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Davis trademark sparks Fulham recovery
last updated Tuesday 05th September 2000, 10:39 PM
Another cheeky quick free kick saw Fulham recover from 1-0 down to beat Northampton 4-1 at craven cottage.
The first half was full of poor football by both teams. Northampton took the lead through an Ian Sampson header after 6 minutes. Fulham were left bewildered for most of the First half as they saw Northampton take control. It took a quick free kick from Sean Davis to draw Fulham level before the end of the half.
Fulham looked a different team in the second half inspired by Louis Saha inclusion for Eddie Lewis and it only took 13 minutes for Fulham to take the led. Fabrice Fernandes curled a spectacular chip over Keith Welch that went in off the bar.
Louis Saha sealed the tie with two excellently taken goals in twenty minutes. The first after 70 minutes saw Saha finish off a fine passing move by Fulham with a class shot past Northampton goalkeeper. His second, and Fulham fourth was a calm drive past Welch making Louis Saha Fulham’s joint top goal scorer with Barry Halyes (4 goals)
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Sean Davis' 25-yard free-kick on the stroke of half-time hauled Fulham back into the Worthington Cup first round second leg at Craven Cottage.
Ian Sampson's sixth minute header had put Northampton in the driving seat.
Fulham, trailing by one-goal after the first leg at the Sixfields Stadium two weeks ago, gave themselves a tough task to overcome if they were going to make the second round draw when they fell two behind on aggregate so early in the game.
The Cobblers' got their opening when Duncan Spedding's initial effort was deflected wide. And when Ian Hendon whipped in an inswinging corner, Sampson rose above the Fulham defence to head home.
Fulham came out firing on all cylinders as they came looking to cancel out Northampton's lead and they only had to wait 13 minutes for the goal to arrive.
Fabrice Fernandes picked up the ball 30 yards from goal before advancing a little and curling a spectacular effort off the underside of Keith Welch's bar to make it 2-1 and 2-2 on aggregate.
Jean Tigana brought Louis Saha on as a substitute at half-time and that proved to be an inspired move when he put the home side ahead for the first time in this tie on 71 minutes getting on the end of some flowing passes, finishing with a crisp drive past Welch.
Fulham fielded a stronger side that the complete reserve side that lost the first leg at Sixfields, and came out on top only after the introduction of £2.1million substitute Louis Saha.
They even suffered a sixth minute blow when second Division Northampton doubled their aggregate lead. Ian Hendon's inswinging corner was met by an unmarked Ian Sampson who headed home with ease to rock Fulham.
It wasn't a great fightback by Fulham until a 45th minute set-piece gave Jean Tigana's side their opportunity. Sean Davis quickly took a 25-yard free-kick that brought back memories of an identical strike against Birmingham last month.
Fulham were back in it, and a goal of real quality from Fabrice Fernandes 11 minutes after the interval. The on-loan French winger found a little bit of space 30 yards out and curled the ball with precision rather than power over Keith Welch to level the scores on aggregate.
Saha, a second-half replacement for the ineffectual Eddie Lewis, finished a typical flowing move with a neat finish and grabbed his second in injury-time.
Fulham: Hahnemann, W. Collins, Brevett, Neilson, Knight, Davis, Clark, Lewis, Hayles, Fernandes, Boa Morte. Subs: Thompson, Trollope, Hayward, Saha, McAnespie.
Northampton: Welch, Hendon, Sampson, Hughes, Howard, Hunt, Gabbiadini, Savage, Forrester, Spedding, Green. Subs: Gould, Morrow, Hodge, Sollitt, Wilson.
Referee: R Oliver (Sutton Coldfield)
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