Darlington fell to another defeat thanks to first half goals at the Sixfields Stadium. The weekend's results now leave Quakers cast eighteen points from safety with only thirteen games left to play. Darlington did better after the break but the damage was done during the opening period as the hosts raced into a comfortable advantage.

Liam Davis flicked on a free-kick into the box where Billy Mckay fired goalwards only to see Shane Redmond pull off an excellent save as Northampton were denied a ninth minute lead. At the other end Mor Diop did well against two defenders and hit an effort that Cobblers keeper Jason Steele was equal to. However the homes took the lead close to the twenty-minute mark. John Johnson moved forward from the back and set up Adebayo Akinfenwa, who found enough space to hit a right-foot shot that crashed against the bar, and as the Darlington defence hesitated, Johnson followed up to roll the ball into the bottom corner.

On thirty-eight minutes the home side doubled their advantage. An Akinfenwa header from a Davis corner went high into the air towards goal, Redmond couldn't get enough behind his punch although he claimed he was fouled, and Johnson set up Abdul Osman to side-foot the second. Northampton could have made it even worse for Darlington going into half time when David sent a free-kick just past the post.

Darlington came more into it after the break but by that point they had given themselves too much to do. Gareth Waite combined with Andrew Milne to see a low shot stopped by Steele whilst Josh Gray crossed for leading scorer Tadhg Purcell. His header however went wide. Quakers though were unable to find a way back into proceedings as the Blue Square Premier looms large.