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!
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