Cobblers fall at the first hurdle in worldwide FIFA competition

Town beaten by Forest Green
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The New Lawn

Round one of the Ultimate QuaranTeam Cup saw Northampton Town crash out as they crumbled to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Forest Green Rovers.

Around 7,000 people tuned in as a Josh March hat-trick saw the hosts cruise to a convincing win over Northampton.

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With no football being played due to COVID-19, the Ultimate QuaranTeam Cup, played on FIFA20, was created by Leyton Orient and features 128 teams right across the globe, from Belgium to Iceland to Australia.

Cobblers were drawn away to Forest Green - who, ironically, they were due to face in the league before all fixtures were called off - in round one.

Jake Cave, captain of the Northampton Town eSports team, saw his side go 1-0 down after just two minutes. A slick Forest Green Rovers move ended with some pinball in the box, eventually finished off by Taylor Allen past a flailing David Cornell.

The opening goal was assisted largely by the lag which didn’t allow Cave to move his defenders with much freedom (a problem I doubt Keith Curle has had to deal with on too many occasions!).

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A second goal from Rovers seemed inevitable, and it came not long after the first. A delightful ball picked out Aaron Collins who made it 2-0 after just 11 minutes. Northampton showed some signs of life in the early goings as Cave began to get a foothold in the game.

This proved dividends when Vadaine Oliver found a wide-open Sam Hoskins who made the score 2-1 and breathed some life back into the tie. Unfortunately for the Cobblers’ faithful, Josh March grabbed his second of the evening to make it 3-1.

His effort wriggled under Cornell and put the game beyond Northampton’s reach. The Cobblers came back fighting and had some of their best chances in the following minutes, Hoskins again the creator going forwards.

Despite their best efforts, Northampton shipped another to make the scoreline 4-1 and give March a well-deserved hat-trick at the 74-minute mark.

A downbeat Jake Cave did all he could considering the circumstances and the poor connection, but at the end of the day Forest Green Rovers’ Chris Stokes marched into the second round.