Cobblers stick boot into Newport

First-half goals from Ryan Cresswell and John-Joe O'Toole put Northampton on the way to a third straight success with a 3-0 victory over Newport.The Cobblers began brightly. Cresswell saw a shot hit the crossbar in the first minute, Ricky Holmes fired just wide and Jason Taylor had a shot blocked. In between, Chris Zebroski was off target for Newport.The early breakthrough the hosts had threatened came in the 13th minute when Cresswell headed home Joel Byrom's corner.Mark Byrne was denied by Northampton goalkeeper Matt Duke while Newport stopper Joe Day thwarted O'Toole at the other end.However, it was the former Bristol Rovers midfielder who doubled the lead after 29 minutes. Byrom was again the provider from another corner with O'Toole heading home.Zebroski was off target just before the interval but it took a decent save from Day to keep out another header from Cresswell shortly after the restart.Shaun Jeffers headed over, Zebroski was again off target and substitute Michael Flynn fired over as Newport looked to get back into the contest.Substitute Ivan Toney went close for Northampton when he shot over the crossbar from the edge of the box while Andy Sandell had an effort blocked for Newport, who went close when Kevin Feely was denied by Duke.Lawson D'Ath completed the scoring in the 82nd minute when he beat Day with a low drive from 10 yards out.