Exeter strike late to deny Cobblers big away win in battle for League One safety

A cagey opening 40 minutes down in Devon yielded virtually nothing in the way of goalmouth action but things came alive at the end of the first half and it was Town who struck first through Dara Costelloe’s second goal for the club.

The visitors were comfortable for large portions of the game but they could not hold on as some late Exeter pressure led to Sonny Cox’s equaliser and a share of the spoils between 18th and 19th in League One.

Whilst it feels like something of a missed opportunity, a point away from home is never a disaster and results elsewhere mean Cobblers remain four points clear of the relegation zone, even if they do drop a place in the table.

Kevin Nolan made a big call in goal where Nik Tzanev was dropped in favour of Lee Burge, who made for his first appearance since November, while Tyler Magloire was handed only his second league start of the season, replacing the injured Akin Odimayo. Liam Shaw also missed out through injury so Ben Perry came into midfield, and long-term absentees Tyler Roberts and Ali Koiki both returned to the bench.

Cobblers enjoyed more of the early possession and territory but other than a well-struck shot by Costelloe that was comfortable for home stopper Joe Whitworth, neither side conjured much in the way of shots and chances for most of the first half.

Whirtworth did get lucky when his clearance was charged down by Costelloe and could have gone anywhere, the ball eventually falling to Sam Hoskins before Exeter recovered, but there was a distinct lack of quality at both ends of the pitch.

Cobblers’ press looked their most likely route to goal and that was demonstrated six minutes before the break by the best chance of the game up to that point. Costelloe harried a defender, nicked the ball back and slipped in Tariqe Fosu but he lacked conviction and a defender came across to block.

But Fosu made amends for that miss with his part in the opening goal just moments later. The winger produced a superb bit of skill to keep the ball in play and whilst he was thwarted by Whirthworth, the rebound fell to Costelloe and he made no mistake with a first-time finish.

Exeter almost levelled immediately, a free-kick to the back post found Angus MacDonald unmarked and he struck his volley as as cleanly as he would have liked, but it was too close to Burge who pulled off a fine save.

Suddenly, after nearly 40 minutes of very little entertainment, the game had come alive and Costelloe nearly scored a second in first half stoppage-time when his looping header was just about clawed away by Whitworth.

Exeter’s insistence on playing out from the back continued to give them problems and another mistake led to Cobblers going close again early in the second half with Mitch Pinnock’s cross finding Fosu before a defender got a well-timed foot in.

The visitors had been the better side for an hour but Exeter were always going to have a spell at some stage and a triple substitution was nearly followed by an equaliser as Reece Cole’s header was cleared away on the goal-line.

Cobblers managed the game well for 80 minutes and appeared relatively untroubled until the closing stages when the hosts upped the tempo and started to apply sustained pressure.

Town became increasingly ragged and they paid the price with three minutes to play when a corner was only partially cleared and Town could not defend the second phase as the ball broke to Cox who then beat Burge.

The hosts pushed for a winner in the remaining time and they very nearly found it when Cox again found space in the box but he took too long and allowed Cobblers to recover and clear and that meant a share of the spoils.

Exeter: Whitworth, McMillan (Niskanen 25), Purrington, Hartridge, Woods (Watts 74), Trevitt (Colwill 74), MacDonald, Yogane (Cox 65), Mitchell (Cole 65), Aitchison (Jones 65), Magennis ©

Subs not used: Franci

Cobblers: Burge, McGowan © (Koiki 68), Dyche, Magloire (Willis 83), Guinness-Walker, Perry (Hondermarck 83), Taylor, Pinnock, Hoskins, Fosu (Roberts 68), Costelloe (Wilson 90)

Subs not used: Tzanev, Chouchane

Referee: Charles Breakspear

Attendance: 6,834

Cobblers fans: 490