COD ARMY ARE ON THE MARCH
BOSS Uwe Rosler praised his clinical Cod Army after the unlikely promotion-chasers made it three league wins on the bounce – and 17 games unbeaten.
Fleetwood went ahead just before half-time through Devante Cole before Bobby Grant and David Ball goals after the break made the points safe.
Rosler, whose team are now level on points with secondplaced Scunthorpe United – and seven behind leaders Sheffield United – did concede Fleetwood were fortunate not to be behind after Northampton dominated for much of the first half.
He said: “We rode our luck a little bit in that period – they should have been up.
“After 20 minutes you could see what we trained on.
“We got the ball down, we exposed them in midfield, in wide areas, and got control of the game.
“I felt in the second half we won deservedly.”
Northampton Town boss Justin Edinburgh was frustrated after his team failed to make the most of their first-half dominance.
“We competed really well in the middle of the park, but it came down to the two penalty areas,” he said.
“We weren’t ruthless enough in the opposition’s half and we allowed their goals in too easily.
“It’s a frustrating afternoon because we dominated the first half, but we haven’t been clinical and we haven’t got ourselves in front when we had the opportunity to do so.”
Northampton striker Michael Smith crashed an effort against the bar inside ten minutes after being sent clear by team-mate Marc Richards.
With the visitors in the ascendancy, midfielder Keshi Anderson sent Richards clear, but Fleetwood stopper Alex Cairns palmed the striker’s shot around his right-hand post.
Northampton continued to enjoy the better chances and midfielder Matt Taylor saw his freekick from 25-yards fizz past Cairns’ right-hand post.
Next Smith fired just wide of Cairns left-hand upright before Fleetwood midfielder Ben Davies failed to trouble stopper Adam Smith with a glancing header.
And with the minutes ticking down to half-time it was totally against the run of play when Fleetwood striker Ball poked an effort beyond Smith, before Cole twice followed up to give Rosler’s men the lead.
Fleetwood started the brighter after the break and within minutes Ball fired just beyond Smith’s right-hand post before Cian Bolger headed over from George Glendon’s corner.
Next Northampton hit back with Smith just failing to connect with midfielder Gregg Wylde’s cross. Grant then fired right-footed to put Fleetwood further ahead before Ball iced
the cake. FLEETWOOD: (5-3-2): Cairns 6, McLaughlin 6, Eastham 6, Bolger 6, Davies 6, Bell 6, Dempsey 6 (Brannagan 80 6), Glendon 6 (Nirennold 66 6), Grant 7, Ball 7, Cole 7 (Hunter 70 6) Subs not used: Neal, Ekpolo, Schwabl, Maguire NORTHAMPTON: (4-4-2): Smith 6, Eardley 6, Diamond 6, Nyatanga 6 Buchanan 6, O’Toole 6, Taylor 6 (McCourt 81 6), K Anderson 7, Wylde 6 (Boateng 60 6), Smith 7, Richards 6 (P Anderson 64 6) Subs not used: Cornell, Zakuani, Beautyman, Phillips,