GILLINGHAM v NORTHAMPTON TOWN
Football – England – League Two
Saturday 5th November 2011 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Gillingham host 18th placed Northampton Town at Priestfield Stadium no doubt happy to return to home turf following back-to-back losses on the road at Swindon Town and Morecambe respectively.
At home though it’s a different story for The Gills and they’ll be looking to extend their unbeaten home run to five matches after wins against Burton Albion and Oxford United, and draws versus Accrington Stanley and Port Vale which sees them currently occupy 10th spot and just two points off the top seven.
Gillingham’s home record stands at 4-2-1 10/4, and have the tightest defensive home record in League Two, even better than Southend United and Shrewsbury Town. The other two home wins were over Cheltenham Town and Plymouth Argyle. Former AFC Wimbledon striker Danny Kedwell (5 goals) is their leading scorer, along with important contributions from Frank Nouble (4 goals) who is also their penalty taker and Luke Rooney (3 goals, 3 assists) & former Peterborough midfielder Chris Whelpdale (3 goals, 1 assist). Danny Jackman has also weighed in with 3 assists.
Northampton lie just four points above the drop-zone and will no doubt be looking to pull away from their 18th place sooner rather than later. However, this may be easier said than done as The Cobblers are on a five match run without a win, and have suffered back-to-back defeats on the road to Port Vale and Bradford City which has undone their previous good work.
Northampton have recorded away wins at Aldershot Town, AFC Wimbledon and Barnet but overall have been inconsistent in both home & away matches to make any real progress up the league.
Their away record stands at 3-1-4 11/13, and seem more comfortable playing away than at home, but how comfortable they’ll be at Gillingham I guess only time will tell. Striker Adebayo Akinfenwa (5 goals, 3 assists) leads the way, along with midfielder Michael Jacobs (3 goals, 2 assists) but their attacking depth appears to be a little on the light side.
With that in mind, I’m backing the home side here for what should be a straight-forward win; Gillingham 2 Northampton 0.
Pick: Gillingham @ 1.80 bet365