Sunday, October 29, 2006

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!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

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.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

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.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

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!

Friday, October 20, 2006

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!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

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!

Friday, October 13, 2006

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.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

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!

Sunday, October 08, 2006

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!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

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!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

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!