to the proceedings with a quarter of an hour of the game remaining, with Silva, who arrived from Liverpool on the day of the game, making his entrance.
Playing on the right wing, the Portuguese youngster made an almost immediate impact, slicing inside and beating two players with a twist of the hips that bought enough space for the shot that rebounded off keeper Brown and spun up to Guttridge, who made no mistake.
Rarely has such a simple goal been greeted with such celebration, with one supporter even invading the pitch to celebrate with the Town players.
Silva showed another glimpse of Premier League class to win a free-kick on the right wing moments later and although that did not cause too much trouble, Ben Harding’s corner later in the phase of play had to be punched out by Brown from almost underneath his crossbar. There were still moments of concern for the home side, who conceded a free-kick inside their own half that centre-back Mat Mitchell-King headed just a yard wide of the mark.
Weale then missed a corner with three minutes to play, but fortunately there were enough bodies to repel the eventual effort at the back post.
There was no let-up as the game entered injury time, with Christian Jolley thwarted by a combination of an offside flag and his own poor touch in a key area.
Byron Webster, on as a substitute to both kill time and make a five-man defence for the final stages, superbly blocked Jack Midson deep into added time, with Mitchell-King skewering the follow-up effort well wide from 20 yards.
Weale hurt himself watching the shot go wide, with Freddy Hall filling in as a late substitute but he had nothing to do and the final whistle was greeted with the kind of cheers that have all-too rarely filled this ground in recent times.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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