Mitch Pinnock and Shaun McWilliams scored for Northampton as they beat struggling Port Vale 2-0 at Sixfields.

Pinnock’s sweet finish was the difference at half-time before McWilliams added the gloss in stoppage time as the mid-table Cobblers plunged Vale deeper into relegation trouble.

There were chances at both ends in the opening three minutes as Sam Hoskins volleyed over for Northampton before Vale’s Ethan Chislett forced goalkeeper Lee Burge into a sharp low save.

Burge denied the same player with another good stop later in the first half before Northampton went in front after 34 minutes when Pinnock finished crisply into the bottom corner after being sent through by Kieron Bowie.

Ben Garrity headed over and also scuffed wide at the start of the second half before Vale applied sustained pressure on the home goal without reward.

Uche Ikpeazu could not beat Burge when put through one-on-one and Vale’s defeat was confirmed at the death when McWilliams tapped in after good work by Tyreece Simpson.