Marcus Harness scored twice and Greg Leigh, Cameron Burgess, George Edmundson and Freddie Ladapo once each as the Blues thrashed Northampton Town 6-0 in the Papa Johns Trophy at Portman Road. Top scorer Harness opened the scoring on 11, then added the second four minutes later before Leigh made it three on 26. In the second half, Burgess added number four in the 58th minute, Edmundson made it 5-0 on 83 and Ladapo completed the scoring in injury time from Kyle Edwards’s third assist of the evening.
Dominic Ball and Richard Keogh were handed their expected debuts as Blues boss Kieran McKenna made 11 changes.
Vaclav Hladky was in goal with Keogh in a two-man backline alongside Burgess with Kane Vincent-Young at right-back and Greg Leigh on the left.
Ball joined Cameron Humphreys in the centre of midfield with Edwards and Harness either side of stand-in skipper Sone Aluko behind lone central striker Kayden Jackson.
Nick Hayes was the sub keeper, while U21s captain Fraser Alexander was also on the bench.
As the game kicked-off, Town announced Zanda Siziba was replacing Conor Chaplin among the subs, the forward having picked up a niggle in the warm-up.
Northampton made six changes from the team which lost 1-0 at home to Doncaster at the weekend. Akin Odimayo was handed his full debut, while Josh Eppiah missed out having not been ready to return.
Town created their first chance in the seventh minute when Edwards picked up a loose pass on the right and drove forward before playing forward to Jackson, who was flagged offside as he hit his shot against Cobblers’ keeper Jonny Maxted.
The Blues subsequently began to take control with crosses flying in from both flanks in the following attack but with the ball just not falling for a Town player.
Town kept up the pressure and in the 11th minute went in front. A flowing move from just outside their own box in which Aluko and Edwards exchanged passes on a number of occasions, ended with the former West Brom man lifting a cross towards the far post where Harness got above Harvey Lintott - who really ought to have done much better - before nodding back across goal and over the line off the underside of the bar and the inside of the post.
The Blues went looking for a second and on 16 Edwards brought the ball across the area before hitting a powerful left-foot shot which Maxted did well to push over the bar.
And from the corner, Town and Harness scored their second. The flag-kick was taken short to Aluko, who brought it to the byline before laying it back to Harness, whose initial shot was blocked.
The ball ran loose and Ball looked to be fouled as he sought to shoot goalwards but before referee Tom Reeves could make a decision, Harness had stabbed it between the keeper’s legs over the line for his second of the game and fifth of the season, although he, like most at Portman Road on Saturday, will feel it should have been the sixth.
On 20 Northampton’s Kieron Bowie shot low past Hladky’s left post but it was still mainly Town and three minutes later Jackson rounded Maxted but took the ball too wide and was unable to find Harness with his low cross.
But the sparse crowd didn’t have to wait too long for a third with Greg Leigh this time the man on target. Edwards was again the creator, chipping another cross to the far post from where Leigh outmuscled Lintott and headed in his first goal for the club from the narrowest of angles.
Town continued to dominate and went looking for a fourth. On 34 Edwards worked the ball in from the right exchanging passes with Vincent-Young and Harness before striking a shot which was blocked.
The Blues lost skipper Aluko to injury in the 39th minute when the former Nigerian international picked up what looked to be a knee injury after falling awkwardly following a challenge. He immediately looked in pain and after treatment was clearly unable to continue and was helped to the tunnel by two members of the club’s medical team. Keogh took the captain’s armband.
Late replacement sub Siziba took over, making his fourth appearance from the bench in the competition in addition to one start. On 44 Ball picked up a debut booking for a pull just inside the Town half.
The injury stalled Town’s momentum in the final minutes of a half they had controlled from start to finish.
As they had in the Carabao Cup tie against Colchester earlier this month the Blues’ fringe players had created early opportunities but on this occasion had taken one with Harness scoring when he looked very much second best to win the ball.
The former Pompey man showed his predatory instincts to add the second, then Leigh also won a header he shouldn’t have done to add the third.
The only downside was the concerning-looking injury suffered by Aluko and the knock Chaplin picked up in the warm-up.
Town swapped Jackson and Harness for Ladapo and Tyreece John-Jules ahead of the second half, while the visitors switched Lintott and Bowie for Marc Leonard and Ali Koiki.
Town began the half brightly and on 48 Edwards out-battled his man on the right of the box but cut the ball back to John-Jules with too much power, then within seconds the ex-Baggies wideman sent a low ball across the six-yard box but the on-loan Arsenal forward was unable to reach it as he slid in.
In the 50th minute, Ladapo rose highest at a corner from the left but headed the ball back where it came from rather than towards goal.
The former Rotherham man wasn’t far away from his first goal for the club in the 57th minute when John-Jules played him in on the left of the box but Maxted was quickly off his line to block.
A minute later, it was 4-0, however. After a free-kick from the right had been half-cleared, Humphreys floated a superb cross into the area and Burgess nodded back across goal and inside the post to claim his first goal for the Blues.
As the hour approached, Edwards, who deserved a goal, struck a powerful low shot which Maxted saved.
Mitch Pinnock smashed a free-kick into the Town wall on 63, then three minutes later Danny Hylton was replaced by Liam Cross.
On 68 debutant Keogh was replaced by Edmundson, the former Derby man having had a very comfortable first game for the Blues. He handed the captain’s armband on to Edmundson.
Ladapo took the ball to the edge of the box from the left before shooting just wide in the 71st minute with the Blues still looking for goals.
Northampton brought on 16-year-old Josh Tomlinson, who became their youngest-ever senior player last season, for the injured Odimayo in the 79th minute, then two minutes later Town swapped Humphreys, who had again impressed in the centre of midfield with the highlight his cross for the fourth goal, for Alexander, making his senior debut.
The sub midfielder was involved almost immediately, squaring a ball from the right of the box to Ladapo, who turned a first-time effort goalwards which took a deflection on its way past the post.
From the corner, Town made it 5-0. Ball’s backheel ricocheted around the edge of the six-yard box before the ex-QPR man crossed to the far post where Edmundson planted a header which Maxted pawed away from behind the line with the assistant referee indicating it had crossed.
In the 86th minute, Town got caught overplaying on the edge of the own area and Louis Appere hit a low shot which beat Hladky but Edmundson behind him maintained the Blues’ clean sheet.
Moments after the fourth official’s board indicated two additional minutes, Ladapo netted his first goal for the club. Leigh crossed from the left, the ball hit Edwards and ran to the summer signing, who hit a low shot past Maxted to his right and into the corner of the net.
The whistle went seconds after the restart ending a very comprehensive victory for the Blues, who scored six goals for the first time since last September’s thrashing of Doncaster Rovers.
The victory is Town's biggest in the Papa Johns Trophy and their highest in a cup tie since the 8-1 UEFA Cup preliminary round thrashing of Luxembourg side Avenir Beggen in August 2002.
Town were always on top and took their chances with regularity across the 90 minutes with Harness adding to his already impressive total and Leigh, Burgess and, perhaps most importantly, number nine Ladapo all scoring their first goals for the club.
The overwhelming nature of the victory, despite manager McKenna having made 11 changes to his starting line-up, shows the strength of the squad with the Blues still looking to make additions before Thursday's transfer deadline.
Town are top of the group following tonight's victory ahead of Arsenal's U21s on goal difference, the Gunners' youngsters having beaten Cambridge 2-0 at the Abbey Stadium in this evening's other Southern Group H fixture.
Town: Hladky, Vincent-Young, Keogh (Edmundson 68), Burgess, Edwards, Ball, Humphreys (Alexander 81), Leigh, Aluko (Siziba 42) (c), Harness (John-Jules 46), Jackson (Ladapo 46). Unused: Hayes, Morsy.
Northampton: Maxted, Fox (Abimbola ), Appere, Hylton (Cross 66), Pinnock, McWilliams (c), Bowie (Leonard 46), Lintott (Koiki 46), Odimayo (Tomlinson 79), Haynes, Dyche. Unused: Ngwa, Dadge. Referee: Tom Reeves (Birmingham). Att: 5,432 (Northampton: 613).