Cheltenham Town vs Northampton Town. Sky Bet League Two Play-Offs Semi-Final.
Whaddon Road Ground.
2-3
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 7.30pm on Monday; kick-off is at 8pm
Monday 22 June 2020 18:54, UK
Cheltenham face Northampton in the Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final second leg on Monday, live on Sky Sports Football.
Cheltenham have a 2-0 lead to defend from the first leg on Thursday night...
Cheltenham have won four of their last five League Two matches against Northampton (D1) since the start of last season, winning both of their home games in that run.
Northampton are looking for their first away win against Cheltenham since the second leg of the 2012/13 League Two play-offs, when they won 1-0 with Luke Guttridge scoring the winner.
All five previous teams to win the first leg away from home by two or more goals in the fourth tier play-offs have gone on to progress to the final.
Across all divisions, the last team to lose the first leg of a Football League play-off by two or more goals and then progress to the final was Yeovil Town against Nottingham Forest in 2006/07 in League One, losing the first leg 2-0 before winning 5-2 in the second leg.
Should Cheltenham reach the play-off final, it will be their fourth play-off final in the fourth tier - the joint-most of any side (Blackpool and Torquay United also reached four).
Northampton Town have lost seven of their last nine matches in all competitions, although they won their last away match in February away at Grimsby Town.
Since shipping seven goals against Newport in a Football League Trophy match in November, Cheltenham have only conceded more than once in a game once in all competitions, conceding just 16 goals across 24 matches since then.
Conor Thomas' goal in the first leg was his seventh in League Two this season for Cheltenham - only Ryan Broom (8) has scored more for the Robins this season.
From the moment Northampton missed that penalty you felt Cheltenham took control of the tie, and were unlikely to relinquish it. They dealt with everything the Cobblers threw at them.
Keith Curle says they are still in the tie and an early goal would completely change the complexion of things, but if Cheltenham turn up and play like they did on Thursday night then I can only see one outcome from the second leg, and that's them reaching Wembley.
David Prutton predicts: Cheltenham to win 2-0 to go through (10/1 with Sky Bet)
