Northampton could only manage to pick up a solitary point following a dour goalless draw with Grimsby.

Gilbert endures nightmare debut for Cobblers

Northampton could only manage to pick up a solitary point following a dour 1-1 draw with Grimsby in which both teams finished with 10 men. Peter Gilbert was dismissed on his Northampton debut in the second half and was followed by Rob Atkinson later in the game. In a first half in which neither side were able to make much in the way of openings, Northampton's best chances both fell to Adebayo Akinfenwa. He latched on to a poor back pass in the 35th minute but could only shoot weakly at Nick Colgan and a minute before the break forced the Grimsby keeper into a smart save when he got on the end of a Luke Guttridge cross. Gilbert was dismissed six minutes after the restart for impeding Danny North after he broke clear of the home defence. But ten-men Cobblers went close to breaking the deadlock in the 59th minute when substituted Liam Davis found space but fired just wide. Atkinson received a straight red in the 81st minute for a foul on Davis. But Damien McCrory forced a good save from Chris Dunn five minutes later and from the ensuing corner substitute Paul Linwood volleyed wide.