Late equaliser denies Northampton victory at Rochdale
A late equaliser saw Northampton miss out on taking a win at Rochdale as they drew 1-1 at the Crown Oil Arena.
Harry Smith had put Northampton ahead inside the opening 20 minutes and for a long time, it looked like that would be enough.
But a Stephen Humphrys free-kick in the final five minutes of normal time would see the home side take a point from the contest, and saw Northampton miss out on the chance to secure back-to-back away wins after victory at Burton last weekend.
Keith Curle’s side rode out a positive opening by Dale and would strike first, after Smith met Mark Marshall’s corner to head the ball into the back of the net.
Rochdale responded positively to falling behind, with Jimmy Keohane, Alex Newby and Humphrys coming close, but Northampton could’ve had a second, after Alan Sheehan fired just wide and Smith saw a header kept out by Rochdale keeper Jay Lynch.
The home side would press for an equaliser in the second period, but it looked as though Northampton were set to hold out until, with just a few minutes still to play, a foul on home substitute Kwadwo Baah gave a free-kick on the edge of the box and Humphrys placed his effort to perfection.
Both sides could’ve won it after that, with away keeper Jonathan Mitchell denying Ollie Rathbone and a Baah strike being deflected wide, before Northampton’s Smith had a header cleared off the line in added time, but ultimately the two sides had to be content with a share of the rewards.