Brighton's booked their place in the second round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with a 1-0 win over Northampton.

McLeod the hero for Brighton

A long-range strike from midfielder Kevin McLeod maintained Brighton's unbeaten start to the season with a 1-0 win at Northampton and booked their place in the second round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. McLeod let fly with an instinctive 35-yard blast in the 68th minute which caught goalkeeper Chris Dunn off his guard to settle the tie. It was rough on Dunn who had pulled off two decent second-half saves from a Matt Richards free kick and a Glenn Murray header as the Seagulls ran the show after the break. Cobblers striker Leon Constantine was forced to clear a Colin Hawkins header from under his own crossbar but he had a good chance at the other end with a glancing header from an Andy Holt cross which drifted narrowly wide. Northampton stepped up their search for a leveller in the closing stages but both Constantine and substitute Ian Henderson had shots blocked.