Youthful Cobblers are edged out by Cambridge United

With one eye on his ever-growing injury list and a league two clash with Stockport County at the weekend, manager Jon Brady made 11 changes to the team that beat Rochdale 3-0 last Saturday.

Town started the match with seven teenagers in their line-up, and that number had swelled to nine by the start of the second half, as first teamers Josh Eppiah and Ben Fox were withdrawn from the action early.

But the Cobblers youngsters performed admirably against a strong Cambridge side, who were made to wait until the 68th-minute before opening the scoring.

They doubled their tally nine minutes later, with Fejiri Okenabirhie scoring both goals, but this was a night when every Cobblers youngster involved could hold their heads high.

There was a full debut for striker Jack Connor, while other teenagers selected being first team squad member Harvey Lintott, Josh Tomlinson, Peter Abimbola, Miguel Ngwa, Liam Cross and Max Dyche, who was named captain – following in the footsteps of his dad, Sean.

Jonny Maxted replaced Lee Burge in goal, while there were starts for Fox, Ryan Haynes and Eppiah.

The bench was made up entirely of academy products ,with an average age of just 17 – with the average age of entire squad only 19!

Cambridge for their part also rotated their squad, making seven changes from the team beaten 2-0 by Barnsley on Saturday, but there squad had a real senior feel to it, with a strong bench including Sam Smith, Paul Digby and Adam May.

They also included former Cobblers central defender Lloyd Jones in their starting 11.

Town started the game brightly and thought they had scored early on through Cross, who curled home a neat finish with his left foot from the right side the penalty area, but the assistant flagged for an offside against Connor in the six yard box. it looked very tight.

The visitors were creating very little, but they were inches away from scoring soon after.

Jack Lankester got a shot off from close range which Maxted half-saved but the ball squirmed from his grasp and rolled along the goal line, but it hit the post and stayed out, the Town keeper gathering.

The U's had an even better chance midway through the half when Joe Ironside was sent clear in the right channel.

He skipped past Maxted, but instead of shooting into an open goal, decided to cut back on to his left foot and, under pressure from Maxted and Tomlinson, sliced wide from five yards with the goal at his mercy.

Maxted then did well to keep out a Saikou Janneh header, but it was still goalless at the break, with a Cobblers team containing eight teenagers (Kai O'Keeffe haing replaced Eppiah 23 minutes in, the striker didn't look injured) more than holding their own.

And the number of teenagers was raised to nine at the start of the second half as Under-18s skipper Dylan Hill replaced Fox in central midfield.

The second half followed a similar patter to the first, with the organised Cobblers frustrating Cambridge, who kept pressing for an opening but were struggling to get anywhere.

A loose touch from O'Keeffe set Fejiri Okenabirhie in on goal, but he dragged his cross-shot from the left edge of the area a whisker wide.

As the game enterted the final 25 minutes, a little raggedness was beginning to seep into the Cobblers play, and after a couple of loose clearances, they fell behind when Okenabirhie hammered home from close range after Town failed to clear a corner.

The pace of the game was really beginning to tell on the Town youngsters, and the visitors doubled their lead 13 minutes from the end, Okenabirhie adding his second, this time curling the ball home with his right foot from the left corner of the penalty area.

And that’s how it stayed.

Match facts

Cobblers: Maxted, Fox (46m, Hill), Lintott (74m, Smith-Howes), Eppiah (23m, O’Keeffe), Haynes, Tomlinson, Abimbola, Ngwa (84, Wyatt), Connor (74m, Luketi) Cross, Dyche. Substitutes not used: Dadge.

Cambridge: Mannion, Williams (62m, Okedina), Jones, Brophy, O’Neil (62m, May), Ironside (62m, Smith), Lankester (63m, Tracey), Rossi, Janneh (63m, Knibbs), Okenabirhie, Simper. Substitutes not used: Mitov, Digby

Referee: Craig Hicks

Attendance: 1,230 (Cambidge fans: 69)