Southend United v Northampton Town
League Two
Saturday, February 16th 2013
As the Cobblers look for a cure for the away day blues, one of the last places that we want to go to is Roots Hall to take on Southend United. However, it’s crunch time for a bid for Aidy Boothroyd’s men to reach the playoffs and any more misery on the road is likely to put a huge dent in any plans for a longer season.
After working hard to get to this point over the last couple of months it’s going to be an even harder job to stick around in the chasing pack, meaning that games like this against fellow contenders become that bit more important. Southend sit just a place behind Town in ninth place and will be looking to bounce back from defeat on Tuesday night.
Late rally not enough for Shrimpers…
The Cobblers’ hosts on Saturday were beaten 2-1 at home by Cheltenham Town on Tuesday night and failed in a bid to jump back into the top seven. Marlon Pack’s earlier penalty was added to by Paul Benson’s strike before the break and despite a late Ben Reeves goal, Southend were beaten and will now have to get back to winning ways on Saturday if they are to overtake us and move into a playoff place again.
Mayor signs on short term loan…
Southend completed the signing of Sheffield Wednesday winger Danny Mayor this week on an initial 28 day loan deal with the 22-year-old joining with a view to staying until the end of the season. Mayor signed in time to play for 80 minutes against Cheltenham on Tuesday night and will be back in contention again against the Cobblers.
Laird…former Cobblers loanee
Club Links…
Cobblers midfielder Luke Guttridge was with Southend from 2005 until 2007, making over fifty appearances for the Shrimpers and scoring five times before moving on to Leyton Orient.
Southend midfielder Marc Laird played six times during a loan spell with the Cobblers in 2007.
Team News…
Southend are without defender Ryan Cresswell who is serving a three match ban following a red card against Accrington Stanley last weekend. Meanwhile, Chris Barker, Michael Timlin, Mark Phillips, Marc Laird, Gavin Tomlin and Caolan Lavery are all missing and Kevan Hurst is doubtful because of illness.
Aidy Boothroyd has hinted that Ray O’ Donovan could be handed his second start whilst John Johnson is back in contention after recovering from knee surgery.
Last Six Meetings…
25/08/12: Cobblers 3-3 Southend (League Two)
In the second home game of this season, there were no goals at half time but the second half provided a superb encounter. Britt Assombalonga opened the scoring just before the hour mark but Bayo Akinfenwa replied minutes later. Kane Ferdinand put the visitors back in front but the Cobblers again struck back, this time through David Artell before Alex Nicholls looked to have won the game with four minutes to go. Southend weren’t done, though, and equalised in stoppage time thanks to Ryan Cresswell’s scrambled effort.
14/01/12: Cobblers 2-5 Southend (League Two)
With Aidy Boothroyd still trying to shape his side together having joined the Cobblers a few weeks earlier, Southend came to town and hit us for five. John Johnson put Town in front before Dave Martin equalised five minutes before the break. Said Berahino scored right on the brink of half time but the Shrimpers hit back with four second half goals thanks to braces from Liam Dickinson and Bilel Mohsni.
03/09/11: Southend 2-2 Cobblers (League Two)
Earlier that season the Cobblers earned a good point at Roots Hall thanks to a great fight back that saw Bayo Akinfenwa and Arron Davies equalise Bilel Mohsni and Ryan Hall’s goals within five second half minutes down in Essex.
26/02/11: Southend 1-1 Cobblers (League Two)
In a tight match at Roots Hall, the Cobblers took the lead through John Johnson before Barry Corr equalised minutes later. This was to be the final of six draws in a row in early 2011 and would end up being Ian Sampson’s final away game in charge.
11/09/10: Cobblers 2-1 Southend (League Two)
The Cobblers won for the first time in the league in the 2010/11 season as Anthony Grant’s 57thminute strike was cancelled out by Abdul Osman. Andy Holt netted the winner with fifteen minutes to go and we were finally up and running in the League Two campaign.
13/04/09: Cobblers 2-3 Southend (League Two)
A Bank Holiday encounter went the way of the Shrimpers as Jean-Francois Christophe put the visitors in front in the first half. The second half came to life after the break though as Bayo Akinfenwa levelled and Theo Robinson put Southend back into the lead. Lee Barnard’s goal a few minutes later extended the lead and Aleksandar Prijovic’s strike was only a consolation for the Cobblers late on.
The Man in the middle…
Graham Scott is the referee for this one at Roots Hall. Scott was in charge of the Cobblers’ 1-0 home defeat against Bradford City back in October and has shown 75 yellow cards and 4 reds so far this season.
Prediction…
We really do need to start performing and getting results away from home and this week sees us play back to back away games so it would be handy to get something here ahead of a trip to AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday night. Southend will be tough to beat as always but if we can frustrate the home fans for long enough we could come away with a point. 1-1
A Load Of Cobblers 