League One
NorthamptonNorthampton Town2OldhamOldham Athletic2

Northampton Town 2-2 Oldham Athletic: Cobblers & Latics relegated

Ash Taylor celebrates a goal for Northampton
Ash Taylor's goal put Northampton ahead before half-time - a goal which eventually cost Oldham their place in League One

Northampton Town and Oldham Athletic were both relegated from League One following their final-day draw.

Northampton required a win by at least nine goals to stand any chance of survival, while Oldham entered the game knowing they would be safe if they matched Rochdale's result against Charlton.

However, the draw at Sixfields and Rochdale's 1-0 win meant the Cobblers and the Latics will drop down to the fourth tier along with MK Dons and Bury.

Oldham looked to be closing in on survival when George Edmundson's first goal for the club, a shot from 15 yards, put them ahead.

But they then surrendered their first-half advantage and fell behind by half-time.

Matt Grimes converted a penalty to level after Sam Hoskins was fouled, and Cobblers captain Ash Taylor pounced on a rebound to complete the turnaround.

At that stage Oldham were in the relegation spots, and Thomas Haymer headed their equaliser to put Rochdale back in the bottom four, only for Joe Thompson to net Dale's winner at Spotland and send the Latics down by a point.

Latics drop after 21 years in third tier

After a nightmare start to the season which cost John Sheridan his job, Oldham gave themselves every chance of avoiding the drop with a strong last third of the campaign under Richie Wellens.

However, too many draws towards the end, including a last-minute penalty equaliser conceded against Gillingham in the final weeks of the campaign, kept them moored towards the wrong end of the table.

They lost only one of their final nine league games, but failure to win at Northampton ended 21 years of consecutive third-tier football and dropped them into the bottom rung of the English Football League for the first time since 1971.

Northampton's relegation finally confirmed

A season of off-pitch turmoil has been similarly chaotic on it, with Northampton going back down to England's fourth tier after just two seasons in League One.

Chinese firm Guangzhou-based 5USport, which bought a 60% share in June 2017, was forced to sell back its stake due to "investment restrictions".

And while the board has moved to reassure fans that the club is financially secure, the team's performances have been anything but reassuring.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink took over as manager from Justin Edinburgh on a three-year-deal in September 2017 with the Cobblers bottom of the table.

They climbed to as high as 18th in January but, by the time the former Chelsea striker was sacked in early April, Northampton had slipped back down to 22nd after a winless nine-game run.

Edinburgh's former Tottenham team-mate Dean Austin took over as caretaker boss for the final few weeks of the season, but could not steer the club to safety.

Line-ups

Northampton

Formation 4-4-1-1

  • 13O'Donnell
  • 2Moloney
  • 6Taylor
  • 5Barnett
  • 3Buchanan
  • 8Foley Substituted forBridgeat 71'minutes
  • 17McWilliamsBooked at 84mins Substituted forRobertsat 90+6'minutes
  • 29Grimes
  • 11Powell
  • 21O'Toole
  • 14Hoskins

Substitutes

  • 1Cornell
  • 10van Veen
  • 26Poole
  • 36Bridge
  • 37Turnbull
  • 40Roberts
  • 42Luckassen

Oldham

Formation 4-4-1-1

  • 19Placide
  • 23Hunt
  • 34Haymer
  • 15Edmundson
  • 3Moimbé
  • 18Pringle
  • 6GardnerBooked at 49mins Substituted forBenyuat 74'minutes
  • 29Byrne
  • 27Nepomuceno Substituted forDaviesat 57'minutes
  • 12Nazon Substituted forHollowayat 83'minutes
  • 13Doyle

Substitutes

  • 1de la Paz
  • 7Benyu
  • 9Davies
  • 10Holloway
  • 16McEleney
  • 20Stott
  • 30Obadeyi
Referee:
Keith Stroud
Attendance:
6,511

Match Stats

Home TeamNorthamptonAway TeamOldham
Possession
Home49%
Away51%
Shots
Home7
Away9
Shots on Target
Home4
Away4
Corners
Home10
Away4
Fouls
Home8
Away18

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Northampton Town 2, Oldham Athletic 2.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Northampton Town 2, Oldham Athletic 2.

  3. Substitution

    Substitution, Northampton Town. Morgan Roberts replaces Shaun McWilliams.

  4. Post update

    Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Rob Hunt.

  5. Post update

    Attempt saved. Craig Davies (Oldham Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

  6. Post update

    Matt Grimes (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  7. Post update

    Foul by Eoin Doyle (Oldham Athletic).

  8. Post update

    Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Thomas Haymer.

  9. Booking

    Shaun McWilliams (Northampton Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  10. Post update

    Foul by Shaun McWilliams (Northampton Town).

  11. Post update

    Jack Byrne (Oldham Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  12. Substitution

    Substitution, Oldham Athletic. Aaron Holloway replaces Duckens Nazon.

  13. Post update

    Matt Grimes (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  14. Post update

    Foul by Jack Byrne (Oldham Athletic).

  15. Post update

    Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by George Edmundson.

  16. Post update

    Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Johny Placide.

  17. Post update

    Attempt saved. Matt Grimes (Northampton Town) left footed shot from very close range is saved in the top right corner.

  18. Post update

    Foul by Daniel Powell (Northampton Town).

  19. Post update

    Wilfried Moimbé (Oldham Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  20. Post update

    Attempt missed. Duckens Nazon (Oldham Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

As It Stood

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Wigan 46 29 11 6 89 29 60 98
2 Blackburn 46 28 12 6 82 40 42 96
3 Shrewsbury 46 25 12 9 60 39 21 87
4 Rotherham 46 24 7 15 73 53 20 79
5 Scunthorpe 46 19 17 10 65 50 15 74
6 Charlton 46 20 11 15 58 51 7 71
7 Plymouth 46 19 11 16 58 59 -1 68
8 Portsmouth 46 20 6 20 57 56 1 66
9 Peterborough 46 17 13 16 68 60 8 64
10 Southend 46 17 12 17 58 62 -4 63
11 Bradford 46 18 9 19 57 67 -10 63
12 Blackpool 46 15 15 16 60 55 5 60
13 Bristol Rovers 46 16 11 19 60 66 -6 59
14 Fleetwood 46 16 9 21 59 68 -9 57
15 Doncaster 46 13 17 16 52 52 0 56
16 Oxford Utd 46 15 11 20 61 66 -5 56
17 Gillingham 46 13 17 16 50 55 -5 56
18 Wimbledon 46 13 14 19 47 58 -11 53
19 Walsall 46 13 13 20 53 66 -13 52
20 Rochdale 46 11 18 17 49 57 -8 51
21 Oldham 46 11 17 18 58 75 -17 50
22 Northampton 46 12 11 23 43 77 -34 47
23 MK Dons 46 11 12 23 43 69 -26 45
24 Bury 46 8 12 26 41 71 -30 36
View full League One table

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