Cobblers stun Bolton in Carling Cup

The Cobblers were making their first ever trip to the Reebok Stadium and Stuart Gray's side were up against the odds at an established Premier League side.

But we started well and Adebayo Akinfenwa had an early chance. New Bolton signing Danny Shittu slipped and Akinfenwa had a good opportunity but home keeper Jussi Jaaskelinen did well to save.

At the other end, fellow new Bolton signing Riga focred Mark Bunn into a good save, with Bunn pushing the ball away for a corner. With the action continueing at a quick pace, Shittu hit the post from a cross in from Joey O'Brian before heading just wide.

But it was the Cobblers who had a shock lead in the twentieth minute. Andy Holt crossed the ball in and Gary Cahill handled, giving Akinfenwa the chance to slot home a penalty.

With Bolton still stunned, Bayo headed home a cross from Abdul Osman to send the travelling fans into dreamland and give us a 2-0 lead.

Before the break, Gary Cahill's night got even worse as he was sent off for a high lunge at Giles Coke, capping a disappointing night for the Bolton man but giving the Cobblers a real chance of an upset.

In the last minutes of the half, Mark Bunn was called into action, tipping a defelcted Joey O'Brien free kick over the bar to give us a superb 2-0 half-time lead.

The Cobblers held their own in the early stages of the second half and killed the game, with Bolton struggling to deal with the sending off of O'Brian. Ryan Gilligan forced Jaaskelinen into a save on the hour mark before Jason Crowe also had a good effort saved.

Bolton substitute Kevin Nolan volleyed towards goal with fifteen minutes to go but Mark Bunn was in a good position to save. But Nolan would go on to halve the deficit with a little under ten minutes to play. Nolan chased a high ball into the area and managed to flick it over Bunn and into the top corner.

Heidur Helgason thought he had brought the home side level with a couple of minutes to play but the "goal" was ruled out for offside. And that was that. We held on and recorded our most famous result in this competition in ten years, since the two legged win over West Ham United in 1998.

The draw for the next round takes place on Saturday lunch time and the Premier League big guns now come into contention.