O’Toole is spark as Cobblers show grit
CHRIS Long’s double may have lifted the Cobblers out of the League One drop zone but it was Northampton’s John-Joe O’Toole who grabbed the attention.
Long quickly levelled after Erhun Oztumer had been handed a gift of a goal after just 67 seconds and drove home what proved to be the winner in the 41st minute.
Both sides finished with ten men as striker Amadou Bakayoko received a straight red for a wild lunge at Sam Foley while Matt Crooks talked himself into a second yellow for Northampton.
Saddlers manager Jon Whitney singled out O’Toole as Northampton’s star man and opposite number Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was in no mood to disagree.
“Chris Long has deserved his two goals but John Joe was the focal point for us. He enabled the rest of the team to play off him,” said Hasselbaink.
“The opening goal was a mistake – a result of mixed communication. But we have got good players and the crowd were magnificent. They got right behind us and were our 12th man.”
Goalkeeper David Cornell and defender Aaron Pierre dallied just outside the home box allowing Bakayoko to smuggle the ball from both. He then set up Oztumer.
Such a setback could easily have gutted a Northampton side short on form but instead the head of O’Toole gave them a lift.
His mighty presence forced Mark Gillespie into a save and Long snaffled the rebound from point-blank range.
Walsall had three or four half-chances as the game settled down but it was a moment of inspiration from Long that provided the winner.
Not much appeared on when he received a pass from David Buchanan but he instantly released a low 20-yarder that deceived Gillespie.
The second half was short on quality and incident, until the closing stages. Referee Charles Breakspear had little option but to dismiss Bakayoko for a moment of ill-discipline before also sending Crooks on his way.
And Whitney had no arguments.
“The referee has got it right,” he said. “I don’t think Bakayoko has really caught Foley but if you make a lunge like that, you have to win the ball.
“He should have set his stall out earlier though when Florent Cuvelier was on the receiving end of a bad tackle. The way we managed the game in the ten minutes after scoring was the game changer.”