Cobblers punished for wasteful finishing in frustrating Tranmere defeat

Town were excellent for the vast majority of the first half, playing with intensity and energy and creating a number of good opportunities, but wasteful finishing was punished when Bobby Faulkner glanced in eight minutes before the break.

From that moment on it became a hard task for the hosts. Although they dominated the ball, they found no way through Tranmere’s disciplined and compact defending, creating hardly anything by the way of clear chances in the second half.

The result means Cobblers have still not won a home league game since October 3rd, 2023, more than three years ago. They also drop back into the bottom two.

Chris Hogg picked the same starting XI for the third game running, although Nathan Opoku did return from injury to take a place on the bench ahead of Sam Chambers.

The first six or seven minutes passed by without much incident but then Cobblers burst into life with a flurry of chances. Some nice approach play led to Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh forcing Luke McGee into a sprawling save with an effort from the edge of the box, before the same man whistled a volley just over the angle of post and bar.

McGee was called into action again when getting down smartly to keep out Owen Dale’s low shot before the Rovers goalkeeper had a far easier job in collecting Matty Warhurst’s scuffed effort.

Cobblers continued to push for an opener and their best chance of the opening 45 came midway through the half when the ball broke kindly for Dale in front of goal, but a last-ditch sliding tackle did just enough to put him off and he slashed wide.

And as is often the way, Town were punished for their wastefulness. Tranmere, having been on the back foot for almost all of the first 36 minutes, struck against the run of play through Faulkner, who glanced in Will Vaulks’ excellent corner.

Warhurst shot straight at McGee in response but the energy that Northampton had played with earlier in the half was no longer there and they went into half-time with work to do.

Cobblers tried to lift themselves at the start of the second half and Warhurst and O’Brien-Whitmarsh both had shots blocked while several corners came to nothing.

Tranmere were doing a good job of managing the game and stunting the home side’s momentum and as time ticked away, the chances of an equaliser became increasingly remote.

Hogg made a triple change with 20 minutes to play, sending on James Maxwell, Elliott List and Nathan Opoku, but while his side saw nearly all of the ball, they were making very little headway with it.

Sam Hoskins was also introduced but it all became sloppy and desperate and you could feel the belief draining out of the stadium. List snatched at a half chance and a Hoskins free-kick hit the wall in stoppage-time but an equaliser never really felt likely.

Cobblers: Jeacock, Donacien (Hoskins 76), Moore, Guthrie (c), Wormleighton, Powell (Maxwell 70), L Evans (List 70), C Evans, O’Brien-Whitmarsh, Dale, Warhurst (Opoku 70)

Subs not used: Dadge, Dyche, Fornah

Tranmere: McGee, Slater, Vaulks (c), O’Connor, Jones, Faulkner, Nevett, Watson, Whitaker, Ince, Ironside

Subs not used: Boyce-Clarke, Turnbull, Smith, Conlon, Scott, Veevers, Kamara

Referee: Aaron Jackson

Attendance: 4,918

Tranmere fans: 362