Cobblers outclassed as they are hit for six at Ipswich Town

Even with an understrength side, the Sky Bet League One hosts were simply a cut above throughout and particularly in the first-half when they sliced through their visitors with comfort to race into a 3-0 lead inside 26 minutes.

Marcus Harness scored twice in five minutes and Greg Leigh headed in a third, and whilst the second-half was something of a non-event, Cameron Burgess and George Edmundson piled on the misery before Freddie Ladapo got in on the act in stoppage-time.

The defeat will be a sore one for the Cobblers to take but the fact of the matter is they came up against a very impressive and well-oiled team who sit top in the division above.

They must now lick their wounds quickly and move onto more important matters at the weekend.

Jon Brady heavily rotated his squad for the trip to East Anglia and settled on six changes in all from the weekend with Akin Odimayo handed a full Cobblers debut and Max Dyche also given a first start of the season.

Shaun McWilliams captained the team and on the bench there were places for academy trio James Dadge, Josh Tomlinson and Miguel Ngwa. Josh Eppiah, however, was deemed not fit enough to feature.

Ipswich also rang the changes but they nonetheless fielded a team brimming with experience and quality and their superiority was evident right from kick-off.

The home side played some excellent football and almost toyed with their visitors before taking an 11th minute lead when Harness met Kyle Edwards’ cross and looped a header in off the woodwork.

Jonny Maxted denied Edwards with a good save but it would not be long until the dominant hosts doubled their lead, the goal coming just five minutes after the first with Harness forcing in his second after Cobblers made a hash of clearing a corner.

Town were too loose and careless and they were being picked off at will, with Edwards the creator-in-chief.

It was three on 26 minutes and the slippery wide man was again the architect when his cross his deep cross was headed in at the back post by Leigh.

Ipswich somewhat took their foot off the pedal and eased up in the remainder of the first-half, much to the relief of the away side, who were now happy just to limit the damage.

Brady shuffled the pack at half-time and replaced Harvey Lintott with Ali Koiki at right-back and sent on Marc Leonard, who played in a midfield three with McWilliams and Ben Fox.

The presence of an extra man in the middle did give Town more of a foothold in the second-half but Ipswich continued to create chances with substitute Ladapo foiled by the feet of Maxted.

They did have a fourth on the hour when Burgess’ header squirmed into the bottom corner and there could have been more in the final 30 minutes but Ladapo dragged wide and then blazed over. Eventually, Ipswich did score a fifth and Northampton’s fallibility from crosses was again evident as Edmundson nodded in, the fourth headed goal of the evening.

The visitors were not even afforded a consolation goal with a fantastic last-ditch block denying Louis Appere in the final minutes, and in stoppage-time it got worse thanks to Ladapo's sweeping finish.

Match facts

Ipswich: Hladky, Keogh (Edmundson 68), Ball, Burgess, Leigh, Aluko © (Siziba 42), Vincent-Young, Edwards, Humphreys (Alexander 81), Harness (Ladapo 45), Jackson (John-Jules 45). Subs not used: Hayes, Morsy

Cobblers: Maxted, Lintott (Koiki 45), Odimayo (Tomlinson 79), Dyche, Haynes, McWilliams ©, Fox (Abimbola 75), Pinnock, Bowie (Leonard 45), Appéré, Hylton (Cross 65). Subs not used: Dadge, Ngwa

Referee: Tom Reeves

Attendance: 5,342

Cobblers fans: 260