Yeovil Town (A) Preview...

A New Year's Day haul to Yeovil would probably be the last game the Cobblers' fans wanted on the day of hangovers and need for rest. But that's what the fixtures computer threw up back in June and the team are travelling down today in order to be in good nick for the game.

Scott McGleish and Sean Dyche are still battling to be fit for the game but the Cobblers hve no new injury concerns.

Back in September, Jason Crowe's opener gave us a lead at Sixfields but Yeovil hit back through Marcus Stewart. The Glovers go into the game in 6th place and were boosted recently by the news that Southampton striker Leon Best will continue his loan spell with the club.

So a massive test for Ian Sampson and the players as 2007 kicks off!

Northampton Town A-A Millwall

Well, what could be seen as some as a wasted journey actually turned out to be a cool road trip and a decent day out despite the abandonment!

We set out on our merry way in Bella (Jamie's car) and with camcorder in hand ready for any grand moments of comedy along the way. Moments that included a revisit to the glorious land of Sutton Scotney and us overtaking a vehicle with three reindeer and sleigh towed to its back! We arrived into Northampton in good time for a Mum breakfast which was certainly needed

Our usual Sixfields routine was carried out, into the Members bar by 1pm and Dad crazily predicting that "we'll be in the playoffs by April" following the might of the boxing day win over Cheltenham!

As the game began on a damp surface, we looked comfortable in possesion and looked more likely to score than the visitors. But Cobblers Law states that if we look comfortbale, the other side must score, and Millwall duly obliged. Chris Hackett crossed and Poul Hubertz hammered home a volley from inside the area.

At this point I expected what I'd seen for a lot of the season- a frustrating dour game. But it was in fact the total opposite, just that it was still without that vital killer touch. As the rain continued to team down, we battled for the ball, created chances and fought with the type of play that had been lacking for so long this season. Andy Kirk, in for the injured McGleish, missed a glorious chance with a free header.

There were five minutes of injury time for what looked like a dreadful injury to Millwall's Danny Senda. Chris Doig came to the rescue as the St John's mbulance crew strolled onto the pitch with the stretcher. Doig saw the need for a faster delivery of the stretcher than the walking pace of the professionals so grabbed it Baywatch style and running to the aid of Senda, earning him applause from all sides of Sixfields. Hopefully the injury isn't as bad as it seems and I wish Senda a speedy recovery.

Back to the action and we were a goal down still at half time but the way we played suggested we could well get back into the game.

In the early stages of the second half, Joe Burnell went close and Kirk was foiled again by Lenny Pidgeley in the Millwall goal. The atmosphere was building for a big finish but on 68 minutes, the rain was too much and the referee called the game to a premature end, sparking scenes of joy in the home end but anger in the Millwall ranks.

We may not have finished the game but what we did get from it was 68 minutes of fight and determination- quite possibly more than the rest of the season put together. If this is the type of side that Ian Sampson is sending out, then give him the job now!

The journey home was more treacherous than the clear run up to Northampton but after a coffee stop we made it back safe and sound! Jamie even unknowingly pulled into the services that were opposite the hotel we all stayed in for Dave and Marti's wedding in Didcot!

So no points from today but a good day all round and a strange way to end 2006 at Northampton Town.

2007 promises more usual Cobblers unpredictability and I look forward to the journey ahead. I just hope it doesn't rain too much along the way!

2006...The Year That Was...Part Two

So we go on into August and the first day of the season was missed by me (a 2-2 draw at Crewe) because of it clashing with my visit to see "We Will Rock You" in the West End. My first game of the season was a 1-0 win at Gillingham.

Dave's stag do was a highlight of the month as spaceman, magicians and foolish bouncers all contributed to a fantastic day all round.

Elsewhere, the university results day was looming and three years of studying brought a 2:1 result for me which I was delighted with! And more reasons to celebrate of course as we entered into a journey that included a "Southampton Live" festival that we didn't know was even happening and another superb night at the Frog and Frigate. This was also the night that we randomly met some Spanish exchange students who invited us, incredibly, back to my old halls for a "party" that involved popular Spanish songs and magic tricks. The long walk home took over an hour but it didn't seem to matter!

My birthday in September was less hectic than last year's 21st party , with a quiet Chinese meal (rather than one of those loud Chinese meals!) and a couple of drinks with the family.

The main event of the month was of course the wedding of two of my best friends as Dave and Marti were married in a brilliantly planned day and night. It also gave us the chance to sample the tea and coffee making facilities of the Travel Inn of Didcot South and to visit Sutton Scotney.

The Cobblers were hanging on in mid table and a trip to Bournemouth in October helped us to discover that chavs rule the beach side after 10pm and that Bar:Me is completely banned from any later trips to this particular town. Also in October was the return of Dave and Marti to Southampton and a day out in Brighton for one of the dullest games of the year.

November was the month we were all waiting for and on the 22nd, we finally graduated after a six month wait to don the cap and gown and to make a film of the week that shows off our complete randomness. The whole week was fantastic from the emotional quiz on the Monday, the ceremony on Wednesday, a buffet and a trip to Reflex in the evening and the Graduation Ball on Saturday!

December has been a cracking month as well to round off the year. Well, outside The Cobblers anyway! The performances on the pitch had been awful, we were dumped out of the FA Cup by Barnet and John Gorman resigned. We still search for a new boss.

And so as 2006 ends, I look back with fond memories of a year that's given me so much more than I could hve expected when I woke up in Edinburgh on January 1st. I have a group of friends in Southampton that I know I will be around forever, my passion for writing hasn't gone and Northampton Town are still above the League One drop Zone.

So bring on 2007. I have no idea where next year will take me and that suits me! It's going to take a hell of a lot to beat the year that was 2006 though!

2006...The Year That Was...Part One

As 2006 comes to an end, it gives me great pleasure to trawl through my memories of the greatest year of my life so far....

I awoke on the first day of January in Edinburgh and with a stinking hangover. The Cobblers had lost the local derby to Peterborough the day before and meant that I didn't feel as guilty as I could have done about choosing a new year in Scotland rather than the Town-Boro derby! I had no idea what a great year it was about to be...

January saw Jamie's 21st birthday and a night that shouldn't be repeated anywhere, especially after the bits I didn't know were revealed last week in a "let's embarress each other with funny stories" game at Dave's flat! So I won't say anything about that I'm afraid.

February saw Dave's surprise party at the Soul Cellar and he was suitably surprised, especially after throwing Marti her own surprise party the night before!

March included a completely useless "careers day" in Cardiff that helped us in the way that we found out that to work in Wales you must be welsh or speak it. More vital information from that day was that Newport's guildhall looks exactly the same as Southampton's!

Into April and the Cobblers were in the promotion mix. A win at Oxford on a glorious sunny day meant that victory the following week at Sixfields against Chester would secure us a place in League One. Plans were laid out for a celebration back in Southampton should we manage the win.

And so to April 29th, 2006, one of the days of the year. A nervy Sixfields Tavern awaited, my uncle came to a football game for the first time in 40 years and after a Scott McGleish goal, we hung on for a 1-0 win, sparking incredible scenes at Sixfields. Colin Calderwood burst into song on the micraphone, the players sprayed champaigne everywhere and Martin Smith was carried off the pitch by jubilant Town fans. Back in the Tavern, we found out that Rushden and Diamonds had been relegated on the same day. More champaign was popped by fans as the Tavern partied hard.

I had to leave the celebrations early to be able to pick them up again in Southampton and we discovered the glorious Frog and Frigate near Ocean Village, a venue that we continue to frequent after the party of April 29th.

There was no time to recover and as May approached, so too did the final hand in date for dissertations and more reasons to celebrate. I decided against a final day of the season trip to Grimsby in favour of the Summer Ball. In Cleethorpes, Ryan Gilligan's goal in injury time meant that Grimsby faced the playoffs while we confirmed a 2nd place finish in League Two. Meanwhile, we partied away (again) this time at the Guildhall and finished off university life (for now).

June meant that the World Cup was upon us and the Walkabout pub in Southampton hosted most of our drunken trips through narrow England wins and a nervy route to the second round. Ecuador awaited and it was back to the Walkabout with a 1-0 win meaning that England were back in the Quarter Finals and also sparked the fantastic celebrations with a plastic football up the high street, a chance meeting with a "Bo Selecta" version of Craig David and a chance to hold a wooden world cup! It was up to London for the quarter finals for Jamie's BBQ but as we all know it was another penalty shoot out exit for England in the year that it was meant to be ours.

The football continued into July as pre season began and John Gorman replaced the Nottingham Forest-bound Colin Calderwood as Cobblers boss. The World Cup had got me raring for the new season to start and with a new job also starting things were looking up as we headed into the second half of 2006...

Millwall Preview

And so to the final game of 2006 and another Sixfields relegation scrap in the offering as Millwall are the visitors.

Scott McGleish and Sean Dyche look likely to miss out through injury but Sam Aiston could return to the starting line-up following his lengthy injury lay off.

A grand road trip is set with Jamie continueing his Cobblers tour with his first ever trip to Sixfields...with me navigating we may well get lost though!

Northampton Town 2-0 Cheltenham Town

Quick update here after a busy few days and good news to report with only a second home win of the season yesterday afternoon. The Cobblers saw off Cheltenham Town thanks to two goals from Scott McGleish, the second a penalty.

A mssive result for the Town going into the final game of 2006 against Millwall at Sixfields on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Phil Parkinson has ruled himself out of the manager's job at Sixfields, having initially had talks with the club about the vacant position. The hunt goes on for John Gorman's successor...

Oldham Athletic 3-0 Northampton Town

Another woeful day at the office for the Town who seemed to be losing this game right from the off. Doig and Dyche were missing while McGleish was dropped i favour of Kik.

The big moment came just before Oldham's 2nd goal when Ryan Gilligan missed a great chance to level, only for the home side to go up the other end and double their lead.

We now head for a crucial bottom of the table clash with Cheltenham Town on Boxing Day.

Oldham Athletic (A) Preview...

So the post-Gorman era begins as the Cobblers travel to Boundary Park, Oldham. The big talking point this week apart from Gorman's departure is the transfer listing of Scott McGleish, Andy Kirk and James Quinn so it'll be interesting to see who lines up in the Cobblers attack.

Chris Doig and Sean Dyche are doubts while Pedj Bojic and Andy Holt will face a fitness test.

Ian Sampson and Jim Barron will take charge of the team for the first time.

Chambers bid rejected...Front Three on Transfer List!!

The Cobblers have today turned down a "six figure sum" for defender Luke Chambers as the January transfer window approaches.

More activity on the day following John Gorman's resignation sees Andy Kirk, Scott McGleish and James Quinn ALL placed on the transfer list by the club with David Cardoza stating that the new manager will get a chance to bring in new players in January.

Interesting time at the Cobblers and it could be a pretty mad month or so!

GORMAN RESIGNS AS COBBLERS BOSS!

The big news today is that John Gorman has handed in his resignation as manager of Northampton Town. In a meeting with the chairman, Goran had a resignation request "reluctantly accepted" by the Cardozas and the club state "personal reasons" for the parting.

Gorman took over at Sixfields in the summer following Colin Calderwood's decision to join Nottingham Forest but leaves just six months later with the Cobblers in 18th place in League One.

Ian Sampson and Jim Barron will handle first team affairs until a new boss is named.

There'll be a lot of rumours about the nature of Gorman's departure but I hope it's nothing to do with some of the fickle Cobblers fans that think we should be in the top half of the table. Gorman has taken over a squad that is clearly not good enough to compete in the uper echelons of the table and we're still 3 points above the drop zone. Players have to take some of the responsibility and we don't have anywhere near as good a squad as we did in May when we won promotion.

Good luck to John in the future.

In the meantime, we're in a mess. Things could go horribly wrong from here as it did 4 seasons ago when we went down from this league. Kevan Broadhurst led the Cobblers to mid table before Christmas but that wasn't seen as good enough and he was given the boot. Terry Fenwick lasted 7 games, Wilkinson couldn't save us and that was that.

If we go down this season it'll be a nightmare scenario with the Cardozas in a battle with the council to sort out the development at Sixfields. Relegation could be the final straw and if they leave the club we'll be in total disarray.

The managerial decision has to be right. The fans have to stick behind the club as they always do in bad times. It's time for the players to stand up and be counted, it's time for the maoners in the stands to do the same. It's a simply massive time in the recent history of this football club.

Update!

Sorry for the lack of updates this week but it's been a bit mental over the weekend! We had another classic night out in the Frog and Frigate on Saturday night following a first ever trip to the Hobbit which enabled us to try out some "big fish little fish" style dances!

I go home for Christmas on Friday and look forward to 5 days back in sunny Northampton!

Northampton Town 0-1 Leyton Orient

Another home defeat again in the biggest game of the season so far and it looks bleak as the second half of the season approaches. We stay 3 points off the bottom 4 but with a trip to high flying Oldham on Saturday, we could be in deep trouble come 2007.

Bloody hell!

Huddersfield Town 1-1 Northampton Town

The Cobblers take a decent point away from the Galpharm and it sounded like a stronger performance. John Gorman started with three up front, dropping Kirk to form a new look strike trio of McGleish, Bojic and Gilligan.

Joe Burnell scored his first Cobblers league goal to put us one up at half time before Danny Schofield equilised for the home side.

The Cobblers now face a massive six pointer at home to Leyton Orient on Tuesday evening. If we win, we'll be 6 points clear of the drop zone but lose and we're dragged right back into the dog fight again.

Huddersfield Town (A) Preview

The Cobblers are hanging dangerously above the drop zone in League One and next up is a trip to the Glapharm Stadium to face an underachieving Huddersfield Town side, who lie just a place above us in the table.

The Terriers have had a poor season by their high standards but it will still be a massivly tough task to take anything from the game in our current form.

John Gorman waits on the fitness of Ian Taylor and Jerome Watt and will wait until late on to decide on his starting line up.

I won't be at the game but good luck to the lads...we desperately need a result!

More Hockeyness!!

Yes, I was at it again on Sunday as I lined up for my 3rd hockey game in a team that seems to be gaining more of Marti's friends and family...the back four consisted of Dave, Marti, Me and Phil (Dave's brother).

In a bizarre twist, the opposition had no goalkeeper and their captain had never played hockey before...we won 15-0 :)

There's also a new incentive once the games start again after the Christmas break...the top 4 in the league apparantly get to play in a tournament day in March...woohoo!

On a personal note, I had a quiet game apart from clearing the ball from a goal mouth scramble and generaly spent te whole 2nd half talking to my fellow defenders!

Northampton Town 0-2 Doncaster Rovers

After another dismal display at Sixfields, Donny took away a deserved three points against a fading Cobblers side.

My day once again start frighteningly early, waking at 5:15am in order to get my 6:15 train (major delays on all routes so I decided to go the Banbury way). Dad picked me up in Banbury after a long journey that took a detour round Guildford and I arrived back home at around 11am for Mum's cooked breakfast, much needed after that trekkage!

The usual routine for home games ensued, into the supporters bar for 1pm but this time we were strangely joined by Doncaster fans who must have had some sort of arrangement with the club to join us in our members only bar!

Dad predicted a 1-0 win, Chris guessed at a 2-0 defeat while I played safe with a 0-0 prediction. It turns out Chris would, unfortunately, be spot on!

From the very start of the game it was wrong. Our midfield, barring a few good runs from Nick Wright making his home debut, was static and not quick enough to deal with the visitors who looked strong on the break. Andy Holt had to make a superb saving tackle early on to deny Mark McAmmon before Jason Price struck a shot just over the bar.

Our attacking options were limited with Kirk and McGleish only feeding off scraps. It told the story of the game when on half an hour the biggest cheer so far was when we got a free kick! Our first decent effort came just before the break, Neil Sullivan saving well from a Kirk volley.

A disappointing first half but we should have been a goal up just the other side of the break. Kirk went through on goal, one on one with Sullivan and shot straight at his legs. summing up the Irishman's luck in front of goal right now.

That miss would prove to be costly as a series on Doncaster corners ended with Mark Bunn flapping at the ball and substitute Paul Heffernan nipping his header into the unguarded net. We needed a response and brought on Ryan Gilligan who had our best chance of the game. Andy Holt's cross wrong footed Sullivan and Gilligan brought it down well. It looked like all he needed was to find the power in a header to nod it in but it turned out to a weak effort.

Again a big chance went begging and we were again punished. Luke Chambers made a rare mistake and lost out to Lewis Guy, who powered past Chambers and finished smartly for 2-0 with four minutes to go, sparking about two thirds of the home fans to leave.

That's the way it stayed and we're now looking over our shoulder at the teams in the bottom 4. A relegation scrap could soon be upon us and it's clear that we need players in Janury to bolster the bid to stay in League One.

My journey home was eventful as usual, having to go first to Coventry before changing at Reading for a replacement bus service to Winchester. The replacement bus service is such a British thing. So many old men and women moaning that they wouldn't now get home in time for the X-Factor, a group of chavs on the back seats blaring out their music on their phones and the people that fall asleep and snore right in your ear. I decided to sit back and just take it in, listening and watching this scene of terror before me.

We arrived in Winchester and then it was only a quick train to Southampton to end a day at 10:30pm that started at 5:15am. All in the name of Northampton Town.

Im giving next weeks' trip to Hudderfield a miss due to finance, Christmas etc but I think it'll be good for my health to have a week off too!

Cross is loaned out...

Young striker Scott Cross has been allowed to move on loan to Conference South side Basingstoke Town in order to pick up match experience. Cross has been sparingly used in first team action at Sixfields over the past few years and needs to be playing football.

Good luck Scott!

Doncaster Rovers Preview

So it's back to Sixfields tomorrow afternoon for a tester against Doncaster Rovers.

John Gorman is waiting on the fitness of Eoin Jess and Ian Taylor for the home clash in a game that we really need to win to start forming a gap between ourselves and the bottom four.

Another early start for me because of the usual train delays but if I leave at 6am I may just make it in time for kick off!

Chesterfield 0-0 Northampton Town

343 hardy claret souls made the trip up to Saltergate as the Cobblers collected a point in what sounded like a pretty dull affair. Nick Wright played 90 minutes and was our most dangerous player but the front two couldn't create any real openings. Chris Doig twice saved us with last ditch interventions but the 0-0 sounded a fair result.

Onwards to Doncaster at home on Saturday!

Chesterfield v Northampton Town - The Line Ups!

Chesterfield Roache, Bailey, Picken, Niven, Shaw, Allott, Hall, Downes, Folan, Hazell, Hurst

Subs: Allison, Larkin, Davies, Kovacs, Jordan

Cobblers Bunn, Crowe, Holt, Chambers, Doig, Bojic, Hunt, Burnell, Wright, Kirk, McGleish

Subs: Dunn, Jess, Dyche, Quinn, Gilligan

Chesterfield preview

The Cobblers make the journey to Saltergate, South Yorkshire tonight for a meeting with Chesterfield that gives us an immediate chance to put the FA Cup nightmare at Barnet behind us.

Sean Dyche should face his former club while Jason Crowe may return after suspension. John Gorman has indicated he may switch the side around, with Ian Taylor a candidate to sit out.

We desperately need to give ourselves a lift as we head into the first of a massive period of games over Christmas and New Year. It'll be a tough trip tonight against a side just above us in the table but we can't afford anything close to the performance on Saturday that simply wasn't good enough.

The players need to stand up and be counted at Saltergate.

Come on Town!

Barnet 4-1 Northampton Town

I havn't been putting off writing about this game...I've only just got back from London. But I still don't want to write about it....

It all started very early with my 6:30am train from Southampton, because of engineering works, but luckily there was no need for those dreaded replacement bus services! I dropped a bag off at Jamie's place as his folks were kindly providing my accommodation for the night. Inevitably, it all started with a Weatherspoons breakfast, as it invariably does when me and Jamie are hungry and it's before 12pm!

That done, it was onwards to Barnet and the short trip to Waterloo was enjoyed because of the fantastic driver and his unwillingness to shut up at any point during the announcements...

"We're now arriving in Vauxhall, please remember to bring all your luggage off the train. If you're staying on the train, we advise that you use the baggage compartments above, or below your seats, and please remember to check for any suspect packages on this train. The toilets are there should you need to use them and the buffet trolley will be along in any minute now..."

Blimey...Anyway, as I was saying...

..."If you have any problems please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the staff on board..."

OK, are you done?

"...And..."

Clearly not...

"...if you're planning on getting off at Vauxhall, please use the first 5 carriages. If you are with us up to Waterloo, please be advised to leave the train via the door."

OK, maybe that last bit was made up but you get the picture. The short journey was made that little bit longer by Jamie's awful sense of picking the right seats, choosing not a sensible position in the middle of the train but instead opting for the more uncomfortable position of directly outside the toilet! 5 people used that toilet while we were on the train and each time they came face to face with me, trying desperately not to look in their direction.

Once at Waterloo, we faced a (count them) 20 underground stops to reach high Barnet. To pass the time, Jamie invented an awfully fun game...count down the stations one by one.

"20.....19.....18.....17.....16....15....14....13..."

"Oh for Christ's sake. At least make it a bit more more fun." I ranted.

"OK...."

This is the point where Jamie had a brilliant idea. We were now (count them) TWELVE stops from Barnet. And it's Christmas time. So...

"12....drummers drumming.....11....piper's piping..."

Even some conversation and some chat with two canadians going to Barnet because they "fancied some FA Cup football and we'd never get into Arsenal" couldn't stop him...

"Ten...lords a-leaping....Nine...frigging ladies dancing"

And you get the picture. It even got to the point of him actually making the noise of the characters in the song like the hens, birds and the partridge. After all that, I needed a drink so we headed to the Red Lion outside underhill. Our canadian friends deserted us because the Arsenal game wasn't being shown in there but Dad and Chris arrived just after pint number one. I was in confiedent mood going for a 2-0 win, Dad predicted a replay...unfortunately neither of us were right.

The Cobblers fans, packed into the East Terrace and, not so packed, into the North terrace, were in decent voice until we realised this wasn't going to be easy. Our play was far too narrow and we once again played with 4 central midfielders but somehow we took the lead just before the break. Ian Taylor made a good run and that resulted in Scott McGleish scoring against his old team again with a free header. Barnet weren't threating at all and I said at half time if we got another it was game over. I had no idea what was to come.

Barnet threw everything at us and we had no answer. Adam Burchall muscled past Dyche for the equiliser with 5 minutes of the 2nd half gone and from then on it was downhill, lierally and physically on the Underhill sloping pitch. Jason Puncheon was getting the better of Luke Chambers all afternoon and it was his cross the provided the 2nd goal, a header from Sinclair. Nick Wright came on for his debut to try and spark a response from a sheel shocked Town but a penalty mid way through the half all but ended any hope we had, former Cobbler Ian Hendon converting after Puncheon was fouled. The Cobblers faithful started to stream out as the game wore on and abuse was thrown at the team. I will never agree to either leave early or throw abuse at the players individually but it was very tempting on this occasion.

Another former Cobbler, Magno Viera made it even more depressing with a 4th late on and we were out of the FA Cup at Round Two, completely outplayed in the 2nd half by a well organised and battling League Two side who deserved their win simply for wanting it more. Good luck to them in Round 3, where they will meet Colchester United.

As for us, it's back to the league and a simply massive run of games over Christmas that could decide whether or not we're involved in a relegation dog fight or not. From this showing, we could well be and strengthening is needed in January.

After the game it was a long tube journey, most of the way accompanied by a gloating Barnet fan who was on the phone, smirking at us as she spoke on the phone to her mate...

"If we draw Arsenal away you sooooo have to come"

Shame...have fun against Colchester madam. Oh, and good luck in League Two.

Our planned night out was replaced by a couple of drinks in a local pub and we got some of the disappointment out of our system by playing Buckaroo on the ITbox!

It was a lazy Sunday, watching the Salisbury-Forest game and staring jealously at the 3rd Round draw before my friend Tina, who very coincidently was in the same area of London, gave me a lift back to Southampton.

Now I'm knackered. I need my bed.

Goodnight.

Barnet Preview (FA Cup 2nd Round)

The Cobblers make the trip to Underhill tomorrow in the crunch FA Cup 2nd Round tie.

James Quinn and Andy Kirk should be fit enough to feature and John Gorman must choose his front two as well as deciding whether to hand Nick Wright a debut.

Last season in League Two, Scott McGleish's penalty gave the Town a 1-0 victory on the road to promotion.

Always a decent experience at Underhill and I'm leaving early and spending the weekend in the capital!

"You still havn't mentioned Hockey..."

...I hear Dave cry!

It was pointed out over the weekend that I've failed to mantion my recent sporting activity on my blog.

Yes, I've forgotten to mention over the last couple of weeks that I've been playing hockey for Marti's team at Southampton University and am still nursing an injury from last Sunday's collision with the biggest guy on the opposition's side!

My reward for these appearances was a Sunday roast, beautifully cooked (both times) and was well worth the few minutes of falling over, trying to swing a stick at a ball (and rarely connecting) and making Dave dance while he's in goal.

I've even brought some cheap astro turf trainers in order to stay upright during games and I will more than likely play again.

I will draw the line at Netball though...

That's riiiiiiiight...we're having a ball!

The Graduation was complete on Saturday night as we performed our final act as students of Southampton Solent University.


After a buffet at our house and a few drinks including some celebaratory champers, we piled into taxis and arrived at the Guildhall to find that we thankfully hadn't missed the star turn- Roy Walker!


We got a group shot taken and then headed inside to the Guildhall, unrecognisable from what it looked like on Wednesday for the graduation.

As the night wore on and I met up with a lot of old faces from the last three years, it suddenly hit that we were getting near the end of an extraordinary period of our lives.


Roy Walker entered and played a giant game or Catch Phrase followed by Car Park Catch Phrase, handed out "Roy Walker...Legend" shirts and spouted many of his own famous phrases...

"Say What You See"

"That's riiiiiiiiiight"

"What's Chips up to?"

(Walker, 2006: 42)

After Roy, the night wound down and the sudden turning on of the lights at around 2:15am signalled the official end of student life. I shook hands with people I may never see again, looked around at the carnage left and then we left.

And so it's all over. Three years of essays, lectures, but most of all, laughter have come and gone.


Gone, but most definately never to be forgotten.

Northampton Town P-P Leyton Orient

After the pitch inspection, today's game at Sixfields has been called off, leaving us without a game this weekend. Looking at it, it's a good thing that I wasn't planning on going up because it would have been a bit of a wasted journey!

Sixfields Pitch Inspection to take place

A pitch inspection will take place at Sixfields at 11:15 this morning after heavy overnight rain in Northampton. The game against Leyton Orient may be in doubt so supporters travelling from afar are advised to hold off their journey for as long as possible.

Leyton Orient (H) Preview

The Cobblers welcome League One's bottom club, Leyton Orient, to Sixfields tomorrow afternoon needing a win to keep the distance between ourselves and the bottom four.

Andy Kirk is fighting to be fit after missing out on Tuesday night's vicroy at Grimsby while Nick Wright could make his debut.

Cobblers sign Blues youngster Wright.

The Cobblers have beaten the loan transfer window by signing Birmingham City's Nick Wright on a month's loan.

Wright, 19, can play on either side of midfield or up front and could provide some much needed pace and power to the side.

The loan transfer window closes at 5pm this afternoon.

Graduation!

Everything went smoothly with my graduation yesterday, I didn't fall over on the stage and managed to keep my hat from falling off throughout.

It was like waiting for Christmas the night before but thoughts of graduation were put briefly to the side while listening to the Grimsby game and wafting down Chinese take away!

I awoke, donned the newly cleaned suit and headed on my merry way to uni. Luckily we were fairly early so there was no queue in the sports hall once we'd actually found it. I've been at uni for three years and didn't even know we had a sports hall!

We met others from our course as they arrived and it was strange seeing everyone again after so long- it's been over six months since our final seminar! The dash across to the Guildhall was dampened by a downpour but we made it in without any damage to the gowns. After a registration and a couple of photos it was time for the ceremony itself, a quicker than expected event.

The Guildhall seemed so much bigger with a huge screen at the back of the stage and a mass of proud parents and students. As more and more courses went up the nerves set in but it was a mix of nerves, excitement and overall pride as the Media Writers collected their long awated degrees. The walk across the stage meant that three years of hard work, late nights and endless reading was over but also made it all worthwhile as it finally hit home what I had achieved.

The ceremony ended in good time and we then joined everyone for a reception of tea, coffee, sandwiches and cake in the uni cafe, where we were also reunited with our lecturers and more course mates.

Plans were made for the evening as we had booked a buffet at the home of Media Writers, The Old Fat Cat. Buffet fans everywhere rejoice- the selection was much more than expected from a free spread and included pizza, chips, sandwiches, marshmellows, cupcakes and an awful lot of merryment from jubilant Media writers.

The night ended, once again, in reflex after first leaving the Frog and Frigate because downstairs was closed and then not being let into Ikon because "we're not students any more". And so we were left with a choice of Flares or Reflex and having had a decent enough time in Reflex on Monday, chose the latter.

We had a jolly time, ate Chicken Land afterwards and had very sore heads this morning, sorted by the traditional hangover cure of a Weatherspoons breakfast.

And so it's onwards to the Graduation Ball on Saturday to officially complete student life.

Grimsby Town 0-2 Northampton Town

The Cobblers progress to Round Two of the FA Cup after a more straight forward than we thought victory on Tuesday night. A Justin Whittle own goal put us into the lead before Joe Burnell doubled the advantage and Grimsby had no answer.

We now travel to Barnet on Saturday week in Round Two...the dream goes on!

Grimsby Town (A) Preview (FA Cup First Round Replay)

The Cobblers travel up to Blundell Park this evening for the FA Cup First Round Replay with Grimsby Town on the back of our first away league defeat this season.

While we were beaten at Scunthorpe on Saturday, the Mariners held high flying Wycombe Wanderers to a 1-1 draw at the Causeway Stadium.

For the Cobblers, Andy Kirk looks set to miss out through injury, more than likely meaning a recall for James Quinn.

It'll be a tough trip tonight but one that could be vital to our season. We've been knocked out of the Carling Cup and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in the first round and we don't want to make it an unwanted hat-trick.

Just please...don't let it go to penalties!

Humptey Dumptey makes us have a great fall...

Monday in Graduation Week was spent at the pub quiz as Jamie made his triumphant return to Southampton to help us into 4th place and agonisingly we missed out on 3rd by one point thanks to a question about Alice in Wonderland. The question was:

Which nursery rhyme character did Alice meet in Through the Looking Glass?

We debated whether it was the white rabbit or Humptey and lost out after going for the rabbit, which I don't even think is a nursery rhyme character.

Mital then forced som tequila onto us and this made us so disorientated that we ended up in Reflex across the road with Marti and her course mates.

And so it begins...

Last night the huge week of celebrations kicked off in earnest. On Wednesday, I will join my fellow Media Writing graduates and wear the cap and gown with pride. I've taken four days off work and plan to make the most of the official end to our uni life.

Last night saw the beginning of this momentus week as we went to Ocean village's swanky bar, Banana Wharf for a couple of glasses of their finest wine. Yes, that's right, wine. One of these bottles was still nearly full when we left though and so we had it corked and hid it in Isha's handbag as we headed to the Frog and Frigate.

Some bizarre horse and Greek dancing later and we were out on our ear after Isha asked if we could have some glasses for our wine (We'd already lied that we had NO alcohol with us upon entry). I think we had more fun being ejected from the Frog than we would have had staying and we ended up watching random music channels into the early hours of the morning and finishing off the wine!

Full Time: Scunthorpe United 1-0 Northampton Town

Scunthorpe got their deserved win but it was a cruel late blow to The Cobblers as Andy Crosby converted a dispusted 86th minute penalty.

Mark Bunn had kept us in sight of a point and Scott McGleish could even have put us one up but he missed a golden chance when one-on-one with the keeper.

The unbeaten away record in League One is now gone and we now face a bottom of the table clash with Leyton Orient next weekend at Sixfields.

Half Time: Scunthorpe United 0-0 Northampton Town

Mark Bunn's heroics mean that the Town are still holding Scunny at half time after the young keeper saved us on 3 or 4 occasions.

Ian Taylor also cleared off the line as the home side dominated the first half. Sounds like we've had little to offer up front so a testing 2nd half coming up.

Scunthorpe United v Northampton Town- The Line Ups!

Scunthorpe United Murphy, Crosby, Hinds, Sparrow, Baraclough, Foster, Taylor, Williams, Keogh, Sharp, Morris

Subs: Mulligan, Byrne, Goodwin, Lillis, Foy

The Cobblers Bunn, Crowe, Holt, Chambers, Doig, Taylor, Kirk, McGleish, Jess, Bunell, Dyche

Subs: Dunn, Hunt, Bojic, Quinn, Watt

Scunthorpe United (A) Preview

The Cobblers make the trip to Glanford Park to meet a Scunthorpe side in good form and high spirits as they lie 3rd in the League One table.

Town have Andy Holt fit and ready but Bradley Johnson won't feature after his loan move this week to Stevenage Borough. The home side's main threat will come from prolific front two Andy Keogh and Billy Sharp, the latter having scored the winner against the Cobblers for Rushden and Diamonds in their 3-2 win back in 2005.

It promises to be the toughest away game so far for the Cobblers and any points that we can come back with will be a good return.

FA Cup 2nd Round Draw

The Cobblers or Grimsby face an FA Cup trip to League Two Barnet in Round Two. It could have been a lot worse a draw than that but let's concentrate on the replay first before we start planning the trip to North London.

Northampton Town 0-0 Grimsby Town (FA Cup 1st Round)

The Cobblers were frustrated at Sixfields yesterday by a hard working Grimsby Town, playing their first game under new boss Alan Buckley and we must now face a tough replay up at Blundell Park on Tuesday week.

I made an early start from Southampton and got as smooth a run through on the train to Northampton as I would hope to get before heading home for a breakfast. Our pre-match rituals took place in the Carlsberg Bar before the game as we watched a dour Premiership game between Man City and Newcastle that ended goalless. Ha, rubbish that Premiership lark, it was now time for the real football. The FA Cup would surely provide more entertainment than that. Er...actually no, it was even worse.

We simply never got going as Grimsby got what they came for- a replay. Full credit to the visitors for their play and they stopped our front men from ever really testing their back line or keeper. Kirk and McGleish started together and for what must be the 100th time we found out that they don't work together. Jerome Watt provided some sort of spark but when switched to the left seemed out of the game. Usually at this point I would provide a match report but it's difficult to do that when nothing actually happened! It took until around 15 minutes to go for our first real dangerous effort in a scramble that resulted in Kirk and McGleish having shots blocked.

Grimsby passed the ball around well and look dangerous countering late on. In all honesty we couldn't have been aggrieved if the Mariners won the game and if not for the excellent Luke Chambers, Chris Doig and Mark Bunn we could well have been knocked out of the cup.

We now face an extremely tough replay up in Cleethorpes but the one saving grace is that we are at least in the draw for the 2nd Round that takes place at 4:10pm. Full news here when we hear of it!

Grimsby Preview (FA Cup First Round)

The Cobblers meet Grimsby Town today for the first time since that fateful game in May when Ryan Gilligan's late equiliser up in Cleethorpes helped to consign The Mariners to a playoff place rather than joinging us in League One. Grimsby lie 4 places from the foot of League Two but have this week reappointed former boss Alan Buckley in a bid to change their fortunes.

Buckley was in charge when we met in the Division Two (League One) playoff final at Wembley back in 1998 and today sees another chance for this fixture to make its mark in history.

Joe Burnell is a doubt for the Cobblers, while Grimsby are without Gary Jones who serves the final game of a ban. Danger man Michael Reddy also remains on the sidelines for the visitors.

Big chance to make it to Round Two this afternoon and I don't fancy a replay so let's get it done at Sixfields!

FA Cup Memories

Saturday afternoon sees the First Round proper of this season's FA Cup, the greatest cup competition in the world. Every year, minnows battle against the odds to pull of historical upsets, some of the world's biggest clubs are forced to travel to unheard of places and small towns are put on the map.

For me and Northampton Town, the FA Cup has thrown up a roller coaster ride of the years.

The first FA Cup tie I remember was one that I didn't go to but still hurt the club severley- a 4-0 defeat at London Road, Peterborough. It was soon apparant that the Cobblers were pretty awful in the cup and the following season (after a 1-0 win of giants Hayes in round one) we were humbled in another local derby, this time at Oxford United, going down 2-0 in the 2nd Round.

It wasn't until 1996 that I first attended an FA Cup tie, and it gave the club their first ever taste of Sky Sports coverage in the First Round tie with Watford, then of League One (Division Two in old money). Despite a gutsy effort and a disallowed Neil Grayson goal, we finally succommed to a bizarre cross/shot from Darren Bazeley and bowed out for another year.

Cup fever had gripped me though and I was right up and ready for it the following season when the Cobblers saw off Exeter City after a Sixfields replay and took on lowly Basingstoke Town. After a disappointing draw at Sixfields, the Town made the midweek trip to an ice cold Basingstoke in a game that once again drew the Sky cameras. We were held once again and the game went all the way through to penalties before we finally saw off the plucky non leaguers as Carl Heggs sent the Town faithful (and the living room of 280 Obelisk Rise) wild! The 3rd Round brought us a trip to Leicester City, then of the Premiership where our journey ended with a 4-0 defeat at Filbert Street.

In 1998/99, Lancaster City provided more non league opposition at Sixfields and this time we managed to scrape through without a replay with a 2-1 win, setting up a 2nd Round tie with cup specialists Yeovil Town, then still in the conference, and we were beaten 2-0 at Huish Park.

1999/2000 saw the Cobblers exit in Round One at Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury, in a 2-1 reversal while the following season we were beaten at Rotherham in Round 2 by the single goal after a convincing 4-0 home win over Frickley Athletic in the first. Millmoor would, a couple of years later, become the setting of one of the more famous nights in cup history.

Before that in 2001/02, a trip to Torquay resulted in a 2-1 success for the Town but once again the 3rd round milestone was frustratingly blocked by the mighty Canvey Island, an embarressment that was made worse by the fact that it was shown live on a Sunday lunch time on BBC television!

This 2nd round curse would continue in 02/03, with defeat at home to Cambridge United in a replay but in 2003/04, all of that misery was wiped away by one night at Millmoor and a Sunday in the sun at Sixfields.

The first round gave us a home tie with high flying Plymouth Argyle and in a thriller, Derekd Asamoah settled the game late on in a 3-2 win for the Cobblers. Home again in Round 2 and this time a little more straight forward as we saw off ten-man Weston-Super-Mare 4-1. We awaited the 3rd round draw with excitement but were slightly aggrieved when instead of the big guns being paired with the Cobblers, we were left with Championship side, and Chuckle Brothers' favourites, Rotherham United, again at Sixfields. Trailing 1-0, the Cobblers fought back and Martin Smith belted home a deserved equiliser before a goal mouth scramble in stoppage time came to nothing and we were forced to make a midweek trip to Millmoor but were at least in the hat for Round 4 for the first time in a very long time!

The draw brought about a frantic scene at Sixfields as the ticket sales for the Rotherham replay went through the roof- because now we knew that the winners of the tie would face a home game with Manchester United! Extra importance now on the replay and over 3,000 Cobblers fans descended on Millmoor. There was no room in the stand to take us all and people just seemed to stand wherever they could. I think I started near the back but ended up in the middle of the stand! Rotherham took the lead early on but loan signing Richard Walker headed us level. We got right back into the game, pushing the home side back until the glorious moment right in front of the Claret army. Martin Smith put in a free kick from the right hand side that evaded everyone and beautifully nestled into the corner of the net to send us chuffing mental! We held on and the full time whistle meant that we were to take on Manchester United. It was incredible to think that in just weeks we would be linign up with some of the world's greatest players...and Diego Forlan.

Tickets sold within hours and I managed to get one after 6 hours of queing at Sixfields but there were stories of "fans" buying season tickets just to get priority for the United game and then throwing the season ticket away!

Sixfields was packed to capacity and Sky came a visiting once again for a Sunday afternoon encounter with the Red Devils. Despite a good effort and Mark Richards hitting the bar, United ran out 3-0 winners. The moment of the game, though, had to be Lee Harper's 2nd minute penalty save from Forlan!

So that was the cup dream over for another year and we've not gone as far in the competition since.

The next season we again upset higher opposition in the opening round with victory over Barnsley and then won at home again in Round Two against Bury, setting up a 3rd Round tie with my university City of Southampton! The Saints had already knocked us out of the league cup and I was praying that the game would go to a replay so that we could play at St Mary's but Southampton defeated us at Sixfields 3-1.

Last season saw another good run into Round 3. After picking up an impressive 3-1 win at Wycombe and a replay victory over Stevenage Borough, we were paired with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The travelling faithful did us proud again but after Josh Low briefly drew us level, we were unfairly beaten 4-1.

And so to this season. Who knows where the run will take us this time around. We may be beaten at the first hurdle, we might make it through to face another big gun or we may have to play on a cold Tuesday night in Tamworth. We just don't know...and that's the magic of the cup.

Come on Town!

Youth show the way...

The Cobblers youth team showed the way for the first teamers with victory in the first round of FA Youth Cup yesterday as we saw off Mansfield Town 1-0 at Field Mill. Shaun Goodall grabbed the vital goal and we now face a home tie with Huddersfield Town in Round Two on November 22nd.

I think I'm busy that day with something...something to do with graduating.

Cole returns to Southend

Mitchell Cole has returned to Southend after two months on loan at Sixfields.

Cole played nine times for the Cobblers and his only goal came in the 1-0 win at Millwall in September.

It's a shame we can't keep hold of him but Southend seem to have a few injuries so Cole could find himself in Championship action some time soon!

Good luck Mitch!

The Flat is warmed!

We officially warmed the flat of Mr and Mrs Stuart-Marquez yesterday and ate far too much of the finger food laid on!

Great company as always and I think I've eaten a year's worth of Dorito's in the space of 4 hours. The hosts were slightly upstaged, though, by the appearance of baby Jack (Marti's nephew) and their two new (and very tiny) hamsters!

Good times!

Northampton Town 1-1 Blackpool

I wasn't at the game but by most accounts it was a relatively fair result against an in form Blackpool outfit. Eoin Jess is starting to find his feet after a below par season in League Two and he struck the equiliser in the draw yesterday following Andy Morell's opener.

The draw leaves us in 16th place in League One and still comfortably above the bottom four. Next week we face a break from league action with the FA Cup 1st Round tie with Grimsby Town.

Blackpool Preview...

Simon Grayson brings his in form Blackpool wide to Sixfields tomorrow in as mid table a game as you could expect as 12th take on 13th in League One!

After picking up our first win at home last Saturday, we'll be looking for another three points that would propel us into the top half of the table. Sean Dyche and Ryan Gilligan look set to miss out, Gilly injuring himself in mid-week preventing a possible loan move while Dyche picked up a knock in training.

I won't be at the game due to Dave and Marti's flat warming party but good luck to the Town!

FA CUP FIRST ROUND DRAW

The Cobblers' FA Cup campaign for this season will kick off with a home tie against Grimsby Town at Sixfields.

The Mariners will be looking for revenge after we denied them a chance to join us in League One on the final day of last season. They currently lie 4th from bottom of League Two and it's a tie that we should be able to win...that's worrying in itself.

The game will most likely take place on Saturday 11th November.

Northampton Town 1-0 Swansea City

10 seasons on from Wembley and The Cobblers have once again recorded a 1-0 victory over Swansea City with a defender on the scoresheet once again! This victory may not be as vital as John Frain's dramatic winner in 1997 under the gaze of the twin towers but in terms of this season's progression it brings huge relief as we finally record out first home win of the campaign.
James Quinn started the game after his late goal at Brighton last weekend while Ian Taylor came in for the injured Mitchell Cole. The midfield looked worryingly narrow with what seemed to be four central midfielders playing across the centre of the park.

The Swans came to Sixfields in 5th place and I was looking at the game more in hope than expectation of getting a result. Scott McGleish so nearly gave us the lead early on, his volley forcing a fine save from visiting keeper Willy Gueret. Swansea began to find their feet as the half wore on though and Mark Bunn once again reminded us, and Lee Harper, that he is the number one keeper at the club. Rory Fallon and Lee Trundle tested Bunn from range but he was more than up to the task on both occasions.

We were happy to go in level at half time and it had been a solid performance from the Cobblers with James Quinn impressing in his hold up play.

We started the brighter of the two sides in the second half and were rewarded when Luke Chambers latched onto a long David Hunt throw in from the right to volley home past Gueret with a finish that McGleish would have been proud of! We had something to hold on to and Sixfields, although tense, began to get right behind the side, desperate for that illusive first win at home. Swansea came more and more into the game and Bunn was once again called into action when Trundle curled a free kick in, forcing the 21-year-old to tip just over. We looked to be hanging on well enough to record the win but the Swans always looked a threat coming forward. In stoppage time, there was one final twist. Leon Britton seemed to dive in on Jason Crowe and Crowe reacted, shoving Britton over. Britton picked up his second yellow card and was sent packing but Crowe just picked up yellow which he can feel pretty fortunate about after raising his hands.

Five minutes of injury time later and the full time whistle went. You could feel the absolute relief ringing around Sixfields as that home win was finally achieved against one of the favourites for promotion.

Luke Chambers scored his first goal for the Cobblers after 133 games and he deserves it more than anyone else. Next up are Blackpool at home and hopefully the home form has completely turned around. We now know that a win against the Tangerines will propel us to the heady heights of the top half of League One! Get the tissues ready...I may have a nosebleed!

Roy Walker at the Graduation Ball!

Yes...incredibly after three years of quoting endless Catchphrace quotes in the student union and reminiscing about the legendary game shows of years gone by, ROY WALKER will be the special guest at our Graduation Ball on November 25th!

Mr Chips has yet to confirm whether he'll be in attendance.

Knight linked with Cobblers

Swansea City striker Leon Knight has been linked with ourselves and local rivals Peterborough United in the last couple of days. Swansea say that they have received an official bid from Boro but Knight today admitted that he wouldn't be dropping down a league. There seems to have been no official approach from the Cobblers at this time but I'm sure a lot of clubs will be interested in the prolific front man.

Harper's transfer request accepted...

Goalkeeper Lee Harper has had a transfer request accepted by Cobblers boss John Gorman.

After failing to even turn up at Brighton in the latest of a long line of Harps "throwing his toys out of the pram" incidents, it was certainly on the cards. Harper has bee a good servant to the cluib but the way in which he's handled himself this season after being dropped has been terrible. It was inevitable that Mark Bunn was given a chance and in my opinion he is by far the better of the two keepers.

So Harper's years at the Cobblers seem to be coming to an end and it'll be interesting to see what happens between now and the January transfer window.

Cobblers set new club record!

The Cobblers' 13th straight away league game without defeat means that we have set a new club record for most unbeaten away games. Our last defeat away from Sixfields in the league came at Field Mill, Mansfield in a 1-0 defeat.

Having not been at Mansfield, the last defeat away that I saw was Cheltenham Town back in February!

Let's hope it's not unlucky 13 for the Town up at Scunthorpe in a couple of weeks!

Brighton and Hove Albion 1-1 Northampton Town

The Cobblers came away from the Withdean Stadium with their unbeaten away form still in tact...just!

An early start saw us catch the 9:30 train from Southampton. After changing at Beastley Eastleigh, we were joined by a tough looking Brighton fan who gave us a guide to where to go when we arrived and who to look out for from the home side.

Arriving at just gone 11am, we headed for the beach and the huge pier. I realised I needed to make the most of this trip as our next away games see us visit the not so exciting haunts of Scunthorpe, Huddersfield and Oldham!

We met up with Jamie's sister, Kat, after a quick walk around the pier and searched for the crazy golf course of dreams. The small "windmill" soon came onto the horizon and we collected our clubs. One problem arised when we realised we needed something to actually attempt to hit into the holes, prompting Kat to go back to the seller of golf equipment and ask the inevitable question..."Have you got any balls?"

After we had collected the balls, we got started but the waerlogged pitch made it difficult to get into full form. That was my excuse...and I'm sticking to it!

A quick bite to eat in Brighton city centre was required and we walked around trying to find a decent place before settling on a nice little restaurant in the middle of town. When asked "Have you eaten with us before" by the waitress, I somehow resisted the temptation to reply..."No...we've just met...silly woman".
I went for the steak (medium done please) and it lined the stomach for the drinkage that would follow later on.

We jumped back on the train for a 5 minute journey to Preston Park where the Withdean is situated and headed into the excellent Sportsman's bar just outside the ground to meet Dad and Chris for a swift drink.

We made it into the ground in good time and joined a healthy following of Cobblers fans (Around 800) in the open temporary stand set back behind the running track, making viewing very difficult! Mark Bunn retained his place in goal from Tuesday night and we soon heard that Lee Harper hadn't even made the journey after being told he was dropped. Another hissy fit from Harps and it's becoming all too familiar now every time he's replaced by Bunn.


Those Cobblers players that did turn up struggled to get going but Brighton didn't look a whole lot better in a slow, tame opening to the game. Eoin Jess had our first effort on goal mid way through the first half with a drive from outsde the area but it went harmlessly wide.

The half wore on in dire fashion. Every ball that we tried to play forward was read by the home side while Albion couldn't produce anything in reply until late in the half when they took the lead.

A corner from the right was hammered towards goal by Dean Cox (the Brighton fans like Cox) and it hit his own played before Jake Robinson followed up to slam the ball into the roof of the net. Balls. 1-0 down at half time with the Town not looking likely at all to get back into the game.

Mitchell Cole was brought off 10 minutes or so into the second half due to illness, replaced by Andy Holt but frustratingly the game showed no signs of changing and Brighton looked the more likely to score again. We had two penalty claims turned down, both handball claims, before Scott McGleish actually gave us a brief sight of us attacking as he came close to nipping the ball beyond Henderson in the Brighton goal.

It looked like our away form was coming to an end before a moment of quick thinking incredibly saved us. The ball was booted out of the ground by a Brighton defender and Scotty picked up another ball from the young ballboy. Everyone in the ground was still looking at the other ball sailing over the ground...everyone apart from Scotty and substitute James Quinn that is. McGleish launched the ball forward and Quinn was behind the defence. He brought it down and curled it right past Henderson to bring us level! Incredible piece of luck and good thinking!

We could even have stolen all three points late on when Quinn popped up in a similar position only to see the shot saved this time.

But 1-1 it finished and we'll take that. It's extraodinary that we played so well at Bournemouth yet didn't look in the game yesterday but come away with a point from each game. That's the sort of draw that will hopefully keep us in League One though and we'll take anything that goes towards reaching that goal.

The evening was spent back in Southampton at that old favourite the Frog and Frigate. Good times!

Brighton Preview...

The Cobblers make a quick return to the seaside tomorrow as we travel to the Withdean Stadium and a clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.

A new ground for me and hopefully we can keep up our unbeaten away record in League One.

Injury news is getting better with Joe Burnell and Andy Holt coming through Tuesday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie with Brentford. John Gorman has at last got a close to full squad to choose from and it'll be interesting to see what line up he goes with.

A good trip to the seaside planned and another pretty close away day for me!

Northampton Town 0-0 Brentford (Brentford win 4-2 on pens)

So the JPT dream is over. The Cobblers dominated the second half (again) but couldn't break the Bees down.

The game went straight to penalties and after misses from Kirk and Jess, Pedj and Watt gave us hope. But Brentford's perfect 4 spot kicks mean that we crash out of the trophy at the first attempt and still there's no home win!

Oh well, onwards to Brighton in the league on Saturday!

Northampton Town v Brentford (Johnstone's Paint Trophy Round One) THE LINE UPS!

The Cobblers Bunn, Crowe, Chambers, Bojic, Holt, Burnell, Jess, Hunt, Cole, McGleish, Kirk

Subs: Harper, Brett Johnson, Gilligan, Cross, Watt

Brentford: Masters, O'Conner, Osborne, Heyward, Frampton, Moore, Carder-Andrews, Skulason, Tomlin, Peters, Kuffour

Subs: Mousinho, Tillen, Nelson, Brooker, Wijnhard

Welcome back to Scott Cross after a loan spell with Bedford Town. Jerome Watt also on the bench in a strong looking Town side.

PUB QUIZ- 5th out of 15!

I was joined by newly weds Dave and Martha last night and with a bit of help from Jamie and Roopa over texts and phone calls, we managed to finish 5th out of 15 teams in what was our best finish yet!

We also won best team name for "Morinho's 1st Cech has bounced" and collected our free shots from the bar for this feat!

Brentford Preview...

Brentford visit Sixfields tonight for the second time this season. Back in August, the Bees started this horrible run of home form we're on at the moment as they ran out 1-0 winners at Sixfields. Let's hope the run starts and ends with Brentford as they return for tonight's Johnstone's Paint Trophy (formerly the LDV Vans Trophy) First Round tie.

A change in the competition rules means that this season there will be no extra time. If the game is drawn after 90 minutes it will go straight to penalties!

Team news tonight indicates that Joe Burnell and Andy Holt may make their first starts since returning from injury while James Quinn could start up front. Last season the Cobblers were beaten (as is mandatory in this competition) by Colchester United. A cup run would be nice but the interest in the trophy only really goes up by the later rounds. Still, a first home win is still needed and I'll take any win in any cup, trophy or shield right now.

Up the Town!

Full Time: Northampton Town 0-0 Bradford City

Full time at Sixfields and the Cobblers again the better side in a goalless draw for the 2nd week running. Still no home win but we're looking good performance wise. Doig had a shot off the line but the late spell of pressure ended with just the one point.

We're still hanging on in League One and that home win will surely not be far away.

Next up, Brighton away next Saturday!

Half Time: Northampton Town 0-0 Bradford City

Sounded like a decent first half but still no goals for the Cobblers. The closest we've come is an early Ian Taylor chance that the experienced midfielder put wide. Mitchell Cole's run down the left created a later chance for McGleish but the ball again isn't falling for us at Sixfields!

Come on Town!

Northampton Town v Bradford City- The Line Ups

The Cobblers Harper, Crowe, Chambers, Doig, Taylor, Kirk, McGleish, Jess, Hunt, Bojic, Cole

Subs: Dunn, Holt, Burnell, Quinn, Gilligan

Bradford City Ricketts, Parker, Doyle, Wetherall, Bower, Schumacher, Bridge-Wilkinson, Windass, Holmes, Graham, Colbeck

Subs: Edghill, Johnson, Howarth, Rogers, Clarke

Northampton Town v Bradford City

The Cobblers without a home win all season...Friday the 13th...any chance of a change in fortune?

Well if it does happen it's not down to the day! Nothing bad has ever happened to me on FrIday the 13th yet I can remember at least two occasions when March 6th brought bad luck! I love the sound that people make when they realise it's Friday the 13th...

"Ooooooohhhhhhh"...like a nervous owl waking up the wrong way up.

Anyway, Bradford at home....

Numerous calls for superstitious activity this week from Town fans including wearing the away kit at home games in a bid to turn around the disasterous home start. Those people failed to notice that we were in fact wearing CLARET in the victories at Millwall and Gillingham!

Tonight sees the visit of a Bradford side that could go 2nd in the table with victory at Sixfields and it promises to be another stern test.

Cole signs for another month!

Mitchell Cole has rejoined the Cobblers on a further month's loan. Good news for us, though I would highly doubt if we could permanantly sign the flying winger who was impressive in his first month with us. Welcome back Mitch!

Oh yeah, I forgot....

...I had a Twister Ice cream on the beach as well. It was a choice between a twister and a Fab. I apologise to Fab's everywhere.

Oh....and I lost a bet with Jamie that a girl in Toko had NATURAL ginger hair but he said it wasn't. I lost £2.00.

Carry on...

Bournemouth night out...Chavs, more Chavs and finally a good place to drink!

We headed out after a quick drink in the hotel bar and walked abut a mile down the sea front into the heart of Bournemouth. After being shouted out for no reason by an angry, drunken chav in the park, we tried desperately to find a good enough place to go. We passed a converted Church, a couple of upmarket places that seemed like they were a bit "exclusive" and then ended up in Weatherspoons! This had to get better. Bournemouth surely had more to offer than this and we took directions from the doorman to find the clubs of the high street.

Now this is where it got weird. We somehow went to possibly the worst and best places in Bournemouth in one night! Bar (Me) was the first port of call and from the minute we walked in I felt like I was in one of those Club 18-30 holidays. The merry youth of Bournemouth screamed at every song that was played, drank like they had 17 livers and generally acted in a way that made me feel very old! Fair to say we only stayed for one drink and left them alone to revel in their own way. We did, though, find some salvation in Toko which was the complete opposite to what we had witnessed moments before. The extremely high drink prices were somewhat acceptable for the type of clientel that it attracted. Two floors of differing music and good company saved the night!

It was around 4am by the time we had walked home and crashed out after a brief encounter with the hotel cat, who followed us up to our room!

The complimentary breakfast was just what the doctor ordered in the morning and it was followed by another walk into town. It seemed a completely different place to where we were just a few hours earlier! The chavs were gone and it was a more peaceful Saturday morning in bright sunshine. At one point we took the beach lift up to the streets and it was a very surreal couple of minutes. We were greeted by the two most different characters at either end of the lift, one a laid back gent with an "I can't give a shit" attitude and the other who greeted us with a booming "HELLLLOOOOO" at the other end! The lift felt like it was going to topple over at and time and it was pretty much to great relief that we actually got to the top with no injuries!

We had a stroll round town and then decided that we would rather watch the England-Macedonia game back in familiar surroundings and so headed back to Southampton and, of course, the Walkabout for the disappointing draw.

I've seen two 0-0 draws this weekend, one that made me proud to be following a gutsy home town side and the other that felt a real let down by the England side and left me once again in no doubt in whether I'm more more of a club person than country.

Well played Town, fantastic stuff. England, that was poor, pick it up for Wednesday!

AFC Bournemouth 0-0 Northampton Town...The Cobblers hold the Cherries!

No idea where to begin here after an eventful weekender in Bournemouth!

I guess it makes a little bit of sense to start at the beginning so I will do that if you don't mind. Thank You. You're very kind.

Friday afternoon was a rush of making sure I finished work in time to make it to the 5:15. I made it in time and met Jamie at the station- he was making only his second ever appearance at a Cobblers game (the last being a 1-0 win at Barnet last December!). The 17:15 train suddenly turned into an 18:24 train...somehow it had decided it would be an hour late! After a chat with the steward guy, we were told to get on the 17:45 train instead. But then, dramatically timed, the steward on the other side of the entrance shouted that the 17:15 train was now back on time! Incredibly, the train had gone from on time to an hour late and back to being on time within a matter of 5 minutes!

Anyway, we did eventually get on a busy train to Pokesdown where we would be based for the night. The first of many taxi journeys took us to our hotel, the Urban Beach Hotel, a newly refurbushed hotel in Pokesdown that was superb value for our £35 a night (plus free breakfast). Another taxi ride was next and we arrived at Dean Court in good time to get a quick drink and burger in the ground.

The Cobblers' squad was down to the bones and five younger players made up the bench. By that I mean they were sat on the bench, not that they actually positioned themselves in a bench like shape under John Gorman for him to sit on.

The Cobblers had brought a good army of support as we looked to continue our unbeaten away start to the season. We'd already had entertainment by the time the game kicked off with more inflatable ball tennis between the Town fans. This game came to a dramatic point when the ball landed at the feet of a Bournemouth steward. He picked it up, gave it his best kick and whacked it right into the face of an elderly Cobblers fan! Sack him! The ASBO crew were out in force in the stand next to ours, stealing the ball and "chanting" throughout the game. They really were an embarressment to Bournemouth and if I was in the home ends I would be cringing at the chavs who only turned up to try to look hard in front of their mates!

The game got under way and we were dominating the early play without any real danger to the Bournemouth goal. The Cobblers were passing well but the final ball was lacking again, though Andy Kirk did have the ball in the net only for it to be ruled out for offside. The home side's best effort of the game came from Southampton loanee Leon Best. Set up on the edge of the area, Best missed kicked first time but then connected with his second effort but the recalled Lee Harper (in for the injured Bunn) saved low to his right.

The Cobblers came out all guns blazing in the second half and started to make things happen. Jason Crowe shot just wide and Eoin Jess curled a free kick just over with the help of the Bournemouth keeper, though the referee only gave a goal kick. The impressive Mitchell Cole, making his final Cobblers appearance of this loan spell, got down the left and sent in a good cross. McGleish was agonisingly just in front of the ball though and he couldn't get a good enough connection to it. Jess blasted just wide again minutes later before Crowe hit a first time effort inches wide of the far post. The Cobblers army were in full voice, willing the ball to hit net but it was to no avail as Bournemouth looked to get back into the game.

The home side hit a free kick just over before James Hayter's effort was deflected wide by Chris Doig. Andy Kirk looked to have broken free at the other end before the goal mouth scramble that looked certain to give Bournemouth the points. It seemed to be inevitable that the ball would fly into the Cobblers goal as Crowe blocked a shot on the line, it bobbled back out and we threw everything down in front of Harper to deny the Cherries what would have been a fortunate victory. Brad Johnson was brought on for Cole late on and lets hope we can get the Southend man for a further loan spell.

The game ended with a couple of late crosses for Bournemouth but substitute Fletcher's headed over. So another good point gained and a very good performance from the lads on the south coast. We can feel very unfortunate not to have won the game and a Bournemouth fan I spoke to at the station agreed.

So onwards we went for a night out in Bournemouth!

Randomness...

Random sights on the way to work this week...

The coolest lollipop man in the world...A Harold Bishop lookalike singing along to the Kinks in his car (a CD I mean, the Kinks weren't actually in the car with him)...school children dancing in the street reminding me of my youth...students starting university again...our old house on Devonshire Road being done up and looking like new....an empty bag of quavers.

It's good to walk to work. Try it. You too may come across some randomness!

The house is complete!

57 Heysham Road got its newest member on Sunday as Mital moved in! She's settled in well by cooking us fajitas, talking to a random Canadian through Skype and asking me to come to the pub! The perfect housemate!

Welcome Mital and good luck in the your final year as a student!

Northampton Town 0-2 Port Vale

Bugger. Yet another home defeat and once again the breaks don't come for us at Sixfields.

Having checked my train times on Friday, it looked like I was going to have to make six train changes because of engineering works. But when I arrived at the station at the silly time of 7am and asked a member of staff, it tuened out that I could use my ticket to go through Coventry to Northampton, thus avoiding the cerfuffle of London. It also meant that I could have had another couple of hours in bed!

Never mind, off I went and I found myself drifting in and out of sleep on the train, waking one time to find that a man had come onto the train and brought all his worldy belongings with him. Suitcases, bags, suspect packages, a laptop...this guy took up all the room around us and in the walkway as well. So when he left to go and get some food from the train's shop and our train stopped, there was a lot of angtry passengers passing by my seat and thinking that all that stuff was mine. I got about 27 dirty looks and tried to explain that the luggage wasn't mine but the angry British public were having none of it. Yes, I was public enemy number one until the guy came back and took his seat which seemed like an hour!I wouldn't have liked to have been him when he tried to get off the train.

I got to Northampton at around 10:30 and thanks to Mum's cooked breakfast I was woke up and ready to go.

I find myself getting just as excited and nervous for a home game in September as I do for a playoff game or a game late in a season. The nerves were more than likeky down to our shocking home form while the excitement is part and parcel of any Cobblers game at the moment. We have no idea what's going to happen.

What did happen was it pissed down with rain before the game and the Cobblers struggled again at Sixfields. Vale were nothing special but we looked cautious, not wanting to get an attack going in fear of being caught out at the back like what had happened in previous home games. The inevitable breakthrough came on ten minutes as Vale scored- a free header from a corner, knocked in by George Pilkington. We had no answer and no real spark to our play. Stefan Moore made it worse on the half hour mark, rattling the ball home from the edge of the area.

2-0 down at half time at Sixfields. Not a good palce to be. The second half was a mix of frustration and the ball not dropping for us. Vale were happy to let us attack and although Jerome Watt brought some life to our attack, we couldn't make it through. Scotty hit the post with a downward header late on but that was the closest we came and a moment that summed the game up.

So full time and another home defeat to a Port Vale side who didn't look too great themselves. I picked up my tickets for Bournemouth after the game and despite this result I'm looking forward to it and to making a short trip to a game for once!

It was a long journey home. As the rain teamed down on the train, I caught up with sleep again but luckily this time the train was a bit more empty! The journey really did drag on and it's true that journeys home after a defeat seem to take so much more time!

I finally got home at about 10pm and was absolutely shattered!

Port Vale Preview...

So onwards and hopefully upwards! Port Vale visit Sixfields tomorrow in a game where we will once again be trying to lay to bed our shocking home form. The Cobblers have the worst home form in the league, yet boast the gest away form! Only the Town could do that!

Vale come to Sixfields on the back of a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. Front man Michael Husbands will miss the game because of a red card picked up in that game. For the Cobblers, Jason Crowe and Eoin Jess are doubts but I would imagine Mitchell Cole and Jerome Watt being close to a start after coming off the bench at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

Four defeats and a draw at home this season...it surely has to turn around soon...or does it?!

Looking at my train timetable, engineering works are going to cause havoc tomorrow so it's an early start to make sure I get to Northampton in good time. One possible journey involves SIX train changes!

Could be a long old day!

Full Time: Cheltenham Town 0-2 Northampton Town

Another fantastic away win! Action packed second half saw Andy Kirk giving the Cobblers the lead, heading home Eion Jess' free kick. Cheltenham then missed a penalty before The Cobblers finally got one of their own. Kirk and McGleish fought over who would take it before Scotty won the argument and despatched the kick.

Town up to 11th in League One now, superb!

Half Time: Cheltenham 0-0 Cobblers

So far so good, would take a draw from here. Bunny's made a couple of good saves again and Kirk's missed a decent chance early on. It sounds like we can pick something up from this game if we carry on...come on Town!

Cheltenham Town v Northampton Town- The Line Ups...

Cheltenham Town Brown, Gill, Caines, Wilson, Guinan, McCann, Bird, Towsend, Odejayi, Armstrong, Melligan

Subs: Elvins, Wylde, Yao, Bell, Puddy

Cobblers Bunn, Crowe, Chambers, Doig, Dyche, Taylor, Jess, Hunt, Bojic, Kirk, McGleish

Subs: Harper, Quinn, Watt, Cole, Gilligan

Cheltenham Preview

The Cobblers take their unbeaten away record to Whaddon Road tonight- a place where we have an awful recent record. Back in 2003, we were 3-1 up with around 10 minutes to go before somehow losing the game 4-3 thanks to two penalties and a stoppage time winner! That game came a year after Ian Sampson's header rebounded of the stanction of the goal and back out...not given and Town robbed of 3 points.

In the last two season's we've come away with nothing in dismal 1-0 and 3-1 defeats. So if our run away from home is going to end anywhere, it's here.

Please Town...prove me wrong!

Johnstone's Paint Trophy Draw

The Cobblers will play Brentford at home in the first round of the newly named Johnstone's Paint Trophy (formerly the LDV Vans Trophy).

The Bees have already recorded a 1-0 win at Sixfields this season. New changes to the competition this season include the rule that the game will go straight to penalties if the scores are level after 90 minutes so no extra time!

Millwall 0-1 Northampton Town

Cracking day out once again as we picked up three vital points.My day began early on with my traditional Saturday fry up before heading off the train at 11am. I was decked out in my Cobblers shirt after debating with myself whether to wear it or not. A lot of people were surprised to see me wearing it in the middle of the angry Millwall fans but I figured that I don't attract trouble anywhere so I'd be fine. I was right and apart from a few "w*nker" signs from people on the train, I was fine!After a quick change at Waterloo, I was at South Bermondsey by 1pm and met up with the guys (and girl) from Sixfields Boys and we headed for the New Den down the seperate walkway for away fans. There was more police than away fans when we got there but most of the home fans that were there as early as us were no trouble at all.

We enjoyed some chips and a couple of beers in the ground while watching the second half of Liverpool-Spurs on the tv screens before the game and then went to our seats with a great view of the game from behind the goal. The New Den was a new ground for me and I found the facilities to be top draw. There was a group of home fans in the stand next to ours that contained the main "singing" section though it was more shouting and abuse than anything! With every song, they punched their fists in our direction and looked as angry as Rik Waller being told he can't have dessert!

On the pitch and the Cobblers were facing a tough start to the game and only created one half chance in the early going when Pedj Bojic looked to be brought down in the area but nothing was given. Millwall's approach was fairly direct but the awesome Sean Dyche, returning to his former club, stopped anything and everything that was thrown his way. The home side's first chance was headed off the line by Jason Crowe as they started the better side.Chris Doig went down with a head injury mid way through the half meaning that we played a lot of the first half with ten me as he left the field for stitches. Upon his return, the Cobblers took the lead. Eoin Jess played in a deep cross from the right and the bounce deceived a home defender before loanee Mitchell Cole took advantage and slammed the ball past Pidgely to give us a half time lead.

In the second half, the home fans were getting agitated and chants of "SH*T, SH*T, SH*T" rang around the Den. Andy Kirk and Ian Taylor went close for us but the last period of the game was dominated by Millwall who got a number of corners but a combination of Mark Bunn saves and superb rearguard action prevented them from getting back into the game.The game ended to jeers from the home fans but celebrations in the away end. Luke Chambers punched the air and again celebrated like we'd won the league while John Gorman did the same.It was only when I was on my own when I really felt the presence of the home fans after the game.

I changed trains at London Bridge and the Cobblers fans all headed back in a different direction. I realised I was walking along a train station walkway with hundreds of angry Millwall fans and me in a Cobblers shirt."Keep walking and don't look too happy" I kept telling myself. It worked and I escaped despite a group of chavs looking my way with menace in their eyes!I was back home by 7 and another great day out as the Cobblers continues with their superb away form.

Next up, Cheltenham away on Tuesday night!

Millwall Preview

The Cobblers travel to darkest Bermondsey tomorrow in a bottom of the table clash with Millwall.

I'm looking forward to my first trip to the Den and the journey seems to be pretty straight forward. I can even have a lie in as my train doesn't go until 11am!

Jerome Watt may return for the Cobblers on the right hand side of midfield with loanee Mitchell Cole on the left. Millwall lie in 23rd place in League One with us in 20th and it looks like being a scrappy encounter in East London.

Bring it on!

They're baaaaack!

Yes that breed of humanity is slowly beginning to return to Southampton...the students are back in town and it's getting me all reminiscent once again! It's usually this time of year when I excitedly sort out my new notepads, folders and one pen that will last me all term, dust off the old books and start to plan when the first meeting in the union will be.

But not this year. It's very strange living through it all as excited students prepare for fresher's week. Two of my housemates will be students this year and I think I'll be dragged into the student lifestyle enough to remind me what I'm missing!

Oh well, back to that work place tomorrow and the final day in Duke's Keep for the company I'm working for, NYK. We move to our new office in Bedford Place on Monday.

Happy Birthday...to ME!

Yes, I'm 22 today and I've been eating out all weekend to celebrate.

Firstly I had a Chinese all you can eat meal with my parents, my brother and his girlfriend which included a special cake presented to me by the waiters who sang happy birthday to me and got everyone else in the restaurant to applaud!

Then today I was eating again as Roopa joined me at Frankie and Benny's in Southampton. Another lovely meal (the orange chicken...mmmmmmmmmmmm) and great company as usual.

So all in all a great weekend...man I'm getting old!