Appéré strike sinks Crewe as Cobblers move back into the top three

Town were clearly the better team for virtually the whole game but they made life difficult for themselves after missing a host of chances before half-time, however Crewe were toothless in attack, not managing a single shot on target, and Jon Brady's men made it three successive 1-0 wins at home.

It was pretty much one-way traffic in the first-half and Cobblers really should have been more than one goal but Louis Appéré’s sixth of the season was the only thing separating the teams at half-time.

A tense and edgy second-half followed but whilst there were some nervy moments, Town, who were again down to the bare bones, defended gallantly and might have scored a second on the break.

The win lifts them back into the automatic promotion places and it was a good day all-round with Carlisle, Stevenage, Mansfield, Stockport, Bradford and Leyton Orient all dropping points.

The day started with yet more bad injury news when Max Dyche was seen wearing a protective boot ahead of kick-off after picking up an ankle problem during Tuesday’s win over Mansfield.

He was one of 10 players absent against Crewe but Kieron Bowie returned to the starting line-up for the first time in over two months and Mitch Pinnock was back among the substitutes.

The bench also included 17-year-old academy defender Tom Cartwright.

Bowie led the line with Appéré on the left and Cobblers got some early joy down both sides but their final ball was found wanting on a couple of occasions and little else happened in a lacklustre opening 15 minutes.

Town were then a whisker away from breaking the deadlock when good football led to Harvey Lintott’s cross ricocheting to Sam Hoskins and his poke towards goal hit the underside of the crossbar and rebounded away from danger.

The home side were starting to build up a head of steam and after Jack Sowerby forced James Beadle to tip over, they hit the front on 24 minutes.

Bowie did excellently to win back possession before his pass deflected high into the air with Hoskins volleying it brilliantly across goal for Appéré to turn in at the back post.

Town’s tails were now up and they thought had a second goal not long afterwards but the linesman ruled that the ball did not cross the line after it hit Bowie and was clawed away by a scrambling Beadle.

Hoskins dragged another effort wide and the chances kept coming for the dominant hosts with Will Hondermarck going close with two shots in quick succession but the first was blocked and the second was saved.

Crewe were given the opportunity to reset at half-time and they came out with more purpose in the second period, taking a more direct route into the front men.

Sowerby and Joel Tabiner exchanged long-range shots and Cobblers were a little passive, although Sowerby almost pulled off a repeat of his spectacular strike against Crawley with another shot from distance, this time Beadle tipped it over.

The closing stages were tense and one dangerous ball did flash across Town's penalty box, while Paul Osew, who was in for his debut, made an important tackle and there was also a desperate scramble in stoppage-time, however the home side survived and just about saw it out to claim all three points.

Match facts

Cobblers: Burge, Lintott, Sherring, Guthrie ©, Haynes (Osew 63), Sowerby, Leonard, Hondermarck (Abimbola 90), Hoskins (Wright-Phillips 83), Bowie (Pinnock 63), Appéré (Yengi 83). Subs not used: King, Cartwright

Crewe: Beadle, Mellor, Adebisi, Offord ©, O’Riordan, Colkett (Thomas 72), Brook (Amoo 77), Tabiner, Agyei, Ainley (Holicek 77), Baker-Richardson (Nevitt 59) Subs not used: Richards, Griffiths, Lawton

Referee: Andrew Kitchen

Attendance: 5,673

Crewe fans: 248