Northampton Town gained a point towards their survival ambitions with a 1-1 draw against League One’s runaway leaders Birmingham City.

An early own goal by Birmingham’s Tomoki Iwata had given the Cobblers rewards following a bright start, before the Blues’ former Northampton loanee Keshi Anderson scored an equaliser in first half injury time.

But the Cobblers kept the side that lead the table by 12 points at bay for the remainder of the contest, as they edge closer to staying up in the third tier. With nine games of the season to go, the 19th placed-Cobblers have a six point gap to the relegation zone.

The match was played in front of a record crowd at Sixfields, with over 7,900 in attendance as Northampton implement the phased opening of their new Main Stand, along with a bumper away crowd of over 1,300 fans of the leaders. It broke the previous record for the Cobblers’ current stadium set when Northampton hosted Manchester United in an EFL Cup tie in 2016.

Having beaten play-off hopefuls Leyton Orient last time out, Kevin Nolan’s side had early opportunities to surprise the league leaders. Dara Costelloe saw an effort deflected wide before Cameron McGeehan and Sam Hoskins both saw efforts miss the target.

Northampton would duly score first in 17 minutes, if in unconventional circumstances. Birmingham had attempted to play the ball out from the back but struggled to get through the Cobblers’ press. It ended up with goalkeeper Ryan Allsop playing a suspect pass to Iwata, who under pressure from Costelloe ended up playing the ball off his own post and into the net.

Things could’ve got better for the Cobblers, who came close to a second when Ben Perry fired over before McGeehan headed over.

But the Blues would equalise in first half stoppage time, as Anderson met Christoph Klarer’s cross and headed past Lee Burge.

Having been second best in the first half, Birmingham upped their attacking intensity after the break. Jay Stansfield fired wide when well placed before Willum Willumsson failed to hit the target from a good position.

Northampton sub Ali Koiki fired wide late on, while Lee Burge made a stop to keep out Alfie May from the visitors as the points ultimately wound up being shared.

A point means Northampton are now unbeaten in four outings. They will seek to continue that run in their next outing, which sees them welcome Blackpool to Sixfields next Saturday.

Luton Town failed to capitalise on their opportunities in a goalless draw with Middlesbrough.

On a sunny day at Kenilworth Road, Matt Bloomfield’s side had the better opportunities against their play-off chasing guests, but couldn’t find a way through as the game ended 0-0.

With Cardiff beating Blackburn Rovers, it means that Luton now find themselves four points from safety with eight games of the season to go. The Hatters sit 23rd in the Championship table.

Luton had entered the contest on a high after beating Cardiff in South Wales in midweek and were chasing back-to-back victories in their pursuit of survival in the second tier.

They nearly made a fast start, as with just seven minutes on the clock, Elijah Adebayo’s deflected pass fell kindly for Thelo Aasgaard, only for the midweek matchwinner to wallop a strike over the bar.

Luton persisted with the best chances of the half, as they saw Alfie Doughty fire a strike wide before Aasgaard fired straight at Mark Travers after being picked out by Doughty.

Adebayo would then fire straight at Travers after intercepting a bad backpass, before Travers denied Carlton Morris and Adebayo couldn’t force the rebound on target.

Middlesbrough were a more robust obstacle after the break and nearly stole the lead for themselves, only for Finn Azaz to fire a strike off target.

Mark McGuinness and substitute Lasse Nordas would both miss the target for Luton, before the visitor’s Delano Burgzorg saw a late strike narrowly clear the bar in a game that saw Middlesbrough fail to have a shot on target.

Luton were however left frustrated, particularly on a day that also saw Derby and Cardiff win, as they remain in trouble going into the final international break of the season.

Bloomfield’s Hatters face a big game when the Championship returns in two weeks time, as they travel to a Hull City side currently six points above the bottom three. It forms part of a busy run-in, with Luton also scheduled to face away games against fellow strugglers Stoke and Derby, plus meetings with league leaders Leeds United and a final trilogy of games against play-off chasers Bristol City, Coventry and West Brom.

Red Bull began the 2025 Formula One season with Max Verstappen taking a podium at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Verstappen began his quest to win a fifth consecutive Driver’s Championship by finishing second to McLaren’s Lando Norris, having battled with both Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri before the latter span in wet conditions in the final third of the race.

It was a difficult debut for new Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson, however, who started from the pit lane and ended up crashing out after spinning in wet conditions near the end of the race.

An eventful race in wet-dry-wet conditions saw the Australian Grand Prix feature three safety cars, six failures to finish and one crash on the formation lap.

The drama began early at Albert Park, as F1 debutant Isack Hadjar crashed within two corners of the formation lap on a damp track, meaning the Racing Bulls driver for Red Bull’s second team had the unfortunate distinction of beginning his F1 career with a Did Not Start.

Verstappen initially made a charge off the line when the start eventually happened 15 minutes later, getting past Piastri before a safety car was summoned when Alpine’s Jack Doohan crashed out, with Williams’ Carlos Sainz spinning out under the consequent safety car.

Lawson, meanwhile, had started from the pit-lane after Red Bull made a late set-up change, putting him near the back of the pack.

When racing resumed, Verstappen initially kept Piastri at bay, and had been in a position to challenge Norris for the lead of the race in the opening stages.

But Verstappen ran out of tyre life, and on lap 17, a moment where the Dutchman ran wide saw him lose track position to Piastri, who were able to break free of the Red Bull and open up a gap of over 10 seconds.

On lap 34, the complexion changed again when Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso crashed out, triggering the second safety car of the day just at the point when dry tyres became viable after a race that had exclusively been on intermediate tyres to that point.

Verstappen remained third while Lawson remained outside the points when racing resumed on lap 41, but on lap 44, a further shower arrived, drenching the track further.

Both McLarens went off in the final corners, with Piastri getting beached by the final chicane before eventually rejoining way outside the points.

Norris would meanwhile immediately choose to change to intermediate tyres. This opened the door for Verstappen to take the lead, but with the rain getting heavier, Red Bull abandoned the gamble after two laps and put the Dutchman back on intermediate tyres.

This put him back in the pack, but eventually he would be second when those who’d gambled on staying out even longer gave up and changed back to intermediates.

One of those who had gambled was Lawson, who’d got into the top ten but was struggling to keep it on track and eventually, at the start of lap 47, Lawson spun and crashed into the wall, ending a difficult first race for Red Bull’s main team early.

Lawson wasn’t alone, with F1 debutant Gabriel Bortoleto having his own spin in the Sauber, triggering a third safety car.

When racing restarted with five laps to go, Verstappen was this time able to stick closer to Norris, who had suffered damage in his excursion over the grass when the rain came. But although he was able to get within the one second DRS gap, Verstappen couldn’t make his move as Norris closed out the job to win the race. The duo were joined by George Russell on the podium.

Red Bull will be hoping to bring a first winners trophy to Milton Keynes next week, when the field heads to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix, including a first sprint race of 2025.

MK Dons were beaten 3-0 away at promotion-chasing Port Vale.

Lorent Tolaj’s first-half opener was followed up by second half goals from Jayden Stockley and Ben Garrity, as the home side picked up a result that keeps their grip on a place in League Two’s top six.

The Dons meanwhile sit 18th in the table after defeat in Staffordshire, with the Dons 12 points ahead of the relegation zone with 10 games of a difficult season remaining.

Having ended a winless run at home to Morecambe in their last outing, MK Dons had been chasing back-to-back wins for the first time in 2025.

Tolaj fired an early shot wide for the home side, while the Dons saw Joe White’s effort just clear the bar.

Just before the half hour, Port Vale broke the deadlock. Nico Lawrence dithered when first to Stockley’s flick-on from a long goal kick, allowing Tolaj to seize the ball, advance and score the opening goal of the game.

Tolaj would later see a strike blocked by Lawrence, while the Dons’ best chance of the first half came in stoppage time as Luke Offord saw a header from a free-kick strike the crossbar.

Danilo Orsi was denied by Ben Amos just after the break, but the Dons would ultimately concede the game’s second goal.

The home side worked the ball out to former AFC Wimbledon winger Ronan Curtis, whose cross was met by Stockley for a slight flick to guide it beyond MK keeper Connal Trueman and double Vale’s lead.

Five minutes after the second Port Vale goal, MK Dons nearly conceded a third when Trueman had to make a fine save to thwart Connor Hall.

Alex Gilbey blazed the Dons’ best chance for a goal back over the bar when well placed, as hopes of a comeback to nick a point dwindled.

At the end of eight minutes of stoppage time, Port Vale would strike again, as Curtis’ pass released substitute Garrity, who placed a fine chip above Trueman’s head and into the back of the net.

That capped off a miserable day for the Dons, who haven’t won an away match since New Year’s Day. They will be seeking a first victory on their travels since then when they travel to Cheltenham next weekend.