Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Northampton Town

Lewis Alessandra scored his fourth goal in seven games as Plymouth beat Northampton to move into seventh place.

James Gray narrowly missed putting the visitors in front when he was unable to tap Darren Carter's cross home.

Anthony O'Connor then scored for Plymouth a minute later with a powerful 18-yard strike.

Northampton pushed hard after the break but Alessandra's cool strike, as he rounded keeper Matt Duke, ensured Plymouth's victory.

Northampton Town manager Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Northampton:

"If we'd have won here today it would have capped an unbelievable week. We need to dust ourselves down.

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Wilder on Northampton v Plymouth

"The spirit in our team is outstanding and the players are hurting at the moment.

"Plymouth have had to scrap to get over the line today, just like we have in recent games. It shows how tight the league is."

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Plymouth

• 23McCormick
• 5Nelson
• 16McHughSubstituted forBlizzardat 79'minutes
• 29HartleyBooked at 57mins
• 2Mellor
• 17Reid
• 19O'ConnorBooked at 29mins
• 27Talbot
• 13Holmes-DennisBooked at 59mins
• 7AlessandraSubstituted forBantonat 88'minutes
• 9ReidSubstituted forBruntat 86'minutes

Substitutes

• 1Bittner
• 3Purrington
• 4Cox
• 8Banton
• 11Blizzard
• 14Harvey
• 28Brunt

Northampton

• 1Duke
• 2Moloney
• 36Cresswell
• 6Collins
• 3Horwood
• 19D'AthSubstituted forBodinat 61'minutes
• 4Carter
• 21TaylorBooked at 84mins
• 26Holmes
• 24Toney
• 14GraySubstituted forO'Tooleat 61'minutes

Substitutes

• 7Bodin
• 10O'Toole
• 16Diamond
• 33Newey
• 34Clifton
• 42Jalal

Referee:

Steve Martin

Attendance:

6,501

Match Stats

Home TeamPlymouthAway TeamNorthampton

Possession

Home44%

Away56%

Shots

Home9

Away12

Shots on Target

Home4

Away5

Corners

Home2

Away6

Fouls

Home11

Away12

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Plymouth Argyle 2, Northampton Town 0.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+4'

Second Half ends, Plymouth Argyle 2, Northampton Town 0.

Posted at 90'+4'

Attempt missed. Billy Bodin (Northampton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

Posted at 90'+3'

(Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 90'+3'

Foul by Ivan Toney (Northampton Town).

Posted at 90'+2'

Attempt missed. Jason Banton (Plymouth Argyle) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

Posted at 90'+1'

Attempt saved. Billy Bodin (Northampton Town) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Substitution

Posted at 88'

Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Jason Banton replaces Lewis Alessandra.

Posted at 88'

Attempt missed. Ryan Brunt (Plymouth Argyle) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.

Substitution

Posted at 86'

Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Ryan Brunt replaces Reuben Reid.

Goal!

Posted at 86'

Goal! Plymouth Argyle 2, Northampton Town 0. Lewis Alessandra (Plymouth Argyle) from a free kick with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.

Booking

Posted at 84'

Jason Taylor (Northampton Town) is shown the yellow card.

Posted at 83'

Reuben Reid (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 83'

Foul by Jason Taylor (Northampton Town).

Posted at 80'

Bobby Reid (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 80'

Foul by Jason Taylor (Northampton Town).

Substitution

Posted at 79'

Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Dominic Blizzard replaces Carl McHugh.

Posted at 78'

Bobby Reid (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 78'

Foul by Billy Bodin (Northampton Town).

Posted at 78'

Attempt saved. Ricky Holmes (Northampton Town) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the top left corner.

Posted at 76'

Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Carl McHugh.

Posted at 76'

Attempt blocked. Billy Bodin (Northampton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

Posted at 73'

Attempt missed. Evan Horwood (Northampton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high from a direct free kick.

Posted at 72'

Foul by Peter Hartley (Plymouth Argyle).

Posted at 72'

Ivan Toney (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 69'

Foul by Kelvin Mellor (Plymouth Argyle).

Posted at 69'

Darren Carter (Northampton Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 68'

Attempt saved. Brendon Moloney (Northampton Town) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

Posted at 67'

Delay in match Kelvin Mellor (Plymouth Argyle) because of an injury.

Posted at 66'

Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Carl McHugh.

Posted at 66'

Attempt saved. Reuben Reid (Plymouth Argyle) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

Posted at 65'

Anthony O'Connor (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 65'

Foul by Ivan Toney (Northampton Town).

Substitution

Posted at 61'

Substitution, Northampton Town. Billy Bodin replaces Lawson D'Ath.

Substitution

Posted at 61'

Substitution, Northampton Town. John-Joe O'Toole replaces James Gray.

Posted at 60'

Curtis Nelson (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 60'

Foul by Ryan Cresswell (Northampton Town).

Posted at 60'

Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Drew Talbot.

Posted at 60'

Attempt blocked. Ricky Holmes (Northampton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

Booking

Posted at 59'

Tareiq Holmes-Dennis (Plymouth Argyle) is shown the yellow card.

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