Appéré strikes to seal success for Cobblers at sweltering Sixfields

Temperatures hit 35 degrees at kick-off and that inevitably impacted the game but it was still an enjoyable watch and Town played well for the most part and fully deserved their victory, even if they made hard work of it.

Josh Umerah and Tyler Magloire scored near identical goals to leave the scores level at the break but the winner came from Louis Appéré just shy of the hour-mark, his finish at the second attempt giving Cobblers seven points from their opening three fixtures - the same record they had at the same stage last season.

Sam Sherring missed out with a knock so Magloire shifted across to centre-half with Harvey Lintott coming in for his first league start at right-back, otherwise it was the same team which started at Grimsby last weekend.

Appéré played on the right of a 4-3-3 and Mitch Pinnock drifted into a central role, and those two combined for a very early chance but the former could not quite get the required contact on a low cross.

The stifling conditions at Sixfields made looking after the ball more important than normal and Hartlepool were doing that well, working one excellent chance for David Ferguson on 14 minutes but Lintott came in with a vital block.

There was space to exploit for both sides in an open first-half and two mid-distance shots from Sam Hoskins were comfortably dealt with by Ben Killip, who was also down well to keep out Lintott.

Cobblers began to take a stranglehold after the drinks break and they broke the deadlock just past the half-hour mark. A quick throw-in caught Hartlepool out and after Killip pulled off a brilliant double save to twice deny Hylton, Magloire took charge and headed in.

The home side became a little sloppy in the closing stages of the opening period though and they were made to pay right on the cusp of half-time when Hartlepool levelled.

In almost a repeat of Town’s goal, Lee Burge made an excellent initial save from a close-range header at a free-kick but the ball looped up off the bar and was nodded in by Umerah.

The second-half started sluggishly but Marc Leonard was a positively influence as a half-time substitute and Cobblers were handed the lead back when Killip made a hash of collecting Lintott’s cross and Appéré scored at the second attempt after his initial shot was handled on the line by a defender.

Hartlepool went straight back up the other end and would have levelled immediately but for a superb save by Burge who flung himself across his goal to somehow block Umerah’s close-range effort.

Cobblers really should have made it a more comfortable afternoon with a host of chances on the counter-attack, but Pinnock’s cross was a fraction too high for Hylton, substitute Ben Fox shot straight at Killip on the turn and Pinnock himself fired wide.

Pools pushed forward in the closing stages but were unable to find a route back into the game as Cobblers made it two from two at Sixfields.

Match facts

Cobblers: Burge, Lintott, Magloire, Guthrie ©, Koiki, McWilliams, Sowerby (Leonard 45), Pinnock (Haynes 88), Hoskins, Appere (Fox 69), Hylton (Bowie 79)

Subs not used: Maxted, Dyche, Cross

Hartlepool: Killip, Murray, Menayese, Lacey, Sterry, Ferguson, Hastie (Hamilton 73), Featherstone ©, Cooke, Sylla (Crawford 73), Umerah

Subs not used: Niang, Shelton, Paterson, Letheren, Tumility

Referee: Sunny Gill

Attendance: 4,828

Pools fans: 205