York 1 Northampton 1: York unable to make their extra man count
But a point was no more than York deserved and indeed it took two fine saves by Michael Ingham from Danny East and Chris Hackett to preserve a share of the spoils.
York soon had the Cobblers under pressure, Ashley Chambers shooting wide and Jason Walker having a shot blocked.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdLouis Moult went close for the visitors with a cross-shot that flew just past the far post.
York went ahead after 23 minutes when Chambers put a pass through the middle and Matty Blair beat John Johnson for pace and ran clear before shooting past Lee Nichols.
Hackett was only inches away from equalising when he fired high and wide. Then Hackett saw his fierce cross-shot brilliantly saved by Ingham.
Northampton were down to 10 men after 41 minutes when Moult made a shocking tackle on Chris Smith and was immediately shown the red card.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe visitors drew level on 58 minutes when Clarke Carlisle gave away a free-kick and Hackett cracked the ball past the wall and although Ingham parried the shot he couldn’t hold it and Adebayo Akinfenwa followed up to score.
York attacked for the last 20 minutes and Blair hit the bar from a Danny Parslow pass. Chambers twice shot wide as did Danny Kearns and Ingham did well to save from Danny East.
York City: Ingham; Parslow, Carlisle, Smith, Fyfield; Kearns, Kerr(Oyebanjo 82) , McLaughin (Reed 67); Blair, Walker (Johnson 84), Chambers. Unused substitutes: Musselwhite, Potts, Challinor, Doig.
Northampton Town: Nichols; East, Johnson (Hornby 46), Langmead, Widdowson; Hackett, Tozer, Huws, Moult, Akinfenwa, Platt. Unused substitutes: Higgs, Charles, Demontagnac, Mukendi, Wilson, Moyo.
Referee: N Miller (Durham).