Northampton v Vale
Vale were forced to come away from the Sixfields Stadium empty handed after they were hit with two strikes from long distance.
Attendance: 4,812 including 248 visiting supporters
League One
At Sixfields Stadium
Tuesday 14th March 2017
Northampton Town v Port Vale
minute with what looked like an intended cross from the right flank.rdThe home side took the lead through Aaron Phillips in the 63
Sam Kelly did brilliantly to carve out an equaliser for JJ Hooper ten minutes later, but Leo Fasan was beaten from 35 yards by Matty Taylor and the home side tookall three points, on a night where results elsewhere went against the Valiants.
Michael Brown made one change to the starting eleven. Kiko was suffering from a slight hamstring tweak and it was decided that Vale must err on the side of safety, so in came Scott Tanser and Kiko was on the bench.
Vale were boosted by the news that midfielder Sam Foley was announced fit to play, and further boosted by the fact that Remie Street was back in the squad, taking up a place alongside Kiko on the bench.
Vale started brightly enough, but it was the home side who carved out the first two chances of the game – Michael Smith and Keshi Anderson each failing to hit the target in the opening five minutes.
Luke Williams was also guilty of a similar miss when he fired over the Vale crossbar from 20 yards when perhaps he had time to control before unleashing his shot.
minute when Anderson drilled a low 20 yard shot through a crowd of players, and Vale were grateful to Leo Fasan who got the slightest of touches to turn the ball around his left upright.thThe home side kept plugging away and came their closest yet in the 20
Vale had done well up to that point with some neat football, but without threatening too much in the final third of the pitch, with Cobblers’ ‘keeper Adam Smith having very little to do.
Vale continued to knock the ball about and put in the hard work. Callum Guy was all over thepitch putting in a shift, and one or two of his team mates were not too far behind.
minute when a slip by Kjell Knops saw Marc Richards in space, with his foot cocked ready to shoot as the ball dropped.thBut all of their hard work was almost undone in the 37
Fasan came off his line instantly and it is a good job he did, enabling him to make the block when the former Vale striker looked odds on to find the back of the net.
Richards did have the ball in the Vale net three minutes later, when he got on the end of Zander Diamond’s knock down, but thankfully, from a Vale point of view, he was ruled offside.
Vale made a substitution at the start of the second half when Kiko came off the bench as a direct replacement for Scott Tanser.
Vale had the upper hand in the opening minutes the second half but still gave the home ‘keeper little to do. Sam Foley went close when he ran at the Cobblers’ defence before unleashing a shot, but it flew wide of the target.
GOAL: hit what looked like a cross from wide right, and the ball looped over the head of Fasan and into the Vale net.Aaron Phillips minute when rdIt was the home side who broke the deadlock, however, in the 63
Vale clearly needed to freshen things up a little and sure enough they made their second hange when Sam Kelly came on to replace Olamide Shodipo on 69 minutes.
GOAL: took full advantage, hammering the ball home from six yards.JJ HOOPER with nobody able to get hold of him and The change certainly worked to Vale’s advantage when, just four minutes after coming on, Kelly danced his way into the Northampton box, twisting and turning
After a spell soaking up Northampton pressure, it was Vale who were now starting to get on top, searching for that all important winning goal.
minute when Remie Streete made his first appearance for several weeks, coming on to replace Kjell Knops.thVale made a third change in the 80
GOAL: hit a winner from all of 35 yards to leave the Vale empty-handed.Matty TaylorJust as it looked like Vale might be taking a point home with them,
NORTHAMPTON TOWN: Deniz Mehmet, Remie Streete, Sam Kelly, Paulo Tavares, Dan Turner, Kiko, Billy Reeves.SUBS: Leo Fasan, Ben Purkiss, Kjell Knops, JJ Hooper, Sam Foley, Anton Forrester, Scott Tanser, Nathan Smith, Callum Guy, Chris Eagles, Olamide Shodipo. PORT VALE:
Brendan Moloney, Paul Anderson, Hiram Boateng, Jak McCourt, Harry Beautyman, David Cornell, Rod McDonald
SUBS:Adam Smith, David Buchanan, Zander Diamond, Keshi Anderson, Marc Richards, Aaron Phillips, John-Joe O'Toole, Lewin Nyatanga, Michael Smith, Matt Taylor, Luke Williams.