League Two: Dagenham & Redbridge 0 Northampton Town 2

Northampton kept up their unbeaten record over Daggers with a 2-0 win at Victoria Road, thanks to a Marc Richards first half double.

Richards tapped in an eighth-minute opener before heading home Joel Byrom’s corner to seal the Cobblers eighth victory over the Daggers in nine games.

Daggers boss Wayne Burnett was forced into three changes from the side which drew 3-3 at Oxford last weekend as Scott Doe and Ashley Chambers missed out through injury, while Jack Connors was on Republic of Ireland under-21 duty.

Ian Gayle and George Porter came in for their first starts, while Batt, traditionally a right back replaced Connors on the left of the back four.

But from the off the hosts struggled against a strong Northampton outfit and Richards could have opened his account after three minutes when Chris Hackett’s delivery in was met by the former Chesterfield front man but his header was just over.

That combination caused Batt and the Daggers defence problems throughout the opening period, but it was a ball in from the other side which did the damage five minutes later.

Good play from Mohamed down the left saw the winger break through the Daggers defence and he squared for Richards to simply tap past Liam O’Brien in the home goal.

Matt Duke tipped over an Ashley Hemmings up the other end, but O’Brien had to do well to keep out Hackett’s shot after the winger had made some space just inside the box.

But the Daggers hadn’t heeded the earlier warning of Richards’ aerial presence as with 23 minutes on the clock he got up highest to head home Joel Byrom’s corner.

Chances were few and far between for the hosts and their disappointment up front was summed up when Cureton handled a ball in unnecessarily and picked up a caution.

Richards was inches away from completing a first half hat-trick as the opening 45 minutes drew to a close, but this time his header from a Hackett delivery was cleared off the line by Brian Saah.

The Daggers started brighter in the second period and Luke Howell forced Duke to tip over a rasping 25-yard effort, before Cureton twice dragged shots wide. It was going to be one of those days.

Former Daggers loanee Lawson D’Ath came off the bench for the Cobblers to a round of applause from the home fans, but he almost put the final nail in the coffin, only to see his effort deflected over the bar.

Dagenham & Redbridge: O’Brien, Batt, Saah, Gayle, Partridge (Bloomfield 90), Ogogo, Boucaud, Howell (Goldberg 69), Porter (Green 69), Cureton, Hemmings.

Unused substitutes: Cousins, Labadie, Raymond,

Northampton Town: Duke, Tozer, Diamond, Cresswell, Robertson, Hackett (D’Ath 78), Byrom, Watson, Mohamed, Richards (Moyo 90), Toney (O’Toole 70)

Unused substitutes Brown, Carter, Ravenhill, Roberts.

Attendance:2,186 (552 Northampton Town fans)