Northampton 0-3 Bristol City

Tony Thorpe grabbed a first-half hat-trick as Bristol City strolled to an opening-day victory at Sixfields Stadium.

City's top scorer last season took just 27 minutes to grab a fantastic hat-trick that left the home side shell-shocked.

And the Cobblers' misery was compounded when they were reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute when midfielder James Hunt was dismissed for a reckless late challenge on City skipper Louis Carey.

Thorpe opened the scoring with a diving header in the sixth minute but it took a goal-line clearance from Carey to deny Marco Gabbiadini an equaliser five minutes later.

Thorpe increased City's lead with a 20th-minute penalty and grabbed his third seven minutes later with a close-range header.

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Northampton: Welch, Burgess, Hope, Frain, Lavin, Hunt, Hargreaves, Spedding, Gabbiadini, Parkin, Forrester. Subs: Evatt, McGregor, Wolleaston, Sollitt, Asamoah.

Bristol City: Stowell, Amankwaah, Lever, Carey, Hill, Bell, Doherty, Tinnion, Brown, Jones, Thorpe. Subs: Murray, Clist, Phillips, Matthews, Burnell.

Referee: P Alcock (Halstead)