Date:08 Jan 2011
Kick-off:15:00
Venue:Sixfields Stadium
Attendance:4,031

Mckay (8)
Thomas (47)

Goal!

Live Commentary

The referee signals the end of the game.

94mins The assistant referee signals for offside against Phil Walsh. Chris Dunn takes the free kick.

92mins Inswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Marlon Pack, save by Chris Dunn.

91mins Abdul Osman gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Danny Andrew. Strike on goal comes in from Marlon Pack from the free kick, save by Chris Dunn.

86mins Unfair challenge on Kevin Thornton by Michael Pook results in a free kick. Free kick taken by Liam Davis.

85mins The referee blows for offside against Shaun Jeffers. Free kick taken by Chris Dunn.

83mins Andrew Holt produces a overhead kick right-footed shot from deep inside the penalty box which goes wide of the left-hand post.

83mins Inswinging corner taken right-footed by Michael Jacobs played to the near post, Steve Elliott manages to make a clearance.

82mins Phil Walsh is ruled offside. Direct free kick taken by Ben Tozer.

80mins Free kick awarded for a foul by Phil Walsh on Liam Davis. Direct free kick taken by Liam Davis.

78mins Steve Elliott fouled by Courtney Herbert, the ref awards a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Steve Elliott.

75mins Kevin Thornton replaces Nathaniel Wedderburn. Phil Walsh joins the action as a substitute, replacing Jeff Goulding. Wesley Thomas leaves the field to be replaced by Shaun Jeffers.

73mins Frankie Artus comes on in place of John Melligan.

71mins Steve Elliott challenges Craig King unfairly and gives away a free kick. Shot on goal comes in from Liam Davis from the free kick, Scott P Brown makes a save.

69mins Effort from the edge of the penalty box by Wesley Thomas goes wide of the right-hand upright.

60mins Craig King replaces Billy Mckay. (Northampton) makes a substitution, with Courtney Herbert coming on for Ryan Gilligan. Wesley Thomas is caught offside. Indirect free kick taken by Chris Dunn.

53mins John Melligan is penalised for a handball. Free kick crossed right-footed by Michael Jacobs from left wing, Danny Andrew makes a clearance.

52mins Shot by Billy Mckay. Save by Scott P Brown.

49mins Ryan Gilligan challenges Danny Andrew unfairly and gives away a free kick. Scott P Brown takes the free kick.

47mins Wesley Thomas finds the net with a goal from the edge of the area to the bottom right corner of the goal. Northampton 1-1 Cheltenham.Assist by Scott P Brown.

The second half begins.

The match has reached half-time.

41mins Jeff Goulding gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on John Johnson. Free kick taken by Chris Dunn.

41mins Andrew Holt is flagged offside by the assistant referee. Direct free kick taken by Scott P Brown.

40mins Foul by John Johnson on Wesley Thomas, free kick awarded. Free kick taken by Danny Andrew.

38mins Corner taken left-footed by Danny Andrew to the near post, clearance made by Dean Beckwith.

34mins Inswinging corner taken by Michael Jacobs from the left by-line.

31mins Corner from the right by-line taken by Danny Andrew, Close range header by Steve Elliott goes wide of the left-hand upright.

29mins Corner from the left by-line taken by Ryan Gilligan, save by Scott P Brown.

29mins Short corner taken by Ryan Gilligan.

26mins Ryan Gilligan has a shot on goal from outside the box which misses right.

23mins Inswinging corner taken by Ryan Gilligan from the left by-line played to the near post, Scott P Brown makes a save.

17mins Unfair challenge on Marlon Pack by Nathaniel Wedderburn results in a free kick. Marlon Pack takes the free kick.

14mins Foul by Danny Andrew on Billy Mckay, free kick awarded. Nathaniel Wedderburn restarts play with the free kick.

13mins Abdul Osman receives a caution. Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Michael Pook by Abdul Osman. Danny Andrew takes the free kick.

11mins The referee blows for offside. Direct free kick taken by Scott P Brown.

10mins The referee blows for offside. Scott P Brown takes the free kick.

8mins Billy Mckay finds the back of the net with a headed goal from inside the six-yard box. Northampton 1-0 Cheltenham.The assist for the goal came from Andrew Holt.

6mins John Melligan gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Michael Jacobs. Michael Jacobs crosses the ball from the free kick right-footed from left wing, save by Scott P Brown.

Unfair challenge on Marlon Pack by Abdul Osman results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Scott P Brown.

The ref blows the whistle to begin the match.

Match Preview

Sampson sweating on duo Northampton manager Ian Sampson is waiting on two of his key attacking threats ahead of the visit of in-form Cheltenham. Striker Leon McKenzie remains a doubt with the thigh injury which forced him to miss the win over Lincoln on Monday while midfielder Kevin Thornton is struggling with a mystery illness. Sampson said: "We might have to make a late decision on Leon but Kevin Thornton is very doubtful. "Kevin has been down the hospital having blood tests and he's struggling for Saturday. He went down ill on New Year`s Eve and initially we thought he just had the flu but now we're not too sure what it is." Ryan Gilligan is back in contention after his recovery from a bout of pneumonia and fellow midfielder Abdul Osman will make his 100th appearance for the club. Leicester striker Craig King is available for the final game of his loan spell while Newcastle defender Ben Tozer can continue after extending his deal until the end of the season. Ryan Jarvis is back at Leyton Orient after his month with the Cobblers came to an end but defender Craig Hinton could feature after returning from his loan at Luton. Cheltenham will have new signings Phil Walsh and Ashley Eastham available. Both striker Walsh and centre-back Eastham agreed one-month loan deals from Dagenham & Redbridge and Blackpool respectively on Thursday afternoon and go straight into Mark Yates` squad for the Sixfields clash. Eastham`s arrival coincides with the loss of central defender Martin Riley for three to four weeks with the hamstring injury he sustained during Monday`s 2-1 win at Southend. Eastham will now compete with Andy Gallinagh to line up alongside Steve Elliott at the heart of Town`s defence. Winger Josh Low (hamstring) has been missing for three-and-a-half weeks and is rated as 50/50, with a fitness test likely to decide his involvement this weekend.

Formation:442Manager: Ian Sampson

Northampton

Formation: 442Manager: Mark Yates

Cheltenham

Chris Dunn
John Johnson
Ben Tozer
Dean Beckwith
Liam Davis
Ryan Gilligan
Abdul Osman
Nathaniel Wedderburn
Michael Jacobs
Billy Mckay
Andrew Holt
SUBS
Paul Walker
Paul Rodgers
Marcus Hall
Kevin Thornton
Craig Hinton
Courtney Herbert
Craig King

Home

Away

Scott P Brown
Keith Lowe
Steve Elliott
Ashley Eastham
Danny Andrew
John Melligan
Marlon Pack
Michael Pook
Brian Smikle
Jeff Goulding
Wesley Thomas
SUBS
Daniel Lloyd-Weston
David Bird
Andy Gallinagh
Marley Watkins
Frankie Artus
Shaun Jeffers
Phil Walsh

Match Report

Thomas strike earns Robins point Highly-rated striker Wes Thomas cracked his 12th goal of the season to earn Cheltenham a 1-1 draw at Northampton. Thomas out-paced Ben Tozer to race onto a long punt three minutes after the break before slipping the ball past Chris Dunn in the home goal. That cancelled out a ninth minute header from Billy McKay, the home striker netting his seventh of the campaign from close-range after Andy Holt had stayed cool to chip a precise cross onto his head. McKay almost made it 2-0 three minutes later but chipped over the crossbar as the home side dominated the first half as Holt saw a close-range drive cannon off Jeff Goulding before bouncing to safety. Cheltenham almost levelled five minutes before the break but Ian Davis made a miraculous goal-line clearance from Ashley Eastham's header from a Danny Andrews corner. After the Thomas equaliser the home side came close with McKay having one drive parried away by Scott Brown and seeing another glancing header just miss the target. At the other end, danger man Thomas was a constant menace and almost grabbed a winner with a shot into the side netting 20 minutes from time.

Form Guide

LDWWLW Northampton VS Cheltenham WDLWLW

Last Meetings

Cheltenham 1 - 0 Northampton 09/10/2010 Northampton 2 - 1 Cheltenham 27/02/2010 Cheltenham 2 - 2 Northampton 05/12/2009 Cheltenham 3 - 1 Northampton 11/02/2006 Northampton 1 - 2 Cheltenham 24/09/2005 Cheltenham 1 - 0 Northampton 16/04/2005

Top Scorers

Northampton L McKenzie 5 K Thornton 3 B Mckay 3 A Holt 2 A Osman 2 D Beckwith 2 J Johnson 2 R Gilligan 1 B Tozer 1 M Jacobs 1 Cheltenham W Thomas 10 J Goulding 8 J Low 4 B Smikle 3 M Pack 2 D Andrew 2 K Lowe 1 F Artus 1 R Shroot 1 S Jeffers 1

Goals

Northampton Total goals 57 Goals per game 25 2 (For) 4 (Against) Period 0-10 mins 2 (For) 2 (Against) Period 11-20 mins 4 (For) 1 (Against) Period 21-30 mins 4 (For) 1 (Against) Period 31-40 mins 4 (For) 8 (Against) Period 41-50 mins (For) 5 (Against) Period 51-60 mins 3 (For) 2 (Against) Period 61-70 mins 3 (For) 6 (Against) Period 71-80 mins 3 (For) 3 (Against) Period 81-90 mins Cheltenham Total goals 65 Goals per game 33 7 (For) 2 (Against) Period 0-10 mins 3 (For) 5 (Against) Period 11-20 mins 4 (For) Period 21-30 mins 4 (For) 2 (Against) Period 31-40 mins 2 (For) 7 (Against) Period 41-50 mins 2 (For) 4 (Against) Period 51-60 mins 5 (For) 3 (Against) Period 61-70 mins 4 (For) 5 (Against) Period 71-80 mins 2 (For) 4 (Against) Period 81-90 mins