Northampton pick up point from visit to Gillingham

Northampton Town picked up a point after a 1-1 draw away at Gillingham.

The Gills had taken the lead through Conor McManus, but an equaliser by Logan Briggs saw Northampton take a share of the points on their trip to Priestfield. Briggs’ goal also saw Northampton get their first competitive goal of the campaign in their fifth match in all competitions.

Northampton are still waiting for their first win of the new season, though they do have 2 points from their opening 3 outings.

Gillingham scored the game’s opener after 7 minutes, as McManus headed in from Nick Freeman’s cross.

Ronan Hale would ping the top of the crossbar with a free-kick as the Gills looked likelier to grab a second in the following minutes.

But the visitors would begin to grab a foothold and they equalised in the 36th minute. Tyrese Fornah released Briggs and he had a first strike blocked, but the ball fell back for the man on loan from Leicester and he duly dispatched the rebound to score his first goal for the Cobblers.

Lee Evans would later hit the post, with Northampton having hoped to build on that and try to get more strikes.

A tight second half would see Gillingham have opportunities, as Hale fired straight at Zach Jeacock and the Cobblers keeper would then make an even more eye-catching stop to deny James Brophy.

Sam Hoskins and Sheldon Kendall would miss the target late on as both sides struggled to create opportunities and the match would ultimately end with the two sides sharing the points.

The Cobblers’ quest for their first win of the new campaign will see Northampton have back-to-back home matches, with Northampton hosting Crawley on Tuesday night before playing Newport the following Saturday.