Port Vale and promotion-chasing Northampton battled out a goalless draw which featured precious little action.

A forgettable first-half between two potential promotion candidates was played out primarily in the middle third of the pitch.

The visitors’ best chance saw Paul Lewis denied by a near-post save by Tomas Holy after Danny Rose had played him in.

Their leading scorer, Sam Hoskins, couldn’t convert their other half-chance, a wayward snapshot after a half-clearance came to him just outside the area.

At the other end, the Valiants’ best passing move, right at the end of the half, culminated in James Wilson’s shot hitting Fraser Horsfall and landing safely in Liam Roberts’ arms.

The second half was equally short on goalmouth action.

Scott Pollock went close to putting the Cobblers ahead but couldn’t connect with Rose’s ball across the face of goal.

Northampton substitute Beryly Lubala was lucky to only see a yellow card when he brought down the breaking Tom Pett as he charged in on goal late on.

But with play-off hopefuls Vale unable to create anything from the resulting free kick, a poor game petered out to a goalless stalemate.