Match ends, Northampton Town 1, Newport County 0.
NorthamptonNorthampton Town1NewportNewport County0
Northampton Town edged to victory over Newport County to continue their charge for promotion from League Two.
John Marquis scored the winner midway through the first half, firing home after being teed up by Lee Martin.
Medy Elito struck the crossbar as Newport pressed for an equaliser after the break but the Cobblers held on.
Northampton remain 17 points clear of fourth but, with other results going against them on Friday, they will not be able to seal promotion on Monday.
Victories for third-placed Bristol Rovers and fourth-placed Plymouth Argyle means Chris Wilder's side will have to wait until at least Saturday, 2 April to secure promotion to League One.
Newport manager Warren Feeney told BBC Radio Wales: "I'm gutted for the players because I don't think you'll see another team come against the champions - they'll win the League easily - and outplay them like that, like we did.
"I said to the players it's fine margins, we didn't track a runner for the goal - but apart from that I thought we had the best chances of the game.
"It's about taking your chances and we didn't."
Line-ups
Northampton
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Smith
- 2Moloney
- 5Diamond
- 22Prosser
- 16Buchanan
- 11Holmes
- 21O'Toole
- 8ByromSubstituted forRoseat 77'minutes
- 20MartinSubstituted forD'Athat 45'minutes
- 19CollinsSubstituted forHoskinsat 63'minutes
- 27Marquis
Substitutes
- 4Taylor
- 7D'Ath
- 9Richards
- 14Hoskins
- 18McDonald
- 23Rose
- 26Clarke
Newport
Formation 4-1-3-2
- 30Day
- 2Holmes
- 12Donacien
- 16HughesSubstituted forBarrowat 53'minutes
- 5Davies
- 33ByrneBooked at 19mins
- 23Rodman
- 7Elito
- 39Gosling
- 18AyinaSubstituted forKlukowskiat 67'minutes
- 19Boden
Substitutes
- 3Barrow
- 8Klukowski
- 15Green
- 20Owen-Evans
- 21Partridge
- 26Meechan
- Referee:
- Chris Sarginson
- Attendance:
- 5,630
Match Stats
Home TeamNorthamptonAway TeamNewport
- Possession
- Home46%
- Away54%
- Shots
- Home14
- Away11
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away5
- Corners
- Home6
- Away9
- Fouls
- Home6
- Away6
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Northampton Town 1, Newport County 0.
Post update
Foul by John-Joe O'Toole (Northampton Town).
Post update
Scott Barrow (Newport County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Joe Day.
Post update
Delay in match David Buchanan (Northampton Town) because of an injury.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Sam Hoskins (Northampton Town) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Post update
John-Joe O'Toole (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Yan Klukowski (Newport County).
Post update
Attempt saved. Yan Klukowski (Newport County) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Substitution
Substitution, Northampton Town. Danny Rose replaces Joel Byrom because of an injury.
Post update
Corner, Newport County. Conceded by David Buchanan.
Post update
Attempt saved. Mark Byrne (Newport County) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Post update
Medy Elito (Newport County) hits the bar with a left footed shot from the centre of the box.
Post update
Attempt saved. Sam Hoskins (Northampton Town) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the top right corner.
Post update
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Danny Holmes.
Post update
Ricky Holmes (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Alex Rodman (Newport County).
Post update
Corner, Newport County. Conceded by Zander Diamond.
Post update
Corner, Newport County. Conceded by Ricky Holmes.
