Northampton stumble to home defeat to Burton Albion in first game after manager change

Northampton Town suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Burton Albion in their first home game after dismissing Kevin Nolan as Head Coach.

Colin Calderwood took interim charge of the Cobblers as they were beaten by goals from Jake Beesley and Kyran Lofthouse.

The two goals pushed Northampton into deeper trouble at the foot of League One. With 9 matches of their season remaining, the Cobblers are 6 points from safety, having won just a single league match since Christmas.

It was a bright start for the hosts, who came close when Cameron McGeehan saw a shot kept out by away keeper Brad Collins.

But Burton grew into the game and came close as Beesley had a shot blocked on the line by the Cobblers’ Jake Evans.

The Brewers then scored a 32nd minute opener. Lee Burge made a good save to keep out an initial shot from Beesley, but the ball fell back for Beesley to tap in the rebound and a striker who’d scored a hat-trick at nearby Brackley in the FA Cup in December duly scored in Northamptonshire again.

Northampton’s best chance at an equaliser saw McGeehan hit the post, as the ball ricocheted off the Northern Irishman after his initial shot had been saved by Collins.

But the hosts struggled to really create a great number of chances to equalise after the break, with the best seeing Jack Vale have a shot deflected wide and Max Dyche head over at a corner.

Burton confirmed the points were going home with them in the 89th minute, as the ball fell the way of Lofthouse and the former MK Dons man duly planted a fine volley out of Burge’s reach.

Northampton face a pair of away days in their bid to restart their survival bid, as they visit Stockport and Mansfield over the coming week.