More woe for struggling Cobblers as high-flying Lincoln City dish out a PTS hammering

Cobblers' miserable run of form continued with a fourth straight defeat and a second successive 4-0 hammering as they were clinically dispatched by promotion-chasing Lincoln City on another torrid afternoon at the PTS Academy Stadium.
Lincoln's players celebrate their second goal, scored by Tom HopperLincoln's players celebrate their second goal, scored by Tom Hopper
Lincoln's players celebrate their second goal, scored by Tom Hopper

The tone was set with only 65 seconds on the clock when Anthony Scully was afforded the freedom of Northampton's penalty box to fire Lincoln into an early lead, one which they rarely looked like squandering.

There was no shortage of endeavour or effort from Cobblers, but again they just did not have the quality needed to seriously trouble Lincoln at the back, while their naive and lax defending was costly at the other end.

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After plenty of huffing and puffing without a shot on target, Town found themselves two behind before half-time thanks to Tom Hopper before a couple of neat late finishes by Brennan Johnson rounded off three easy points for the away side.

Anthony Scully fires Lincoln into the lead in the second minuteAnthony Scully fires Lincoln into the lead in the second minute
Anthony Scully fires Lincoln into the lead in the second minute

Remarkably, the Cobblers remain outside the relegation zone but given their dreadful form and rapidly deteriorating performances, plus the fact other teams have games in hand, it is hard to see how that will remain the case, with manager Keith Curle under increasing pressure.

Curle rang the changes from Tuesday's big defeat at Oxford United as Cian Bolger, Nicky Adams, Mark Marshall, Christopher Missilou and Benny Ashley-Seal all returned to the team.

But Cobblers got off to the worst possible start, conceding after just 65 seconds. Brennan Johnson played a simple ball over the top and with Steve Arnold hesitating and Michael Harriman not going with his man, Scully had both the time and the space to slot home.

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Town reacted relatively well to the early setback and asked questions of Lincoln, particularly at set-pieces.

Christopher Missilou and Ryan Watson in the thick of the action during the Cobblers' defeat to Lincoln CityChristopher Missilou and Ryan Watson in the thick of the action during the Cobblers' defeat to Lincoln City
Christopher Missilou and Ryan Watson in the thick of the action during the Cobblers' defeat to Lincoln City

Corners looked their most likely route to goal with Fraser Horsfall getting his head to Adams' delivery on three separate occasions, but all three times he missed the target.

Lincoln's threat at the other end couldn't be ignored and Danny Rose got Arnold off the hook on 25 minutes when he brilliantly blocked on the line following a loose punch by Town's goalkeeper.

The hosts had not crumbled after the early goal and certainly carried more of a threat than in previous games, but more lax defending gave them a serious mountain to climb.

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Three minutes before the break, Marshall conceded a needless foul and Hopper turned in Jorge Grant's free-kick.

It got no better in the second-half and Lincoln could easily have added to their tally within five minutes of the restart with Arnold keeping Johnson and Monstma at bay.

Adams then missed Town's best chance of the game when blazing over and that rather typified the home side's lack of quality in the final third.

Joe Walsh had another shot saved by Arnold and Northampton's afternoon was summed up nine minutes from the end when Bolger's thumping header crashed against the crossbar and bounced clear of danger.

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It was to get worse in the closing stages as Johnson lifted over Arnold and then slottied into the bottom corner to complete the rout and inflict another big defeat on Curle's beleaguered men.

Match facts

Cobblers: Arnold, Harriman (Holmes 84), Bolger (c), Horsfall, Hoskins, Marshall (Korboa 45), Missilou (Smith 73), Watson, Adams, Rose, Ashley-Seal

Subs not used: Mitchell, Dyche, Lines, Chukwuemeka

Lincoln: Palmer, Montsma, Edun, Jones, Hopper, Grant, Scully (Gotts 84), Walsh, Howarth (Anderson 69), Johnson (Elbouzedi 90), Eyoma

Subs not used: Melbourne, Roughan, Long

Referee: Robert Lewis

Attendance: 2,000