Northampton Town v Bury
League Two
Saturday, March 29th 2014
Having come so close to drawing level with those above the relegation zone’s ever thinning line on Tuesday night, the Cobblers welcome Bury to Sixfields on Saturday afternoon looking to drag the Shakers right into the relegation battle once again.
Bury were on the way out of danger about a month ago but March hasn’t been kind to them with no wins from seven games in a run that’s seen them draw five times and lose twice. That’s left them four points ahead of the Cobblers who themselves have been suffering from too many draws in recent weeks having also shared the points on five occasions in March.
There are now four ex Town players in the Bury squad to add extra spice to this game after Hallam Hope signed on loan this week and he joins Clive Platt, Lewis Young, and Nathan Cameron to make their returns tomorrow. Another man facing his former club is Cobblers assistant manager Alan Knill who was the top boss at Gigg Lane between 2008 and 2011 before he moved on to Scunthorpe United.
Plenty of handshakes and reunions then but there’s no room for niceties in an absolutely massive relegation clash that the Cobblers simply have to win after that late heartache on Tuesday night. Time to hold those nerves again for another emotional Saturday afternoon…
Team News…
The Cobblers welcome back John Marquis after the striker returned on loan from Millwall this week and he goes straight into the squad. Only five of our six loan players will be allowed in the squad though with Marquis, Zander Diamond, Cristian Lopez, Evan Horwood, Emile Sinclair and Brennan Dickenson all vying for those spots.
Bury have signed former Cobblers loan striker Hallam Hope until the end of the season and also brought in Barnsley striker Danny Rose on a similar deal with both players pushing for starts. Elsewhere, midfielder Tom Soares is hoping to be fit after a hamstring injury.
Previous Six Meetings…
14/12/13: Bury 1-1 Cobblers (League Two)
David Flitcroft’s first game in charge of Bury ended in a draw back in December after Dean Howell’s own goal handed the Cobblers a point. Daniel Nardiello’s spot kick had given the hosts the lead a few minutes earlier after a Ricky Ravenhill foul on Craig Jones,
09/04/11: Cobblers 2-4 Bury (League Two)
Bury stunned the Cobblers in April 2011 by going four up inside an hour thanks to goals from Ryan Lowe, Damien Mozika and two from Nicky Ajose. Shaun Harrad’s brace got us back some pride but the points went back to Gigg Lane as Bury took a giant leap towards League One.
21/08/10: Bury 1-1 Cobblers (League Two)
Steve Guinan’s penalty put the Cobblers in front on the half hour mark but David Worrall’s second half goal meant that the points were shared.
08/05/10: Cobblers 1-1 Bury (League Two)
On the final day of the 2009/10 season and with the Cobblers chasing an unlikely playoff berth, Ryan Lowe’s goal on the stroke of half time sunk any hopes of a dramatic end to the campaign. The second half saw Bury’s James Poole sent off before Bayo Akinfenwa scored with his final touch of the ball in that spell as a Cobblers player to give us a draw.
10/10/09: Bury 2-2 Cobblers (League Two)
An excellent fight back from Town in October 2009 as David Worrall and Ryan Lowe’s goals were cancelled out by second half strikes from Courtney Herbert and Bayo Akinfenwa.
28/01/06: Bury 0-2 Cobblers (League Two)
The Cobblers had this game sealed before half time as an own goal from Andy Parrish and an Andy Kirk effort gave us the lead before the sending off of Bury’s Nathan Jarman gave us the platform to ease through the second half and claim an important three points.
The man in the middle…
In charge at Sixfields on Saturday will be Stephen Martin who was the official for this season’s FA Cup First Round game at Bishop’s Stortford in November. At the end of that month he also refereed Bury’s 2-2 draw at Exeter. Martin has showed forty nine yellow cards and two red so far this season.
Prediction…
The good money is on the draw for this one if our recent form is anything to go by but if the crowd are behind us from the off then I can see us getting in front and frantically trying to hold on at the end. Nerves will be jangling but I’m staying positive…1-0.
A Load Of Cobblers 