Northampton hold off Huddersfield fightback to seal Kevin Nolan’s first home win

Kevin Nolan earned his first home win as Northampton boss and gave their survival chances a significant boost after a 3-2 victory over promotion-chasing Huddersfield.

Sam Hoskins and Tom Eaves scored in the first half and then Liam Shaw added a third before the Cobblers withstood a late fightback to complete the double over Huddersfield.

The visitors enjoyed more possession but created little and they were behind in the 32nd minute when a clearance dropped to Hoskins on the edge of the box and he struck a sweet shot into the bottom corner.

The lead did not flatter lowly Northampton and it was to get better for the home side five minutes before the break as Eaves chased a long ball, out-muscled a defender and poked beyond Jacob Chapman.

It was 3-0 shortly after the restart as Cameron McGeehan and Eaves combined well to tee up Shaw, and he whipped a terrific shot into the far corner.

Huddersfield pulled one back with 20 minutes to play through Herbie Kane, who fired home from Callum Marshall’s pass, and the comeback was well and truly on when Jonathan Hogg volleyed superbly into the bottom corner.

The visitors piled on the pressure late on and so nearly snatched a point, but Nik Tzanev came up with a big save to preserve a vital victory in Northampton’s bid for survival.