Match Day Thread Northampton Town v Pompey

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Pompey’s promotion charge has stuttered recently and they are currently seven points adrift of second place.

So Kenny Jackett’s side will be looking to get things back on a track against a Northampton side who were propping up the rest of the division at the beginning of the week.

But the Cobblers should be in confident mood following Tuesday night’s home victory over mid-table Plymouth.

A Ryan Watson brace brought to an end their 11-match winning run and led to a rise of two spots in the standings.

It means that the club are now just a single point shy of the safety mark, with 14 games still left to play.

Poor form led to the dismissal of manager Keith Curle last month, while it was recently announced that caretaker boss Jon Brady will remain in that position for the remainder of the season.

He will be hoping to ensure Northampton do not make an immediate return to League Two, having beaten Exeter at Wembley in last June’s play-off final.

The Blues were beaten 3-1 – with Matty Kennedy on target – on their most recent visit to Sixfields Stadium back in September 2017.

But Pompey triumphed 4-0 when the sides met on the south coast earlier in the current campaign, courtesy of a John Marquis double and goals from Ronan Curtis and Marcus Harness.


TEAM NEWS
James Bolton (ankle) and Michael Jacobs (hamstring) will both require fitness tests after recently returning to training.

Alex Bass has suffered a recurrence of his hairline foot fracture and Callum Johnson (calf) is still sidelined.

Northampton will be without defenders Cian Bolger (hip) and Alan Sheehan (calf), while on-loan Pompey midfielder Bryn Morris cannot appear against his parent club.


HEAD TO HEAD
Overall
Pompey: 20 wins
Northampton: 10 wins
7 draws

At Northampton
Pompey: 6 wins
Northampton: 7 wins
3 draws


OFFICIALS
Referee: Andy Haines
Assistants: Darren Wilding and Leigh Crowhurst
Fourth Official: Paul Stonier


BETTING
Pompey are the 87/100 favourites with VBET to secure all three points, while the hosts can be backed at 10/3.

 

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Half time. 4-0 to Northampton Town. They thoroughly deserve it, as our defence is atrocious !!

They went 1-0 up in the 21st minute with a superb free kick from Ryan Watson.
2-0 up in the 23rd minute, with a header from watson again, from a corner kick.
3-0 up in the 32nd minute, with a Fraser Horsfall header from another corner.
4-0 up in the 43rd minute, with a header from Ryan Edmondson, from a Horsfall cross.

John Marquis was booked in the 34th minute for a foul. We have failed to get our game together so far. What is wrong with Sean Raggett, and why is he not winning balls in the air ? He is 6' 5" tall for fecks sake

 

Half Time Match Stats:-

Home Team: Northampton ..........Away Team: Portsmouth

Possession:

Home 33%
Away 67%

Shots:

Home 9
Away 4

Shots on Target:

Home 6
Away 2

Corners:

Home 5
Away 0

Fouls:

Home 7
Away 8

 

Final whistle. Final score 4-1 to the Cobblers. We made a quadruple substitution in the 59th minute with Ellis Harrison, Harvey White, James Bolton and Jordy Hiwula replacing John Marquis, George Byers, Ronan Curtis and Rasmus Nicolaisen.

Harvey White was fouled in the box, and Ellis Harrison scored the resultant penalty in the 72nd minute, ant that was it. Shocking result for us against a team second from bottom before the match started. God help us Tuesday evening at home to Sunderland.......

 

Final Match Stats:-

Home Team: Northampton .........Away Team: Portsmouth

Possession:

Home 30%
Away 70%

Shots:

Home 14
Away 10

Shots on Target:

Home 7
Away 3

Corners:

Home 7
Away 1

Fouls:

Home 14
Away 13

 

As It Stands:-

Team ..................P GD Pts
1 Hull .................34 28 62
2 Peterborough 32 24 62
3 Lincoln City ....32 20 60
4 Sunderland .....32 23 57
5 Doncaster .......30 13 55
6 Portsmouth ....32 15 52
7 Accrington .....31 9 50
8 Ipswich ...........31 4 50
9 Charlton ..........33 2 48