Koiki defies Mansfield to give hope of redemption
ALI KOIKI handed Northampton a precious play-off lifeline after they were left staring at another promotion disaster.
The former Burnley full-back, watched last night by his former Clarets manager Sean Dyche, struck a vital goal after Rhys Oates and Jordan Bowery had put Nigel Clough’s Mansfield in control.
Koiki fired the ball into the bottom corner after a brilliant break by Mitch Pinnock and assist from Louis Appere.
It was just the morale boost Jon Brady’s team needed after losing out on automatic promotion to League One last weekend and threatening to be swept away by Mansfield in the first half.
The trauma of missing out on automatic promotion on goals scored — after Bristol Rovers hammered Scunthorpe 7-0 on the last day of the season — had been hard for Northampton to stomach.
And half an hour into their League Two semi-final first leg, they were staring at yet another potential disaster as Clough’s team raced into a two-goal lead.
It was also a sad reminder that, while Northampton were winning their own last game at Barrow last week, first-choice keeper Liam Roberts picked up a red card that left him suspended for this leg.
And his stand-in Jonny Maxted let a 13th-minute shot from Oates pass through his legs and into his net. The goal followed a fine interception by Stephen McLaughlin and a defence-splitting pass from Bowery but Maxted would have expected to save Oates’s effort.
Mansfield’s second, after 32 minutes, was equally well worked as Stephen Quinn’s pass switched play to Jamie Murphy on the left.
His tricky footwork took him to the byline, where his cross was deflected off the boot of Maxted for Bowery to score.
Mansfield, who were playing non-League football as recently as 2013, sensed the chance to kill off the tie and Oates and James Perch threatened with strong shots before the break.
Maxted had the chance to make amends early in the second half as he made a fine diving save to keep out an Oates strike as the striker raced clear on goal — a stop which was to be prove crucial as his team finally responded through Koiki in the 61st minute.