Lewis the hat-trick hero as Cobblers cruise past Carlisle United

Town were not at their best in a scrappy first-half but broke the deadlock just shy of the break when a sweeping counter-attack was finished off by Lewis.

That goal was just the boost Town needed and they were all over Carlisle in the second 45 minutes with Lewis the star of the show.

He profited from good work by Kion Etete to double his tally and then smashed in a penalty to complete the first hat-trick by a Cobblers player since Matt Crooks against Macclesfield in October, 2018.

The victory never looked in doubt from the moment Northampton moved ahead and with it they jumped up to second in Sky Bet League Two, at least temporarily pending other results on the day.

Sam Hoskins missed out through suspension and his natural replacement, Dylan Connolly, was also absent after testing positive for COVID.

That paved the way for Jordan Flores to come into the starting line-up in the only change from last week's win at Tranmere rovers.

Cobblers started carelessly and were indebted to the alertness of Ali Koiki with only 10 minutes on the clock when his fantastic last-ditch block denied former Town man Rod McDonald at the back post.

The home side marginally improved and worked a few good positions with Mitch Pinnock seeing a shot well-blocked, but there was nothing to trouble visiting goalkeeper Mark Howard.

Whilst Carlisle hardly peppered Liam Roberts themselves, they looked better than a side on an eight-game winless run and occasionally caused problems for the home defence, with Lewis Alessandra heading a decent chance over.

But Northampton then moved in front with a slick counter-attack that was completely out of keeping with the game.

Shaun McWilliams did the ground work, winning back possession inside his own half and spraying a pass out to Koiki, he then played a smart one-two with Pinnock before crossing low for Lewis to tap home at the back post.

That was enough for Cobblers to take a lead into half-time and Lewis had a chance straight after the restart to double his tally but fired into the gloves of Howard.

Etete also ballooned an effort over the crossbar before he was denied a tap-in by some vital defending after another well-worked move down the left.

Town had upped it in the second half and Jon Guthrie was next to go close, side-footing wide from the edge of the box, before their dominance led to a second goal.

Carlisle were architects of their own downfall as Callum Guy lost possession in a bad area and allowed Etete to nip in, he drove into the box and then laid the ball on a plate for Lewis to finish calmly.

And the game was dead and buried midway through the half when Jack Armer was penalised for handball in the penalty area.

With no Hoskins, Lewis stepped up to the spot and emphatically thumped home to complete his hat-trick.

The only question now was whether or not Cobblers could register another clean sheet, and it did come under threat when the ball fell to the feet of Jordan Gibson but he smacked over.

It was another quiet afternoon for Roberts with Carlisle unable to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 odd minutes as Town duly kept them at bay to make it nine clean sheets for the season.

Match facts

Cobblers: Roberts, McGowan (Revan 30), Horsfall (c), Guthrie, Koiki, McWilliams, Sowerby, Lewis, Flores (Kabamba 72), Pinnock, Etete

Subs not used: Woods, Dyche, Pollock, Ashley-Seal

Carlisle: Howard, Mellor (Riley 75), Armer, McDonald, Guy (c), Dickenson (Abrahams 27), Mellish, Whelan, Gibson, Alessandra (Mampala 65), Clough

Subs not used: Jensen, Charters, Feeney, Young

Referee: Ollie Yates

Attendance: 4,909

Carlisle fans: 288