Spirited Cobblers battle to superb away point at title-chasing Wycombe

Town were a match for their high-flying hosts in the first half and only a contentious refereeing decision denied them a 1-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes before Wycombe belatedly began to impose themselves, albeit without overly threatening.

The Chairboys would have gone top of League One with victory and they inevitably dominated much of the second half but created little, and even when they did breach Northampton’s stubborn defence, goalkeeper Nik Tzanev was there to make a couple of excellent saves.

Given Wycombe’s superb season, this has to go down as a very good point for Kevin Nolan and his team, who have now kept three clean sheets in their last four games to open up a six-point cushion over the bottom four.

New signing Terry Taylor came straight in for his Cobblers debut and Cameron McGeehan returned from injury to start as Nolan made two changes, with Will Hondermarck and Samy Chouchane dropping out. Tyler Magloire was back on the bench for the first time since dislocating his shoulder in November.

All expectations had this one down as a comfortable home win but it was far from plain-sailing for the title chasers, particularly in the opening stages as Cobblers settled well and looked the more dangerous side.

It could – and maybe should – have been 1-0 to the away side when Aaron McGowan converted Taylor’s superb corner after 15 minutes, but the referee disallowed the goal, potentially for handball or a foul on the goalkeeper

Either way, the decision was controversial and caused much frustration among Town’s players, but they were playing well and continued to cause problems for Wycombe’s defence, with McGeehan almost wriggling his way into a shooting position before Franco Ravizzoli kept out Tom Eaves’ header, though the offside flag did go up.

Whilst Wycombe warmed to their task and upped the tempo, the 18 positions and 28 points that separated these teams in the table before kick-off was not being reflected on the pitch in the first half.

The home side did carve out one big opportunity shortly before half-time when Joe Low, unmarked and just a few yards out, appeared destined to score but Nik Tzanev reacted brilliantly to keep Cobblers level

Cameron Humphreys also blasted over as Town reached half-time on level terms, and if the locals were expecting their side to came out all guns blazing in the second half, they were to be disappointed.

Cobblers continued to disrupt and break the game up and that in turn prevented Wycombe from creating anything until the 70th minute, at which point Garath McCleary teed up Josh Scowen but again Tzanev was there to make the stop.

The hosts were always going to do most of the pressing as time ticked away and, with Town struggling to get out, pressure built and built in the final 15 minutes, but the visitors defended their box superbly to repel everything that came their way and keep an impressive clean sheet.

One chance did come in stoppage-time but it arrived at the other end of the pitch as Cobblers so nearly pulled off a real smash and grab job, however Tariqe Fosu dragged his volley wide of the target and that would be that.

Wycombe: Ravizzoli, Harvie (Butcher 45), Bradley, Scowen ©, Leahy, Humphreys, Kodua (Grimmer 67), McLeary, Low, Lubala (Onyedinma 79), Hanlan (Kone 67)

Subs not used: Bishop, Bakinson, Skura

Cobblers: Tzanev, McGowan ©, Willis (Magloire 90), Eyoma, Odimayo, Pinnock, Shaw, Taylor, McGeehan (Hondermarck 83), Hoskins (Fosu 90), Eaves (Dyche 89)

Subs not used: Burge. Chouchane, Wilson

Referee: David Rock

Attendance: 5,446

Cobblers fans: 587