Michael Jacobs popped up with the only goal as Wigan Athletic beat Northampton 1-0 to move up to second place in Sky Bet League One.Jacobs, a Northampton lad who started his career with the Cobblers, rifled home a beauty from 30 yards just after half-time to settle a clash that the home side should have won more comfortably.Despite dominating for the majority, Wigan couldn't find further goals, and were almost made to pay by a former player of their own.However, centre-back Leon Barnett, who joined the Cobblers over the summer, saw his close-range effort superbly saved by Jamie Jones in the Wigan goal.Sam Morsy came close to doubling the lead in stoppage-time but, after rounding the goalkeeper, his shot hit the far post and rolled across the goal-line before being cleared.Gavin Massey also came close to scoring for Wigan, who have now won three matches without conceding a goal since suffering their only league defeat so far at table-topping Shrewsbury earlier this month.