Cobblers rue poor first-half and controversial decisions in defeat to Salford City

Cobblers rued a poor first-half performance as well as a series of controversial refereeing decisions when beaten 2-1 on the road to Salford City at Moor Lane on Saturday.

Town were at sixes and sevens throughout an oddly poor first-half showing in which Salford ran them ragged. The home side created chances at will and could have been out of sight by the break with a number of opportunities going begging.

Ethan Galbraith and Conor McAleny did have them 2-1 in front at half-time, Sam Hoskins on target with his 16th of the campaign for Northampton, before the visitors improved and dominated much of the second-half but to no avail.

However, they were not helped by another inept display from the officials. Three major decisions went against Cobblers in the second-half as Elliot Watt’s reckless tackle on Josh Eppiah went unpunished before Eppiah himself saw what looked a perfectly good goal disallowed for offside. To add insult to injury, a strong shout for a stoppage-time penalty was also waved away, confirming just a second away defeat of the season for Town, one which leaves them vulnerable to several teams below them in the race for automatic promotion.

Jon Brady made two changes and both were enforced after Tyler Magloire and Shaun McWilliams missed out with the injuries they suffered against Leyton Orient last time out. In came Ben Fox and Aaron McGowan as Jack Sowerby and Louis Appéré returned to the bench.

Cobblers simply did not get going in the first 10 minutes and they failed to heed a couple of early warnings before falling behind. Lee Burge tipped Ryan Watson’s shot around the woodwork and from the following corner, Jon Guthrie headed against his own post and the ball rebounded kindly for Galbraith to slot home for a ninth-minute lead.

The boggy pitch was causing problems and Cobblers in particular struggled to adapt and they could easily have found themselves down and out with barely 20 minutes on the clock. McAleny and Odin Bailey fired wide while Watson had another effort held by Burge.

But the pitch would be Northampton’s friend midway through the half when they levelled things up out of the blue. Akin Odimayo did well in the build up and his shot was blocked and fell to Hoskins and his first-time effort appeared to take a bobble before squirming through goalkeeper Alex Cairns.

That did not alter the pattern of the game though and Salford kept attacking with Watt blazing over and McAleny passing up a good chance after a well-worked move as Cobblers were again caught wide open at the back.

It wasn’t long until the home side deservedly restored their advantage and once more Town were all over the place. They lost possession inside the Salford half and were caught desperately short at the back, leaving Watson in oceans of space to find McAleny who calmly passed into the far corner.

Time and again Salford threatened down their left side, although Cobblers almost got in on level terms when Cairns redeemed himself with a smart stop to deny Hoskins a second.

The visitors would have been very lucky to be level at the break and the problems didn’t end there for Brady as he lost goalkeeper Burge to injury, with Maxted coming on in his place at the start of the second-half.

Town should have been playing against 10 men for the majority of the second period but referee Robert Lewis did not even award a foul when Watt went in high and recklessly on Eppiah just after the restart.

The away side were much improved after half-time and they had chances to level with Fox’s cross-shot smothered away and Kieron Bowie’s effort deflected behind. Guthrie’s header also appeared to be blocked by his own player.

A goal-saving clearance by Leonard kept Town in the game before Eppiah saw a goal ruled out for offside despite replays suggesting he had timed his run to perfection.

Bailey missed a chance to make it 3-1 and Northampton’s momentum stalled as timed ticked away. There was further frustration late on when Fox’s shot clearly struck an outstretched arm in the penalty box, but again the decision went against them and that was the final nail in the coffin on a deeply frustrating afternoon as Salford completed the double over Town this season.

Cobblers: Burge (Maxted 45), McGowan, Sherring, Guthrie ©, Odimayo (Sowerby 88), Leonard, Fox, Pinnock, Hoskins, Eppiah (Hylton 72), Bowie (Appéré 79)

Subs not used: Dyche, Haynes, Lintott

Salford: Cairns, Touray ©, Lowe, Watt, Leak, Vassell, Watson, Bailey (Bolton 65), Galbraith, McAleny (Tolaj 76), Smith

Subs not used: King, Eastham, Berkoe, Humbles, Henderson

Referee: Robert Lewis

Attendance: 2,753

Cobblers fans: 529