The Cobblers’ playoff hopes are hanging by a thread after a double defeat over the Bank Holiday weekend. On Friday night, Nottingham Forest took home the points after a controversial penalty decision from referee Rob Styles meant that the ten men grabbed the points. Then yesterday, Carlisle United continued their impressive home form by winning their fourteenth game on the bounce at Brunton Park in a 2-0 win over Stuart Gray’s side.
Northampton Town 1-2 Nottingham Forest (Friday)
In front of a near sell out Good Friday crowd, the Cobblers were beaten by old boss Colin Calderwood as ten men of Forest came away with a crucial win to dent our playoff hopes.
Stuart Gray was without Mark Hughes through suspension and the injured Chris Doig and Brett Johnson. Poul Hubertz once again started wide as he had done effectively against Swansea in last weeks’ 4-2 win.
The Cobblers, kicking with a heavy wind behind them, had a good start with the full backing of a loud home support but it was Forest who took the lead after just a few minutes as Brett Ormerod was unmarked from a Chris Cohen cross and he tapped the ball home from close range.
We looked to get back into the game right away and Poul Hubertz had a header saved by Paul Smith in the Forest goal. The Cobblers’ cause got a little easier on 21 minutes as James Perch was given his marching orders for a high challenge on Hubertz and Forest were down to ten men.
With the crowd lifted and sensing a fight back with the red card, Danny Jackman volleyed a decent shot at goal but Smith held well. But we did have an equaliser on 32 minutes as Hubertz spectacularly scored with an overhead kick after a long throw from Andy Holt caused problems in the Forest defence.
The momentum and the wind was with us and we could well have gone into half-time in front had Adebayo Akinfenwa not been denied well by Smith late in the half.
A couple of minutes into the second half, Forest were close to retaking the lead as Sammy Clingan sent a blistering shot from range against Mark Bunn’s cross bar but the visitors would soon be handed a chance to put themselves in the driving seat.
Just after the hour, Mark Bunn was adjudged to have fouled Nathan Tyson in the area as the front man broke through and Rob Styles pointed to the penalty spot. The fact that Bunn had a clean two handed grip on the ball didn’t seem to deter a controversial decision from the referee. Tyson stepped up and scored from the spot to give Forest the lead and from then on it was an uphill battle.
Colin Larkin and Giles Coke came off the bench to try and add pace to the Cobblers attack. Jonathon Hayes replaced Ryan Gilligan a few minutes later as we desperately searched for a way back.
Daniel Jones had the best effort late on with a free kick that Smith did well to hold but despite a late flurry of attacks the game was over and ten man Forest celebrated putting their promotion push back on track.
Stuart Gray’s side then headed to Cumbria for a crunch game at Carlisle on Bank Holiday Monday…
Carlisle United 2-0 Northampton Town (Monday)
The Cobblers were beaten by two goals in the second half at Brunton Park as Carlisle made it fourteen straight home wins. Town are now very much outsiders in the race for the playoffs and sit five points behind the top six.
Stuart Gray made two changes from the side that lost out to Nottingham Forest with Ryan Gilligan and Andy Holt making way for Giles Coke and Liam Dolman.
The home side started brighter in the wintry conditions and almost found a way through early on as Danny Graham hot the post and then a couple of minutes later Simon Hackney tested Mark Bunn with a drive from range.
The first Cobblers chance didn’t come until mid way through the half when Adebayo Akinfenwa shot over the bar. Giles Coke and Poul Hubertz also went close before the break but the half ended with a set back as defender Gabor Gyepes limped off, replaced by Andy Holt as the side reshuffled just before half time.
A few minutes into the second half Carlisle were in front as Simon Hackney’s corner set up Peter Murphy, who flicked the ball on for Danny Livesey to tap home from close range and leaving the Cobblers with a lot of work to do.
Danny Graham went close and Grant Smith also shot just wide as Carlisle looked to double their advantage and seal an important win in their bid for promotion.
Giles Coke was then agonisingly close to making the home side pay for missed chances as Jonathon Hayes broke from defence and set up the midfielder for a clear run on goal but Coke was stopped by goalkeeper Keiran Westwood.
So instead it was The Cobblers who suffered as Carlisle rammed home their advantage with five minutes to play. A poor back pass from Mark Little gave Danny Graham the chance to nip in and set up Marc Bridge-Wilkinson who had the easiest of tasks to make it 2-0 and end the game as a contest.
So a second defeat in a row means that the Cobblers remain in twelfth place in the table with six games to go and the playoffs are looking a long way off with games running out quickly. Failure to pick up three points at Cheltenham on Saturday will surely end our dreams of a top six finish but at least now the difficult Easter period has been and gone!
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